Little girls love to play with their dolls, constantly asking their mother and grandmother for new outfits for their toy friends. But not everyone knows how to crochet a jumpsuit for a doll. This article provides detailed advice for beginners and a master class on creating clothes for a Barbie doll and a large baby doll.
What you need for knitting
When creating accessories for dolls, the craftswoman will need certain tools and materials. They should be selected based on the specifics of working with toy clothes.
Yarn
The choice of thread thickness often depends on the size of the doll. For large toys, the size of a newborn baby or slightly smaller, you can take any yarn. But if you need to knit or crochet a jumpsuit for a baby doll, Barbie, or any other small doll, then it is better to give preference to thin threads. The fabric from them will be soft enough and will look natural, resembling a reduced copy of real things.
If you decide to knit a wardrobe for a toy from the yarn scraps accumulated over the years of needlework, you can take any skein from these reserves. But sometimes you have to buy new threads specially.
In this case, you can choose budget types of yarn made from artificial fibers, since the doll does not care about warmth, softness or naturalness of the composition.
An exception will be toy clothes that will fall into the hands of a child with allergies. Here, the requirements for the quality of the threads will be as strict as if the item was created for the baby himself.
Attention! The doll does not have allergies, it does not need warmth, which means you can buy cheap yarn.
Hooks
Tools made of different materials are usually used for work. What exactly the hook should be made of depends on the preferences of the craftswoman. There are such varieties:
- plastic tools are inexpensive and very light, but can break during knitting;
- a wooden hook with the same fragility is more expensive, although it has a more aesthetic appearance;
- metal devices are much stronger, but can slip during work, producing a loud characteristic sound;
- Combination products consist of a steel hook and a plastic or wooden handle, which makes them convenient to use.
For lace items, it is better to take a metal hook; it is more convenient to work with thick threads using a plastic tool. As for the thickness, it should be selected in accordance with the yarn - the thread should fit into the hook recess, completely filling it, but not going beyond.
Spokes
Some items of doll wardrobe are much easier to make with knitting needles. The fabric knitted with them is thinner than when working with a crochet hook. For convenience of working on small toy things, shortened tools from a stocking set are usually used.
Overalls for dolls are also knitted with knitting needles according to a pattern and description, which indicates the thickness of the threads and tools.
For reference! Manufacturers often indicate on the labels of each skein of yarn what thickness of hook and knitting needles are recommended.
In case of knitting from leftovers, you can select a tool by applying it and a thread to a regular school ruler. The thickness of the knitting needles is equal to the thickness of the thread -1, that is, if the diameter of the tool is 2 mm, then the diameter of the thread should be 1 mm.
Other
First of all, it is worth mentioning markers, which make knitting much easier, as they eliminate the need for complex calculations of the number of knitted rows, loops, and columns. It is also worth noting other useful tools:
- plastic rings for making pom-poms;
- curved auxiliary needles;
- knitting pin
- a device for weaving cords.
There are also specific devices that are hardly worth buying just for making a couple of doll dresses. But experienced craftswomen can confirm how much easier such tools as a thimble for jacquard patterns or holders for balls of yarn make the work.
Sizes of dolls
Dolls for which it is necessary to knit clothes at the request of a daughter or granddaughter can be of different sizes. The knitting technique and the selection of models of toy clothes will depend on their height and other parameters.
Baby Born Doll
The name of this toy is translated from English as "newborn baby". Its size, figure structure and appearance completely repeat those that are typical for newborn babies. For a knitter, this means that clothes for such a toy can be created according to patterns for small children in the first month of life.
Compared to most other dolls, baby born is significantly larger (even medium-sized ones are up to 40-43 cm). This allows you to use more complex patterns and openwork knitting in your work, which are revealed in the fabric of the product.
When working with small toys, on the contrary, it makes no sense to use complex patterns, since their rapport usually turns out to be wider than the item itself.
Barbie
An undoubted advantage in creating clothes for these thin and graceful dolls is the low consumption of yarn. Although here too much depends on the chosen model of dress or other wardrobe item.
For reference! A lacy, lush sun skirt crocheted may require quite a lot of threads. But there will be no problems finding ideas for inspiration.
Crochet doll jumpsuit: knitting patterns
In working on this model of overalls, hook No. 1 and yarn with a thickness of 660 meters per 100 grams were used.
Legend:
- V - make an increase by knitting 2 single crochets from the loop of the bottom row;
- A - make a decrease by knitting 1 double crochet from 2 single crochets of the previous row.
- st.b/n — single crochet;
- st.s/n — double crochet;
- air loop - air loop.
The sequence of actions of the step-by-step MK is as follows:
- Make a chain of 33 ch and close it into a ring.
- Knit 8 rows of sc in a circle, without increasing or decreasing.
- Make 1 row of dc to imitate elastic.
- Knit the second leg in the same way.
Continuation of work:
- Next, knit 1 row in a circle, combining both parts.
- In the next 2 rows, make 2V at equal distances from each other, and then another 1V. As a result, you should get 64 st. b/n.
- Knit 1 more row without changes.
- Turn the product over and make 5 connecting sts from the wrong side. Then turn the workpiece over again and knit the entire row with sc. In the place where the connecting posts are knitted, knit 5 sc to create an overlap.
The further algorithm of work looks like this:
- Knit 2 rows of sc, making 1A on each side in the first row.
- Next, continue the fabric with return rows, alternating 1 dc and 1 ch. At the same time, knit 5 loops at the end and beginning of the row with sc.
- When the overalls reach chest level, do 1 row of sc
From this point on, switch to white thread and knit the bodice with it. In doing so, follow these steps:
- 1-2 rows - st b/n.
- Row 3 - 5 dc + 1A + 6 dc + 11 ch, skip 5 loops of the previous row + 1A + 6 dc + 1A + 4 dc + 1A + 4 dc + 1A + 11 ch, skip 5 columns of the previous row + 1A + 4 dc + 1A + 3 dc + 1A + 1 dc + 1A.
- Row 4 - 4 dc + 1A + 4 dc + knit together 3 stitches + 4 dc + 1A + 2 dc + 3 stitches together + 4 dc + 1A + 6 dc + 3 stitches together + 4 dc + 1A + 4 dc.
- 5th row - 8 dc + 3 dc together + 4 dc + 3 dc together + 5 dc + 1A + 5 dc + 3 dc together + 4 dc + 3 dc together + 5 dc + 1A + 1 dc.
The work on the overalls is completed by knitting the sleeves. To do this, 2 rows of 20 sc are knitted on each armhole, the bodice is decorated with straps, 2 sc wide, and miniature buttons. A Velcro or snap fastener is sewn on the back.
Baby doll jumpsuit with knitting needles: knitting patterns
To crochet a jumpsuit for a baby doll, just use a pattern with a diagram that fits the size. It is not even necessary to look for complex patterns - a suit made of plush yarn will look great, made with plush threads that give the clothes texture.
Using even smooth threads, you can knit an interesting openwork jumpsuit with lush columns. It will look even more interesting if you choose yarn of contrasting colors.
Knitted clothes for dolls with knitting needles with a description are also not difficult to make.
By following the recommendations described, you can create a whole doll wardrobe for the joy of children. Over time, when the kids grow up, such a smartly dressed toy can become an interior item and will decorate the house.
