Easy Baby Doll Outfit

I found this tiny dolly in the RSPCA op shop on Wednesday, I got it with a pink plastic doll bath for $1.50! I thought it would be perfect for Thomas to play with in the bath, and to dress, its just the right size for him. This doll is 8 inches long.

a cute baby doll I found at an op shop, and dressed in a quick to make outfit

When I gave it to him he loved it straight away, cuddling and kissing it. I was surprised when he moved the baby's head while saying 'no, no, no, no, no', something he's only just learnt to say himself recently. So today I decided I should quickly make something to dress it in, so I made this outfit because it was very quick and easy.

blue square and sleeve, with yellow sleeve

yellow square and sleeve, with blue sleeve

I started with the sweater, which is simply two granny squares of 4 rounds each. I used a 3mm hook and 4 ply acrylic baby yarn. After I finished the 1st square I did not cut the yarn, but left it ready to use for one of the sleeves. When I finished the 2nd square I then attached it to the 1st square right away, just joining 2 clusters with slip stitch. I sl st along 2 clusters to leave a gap for the arm hole then joined the corners only at the shoulder. Then I went straight into the 1st sleeve, doing 4 rounds of dc, finally fastening off when that was done. I then went to the yarn left at the end of the 1st square and joined 2 clusters at the other side seam, left a gap of 2 more clusters for the other arm, then joined at the corners for the 2nd shoulder. I finished with the 2nd sleeve of 4 rounds of dc. Because I used two colours I hope you can see what I mean, with one square and one sleeve in each colour. This made a very quick project, with only 2 fasten offs. You certainly are too busy to spend too much time on something like this, aren't you?

this outfit for a baby doll was very quick and easy to make

For the hat, I did 3 increasing rounds in blue, the 1st round is 10 dc, the 2nd is 20 dc, the 3rd is 30 dc. Then I switched colours and did the rest in non-increasing rounds. 7 rounds were enough to cover the doll's head with a turned up brim. This was also really quick to make up, I used the same yarn and hook as for the sweater.

detail of the crown of the hat, and back with contrast sleeve

Lastly, I made the shorts using 2 squares of printed material I had left over from other projects. I'm not too happy with how the shorts turned out, but I'll be the first to admit that working with fabric is not my forte! But I do think they look cute, with wide legs like a little sumo wrestler! The elastic waist sits very low, because I didn't leave enough room for the elastic pocket. Something I'll have to remember next time I sew pants!

Over all, this was a quick little project so my son can enjoy his new toy. If I ever get the chance I'd love to make a cute pink outfit for this doll to make it look like a girl, but who knows if I'll ever have time for something like that?