Crochet Crochet? Vol 4

been a long time since i've tried posting pics from flickr onto DoA-- let's hope i remembered how to do it right! i wanted to share my recent doll crochet project-- it's a 1:3 scale granny square hooded jacket. i made it with #8 perle cotton thread and a 1.30mm hook; i based it off of a human size pattern, and for the most part it scaled pretty directly when stitched with my tiny thread exactly as written. there were just a few spots where i ended up adjusting for bjd proportions, primarily the hood because bjd heads are bigger than human heads. i also needed to make the sleeves a little wider and longer, but all of the adjustments were super easy to make just by adding a few granny stripes or an extra row of squares.

i am super excited about this project because it's the reason i decided to learn crochet last year! i saw a human size jacket like this and wanted one for my dolls so badly that i literally learned a new skill just so i could make one. it's the third doll garment i've made-- i started out with a simple beanie, then tried a top-down pullover, and finally felt ready to try this. it took me about 4 months to make-- i started it in late July and finished at the end of November. (turns out i am not a speedy crocheter! also....hundreds of ends to weave in.)

 

Fabulous job, thedarkeststar13!!! Looks great!

 

Not sure if I like it or not, technically it’s for one of my girls but he was closer to me so he gets to model it.

 

sadly i have gotten out of the habit of posting here on DoA
belatedly, thank you to @El BJD @Lillith and @Lyrajean! i really am a crochet noob and was pretty intimidated about trying that project (and especially about getting the scale right) so it's super nice to hear that it turned out well and gives the effect i was going for!

@Pen-Pen love the colors in your sweater, i'm a big fan of blue and white.

 

Ah thank you! I do really like that it self stripped! I just wish my stitches weren’t so loose as it’s kind of big in the back but also doesn’t fit over the shoulders all that well because the foundation chain is so tight.

 

I working on a swirl sweater! I would normally wait to post until my work is complete, but do these striped sleeves look like too much to anyone else? I was second guessing them and considering making them solid.

@Pen-Pen I love the top you crocheted and might do a similar style myself. It looks so fashionable and your boy models it well!

@thedarkeststar13 The number of loose ends sounds like a nightmare to me, but the end result is worth it. Your hoodie looks professionally made... so cute! And so tiny! 1.30mm! Was the small hook ever hard to use?

 

I like the striped sleeves, but agree that narrower stripes to match the bodice would work better visually.

 

Thank you guys very much for the advice. I might make solid sleeves to do less work, but I'll make sure any potential stripes match the width of the bodice.

 

@ZodiacMoon i LOVE that spiral sweater design. it would look cool with solid sleeves, but i like the spiral so much i think it will be cool no matter how you end up going on the sleeves.

thanks for the kind words on my granny hoodie! honestly i am so used to tiny fiddly work that i took to the tiny 1.30mm hook very quickly. about halfway through that sweater project i switched to normal worsted weight yarn and a 5mm crochet hook to make a quick simple wall hanging as a gift and i had a hard time getting used to doing human scale work again! i did make a polymer clay handle for the tiny steel hook to make it easier to hold, though--- the tiny skinny little steel handle hurt my hand after a short while until i did that. once i added the clay handle to make it the same size as my regular hooks, it was no problem.

 

Most of my crochet projects are wigs. While I'm starting another wig, here's my most recent completed one:

 

@Lillith Have you thought about eventually selling your pattern? I'd recommend Ravlery over Etsy (both would probably be ideal though).

 

What lovely halter tops, Lillith! Thanks so much for sharing your pattern! I would sure buy the pattern for your 3 piece outfit that you recently posted!

 

I made Braith a new sweater! It’s a little short but I think once I make the hem it’ll be fine.

 

I spent so much time having to redo the sleeve and sewing up the side because it was on the wrong side only to kind of not even like it when it’s done.

 

@Pen-Pen the colors are so beautiful tho! i love the gradient so much

 

That's so cool! Is that a long loop stitch, and then you cut the ends of the loops when you were done?

Do you think that type of crochet wig could work for a teeny tiny? I got a Brownie Nene off Dollyteria a few months ago and her head is so small! I decided I need to try making her a wig. And crochet is my favorite craft!

