One of the challenges in knitting doll clothes is finding the right yarn and getting the gauge in a pattern. Because of this I decided I needed to start making charted patterns that would enable me to get the size needed in any yarn. After knitting several doll patterns, I now realize that it is not really too difficult to draft my own pattern after making a swatch to get the gauge in a particular yarn.
The picture above shows the skirt of my latest attempt. Fort he edge I used a couple rows of garter stitch, then headed into my lace pattern with the main colour yarn. If you want a full skirt it is best to block the skirt before knitting the bodice in order to get the best scallops etc. You could used waste yarn for thie step, but I am finding that I can just leave the piece on the needle. The skirt of the first dress I made came out a little too straight, so I tried another one after recalculating and getting a little more serious about my math.
The next dress had a better skirt, and I also tried knitting a couple little sleeves first, then adding them when I made the straps for the arm holes. This technique worked very well. This doll is a Bru reproduction I made, and is about 3" tall. The yarn I used was Debbie Bliss Rialto Lace. The scle of this yarnis great for small dolls, so I plan to use it as a staple weight, hence my scaling will be useful for other pattern I develop. I have written out this pattern but want to test it again. Writing patterns is a slow process for a newbie designer.
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