 

@kvkitty, The braids are lots of short crochet chains, made one by one. It's a pain to weave in all the cut ends, but I imagine it's a lot more secure then cutting pieces off of a long chain. I also block each chain to prevent too much curling.

My smallest BJD is about 25cm, so I'm not sure what size would work for a teeny tiny.

 

Oh I see that now! Then do you sew the chains to a wig cap? Thanks for the reply.

 

My wigs are a blend of crochet and sewing. I'm not confident with gluing fiber.

 

I made Braith a new bag over Christmas vacation.

 

Is there a correct way to resize human sized patterns for dolls? I tried dividing the # of stitches by 4 (for MSD) but the finished garment still looked... off. I didn't use the same hook size as the pattern so that might have contributed to the wonkiness.

 

what i've found is that doll proportions differ just enough from human proportions that a direct mathematical resize where you simply divide by your scale tends to not work great. every doll garment i've crocheted so far that came out well has been from a human pattern, but every time i have needed to just use the pattern as a guide to construction/methods/shapes and adapt the actual counts as i go, doing super frequent fittings and just making the number of stitches whatever i need it to be to get the size/dimensions i need. i also choose hook size based on what gives me the right drape with the yarn i want to use; i pay no attention to what the pattern calls for because generally human size patterns are written for much larger yarn and therefore much larger hooks than i would want to use for a doll. for 1:3 doll sweaters, i really like using wool sock-weight yarn-- it's very realistic and in-scale for something like a soft cozy cardigan. my go-to hook sizes with that are 2.75mm or 3.5mm. i've also made doll things with size 10 cotton crochet thread or size 8 perle cotton, all depends on the project. the threads get the smaller steel hooks.

i guess what i'm saying is i get the best results with doll scale crochet by using human patterns as much more of a tutorial than a mathematically exact blueprint

 

Brown Boater Hat on Dollshe Diana by Coulombe, on Flickr

I've been doing some recent experimenting with crochet, and hope these visuals will help @wakakusa with scale questions.
The above Boater type shows a single crochet stitch using embroidery floss and a 2.00mm hook on an SD size head.


Green Hat by Coulombe, on Flickr

Same stitch, floss and hook here shown to make this Bowler style hat as shown on my Ipledoll Elvin MSD.
Both ideas were taken from human patterns to understand how to make the basic shapes, but agreeing with @thedarkeststar13, adapt as you go with frequent fittings.
I would like to see if I can still go smaller in scale.

I have found it also helps to examine other peoples work to see what's possible. Save those old timey doilies for wonderful stitch examples!
Fillet crochet clothing ideas are all over Youtube and I look forward to learning that next!

 

@Valdemagra - I absolutely LOVE that first hat! You've convinced me to get some embroidery floss now! Those are so cool!

 

thought i would post a photo of the most recent bjd crochet project i finished. this one was made with merino wool sock yarn and, as discussed in the last few posts, i made it by using a human sweater pattern as a sort of tutorial to figure out the shapes i needed and then just using my doll here (Supia Muriel on a 60cm 5Stardoll body, 1:3 scale) to measure how long my starting chains needed to be for each part. this was finished in i think late summer of 2025; currently i am working on a patchwork pullover sweater for a different doll and it's taking forever

 

Finally making something just for Vaes'ra. Just have to finish the sleeve and the hem and I'll be done.



And done!

 

thanks! i wish it had been self-striping yarn--i was using a speckled hand-dyed sock wool and did the body of that sweater first and by the time i got to the sleeves i was feeling like the variegated yarn was Too Much Pattern and needed some kind of solid accent to break it up. so i went on Etsy and found 3 wool mini-skeins of solid colors that were in the multicolored yarn. which was a pain because i wanted to finish the project and had to set it aside for about a week while i waited for the extra yarn to arrive. but once they arrived and i did the sleeves with those three solid color blocks added in i was so glad i did it!

i love your bucket bags, makes me want to crochet something like that for my dolls. maybe after i finish the patchwork sweater i am still slowly slowly picking away at...

 

@Lillith - it’s acrylic yarn so it’s very warm lol! I love those little baskets! Especially the white and purple one! Your stitches are so tight and uniform!

 

Just finished a new chunky sweater! I’ve had this yarn for years and finally got around to using it.