Title: Knits for Dolls by Nicky Epstein
ISBN – 978-1-936096-54-1
Published by Nicky Epstein Boos
Although I have been designing my own knitted dolls’ clothes for many years, I still love to buy beautiful books of dolls’ clothes pattern by talented designers.
Nicky Epstein is something of a legend in the knitting and crochet world. Her designs are known for being beautifully detailed and of a very high quality.
“Knits for Dolls” is a collection of 25 lovely knitted outfit patterns for 18 inch dolls. These will fit American Girl, Madame Alexander, DesignAFriend and Our Generation dolls. They will also fit many teddy bears, including some of the BuildABear animals.
Most of the outfits have multiple components, so you could mix and match to make many other outfits too. There is plenty of variety to create a complete wardrobe for a doll from just this book.
Important – Whilst there are many patterns that could be tackled by a confident beginner, many of the designs in this book are for more experienced knitters.
Each pattern includes diagram and charts where necessary. They are cleanly laid out and easy to follow. There are multiple full-colour illustrations of the finished item.
These are ideal patterns for dressing dolls that belong to adult collectors, as well as for children’s toys.
The included designs range from classic styles through to very modern. Changing the colour schemes would give many of them a very different finished look.
Included are various sweaters (I love the Goth “Skullduggery” one), trousers, skirts, dresses – simple, frilly and princess-y, jackets and cardigans. There are no nightwear or swimwear, but one could probably convert a dress into a nightdress. There is a dressing gown. And a toy rabbit and blanket too!
My personal favourite is the lovely Winter Wonderland set – a detailed Fair Isle patterned jacket with trousers and a matching cowl. The jacket takes quite a while to knit, but looks wonderful when finished.
I have knitted many of these patterns and have not found any errors or difficult to understand instructions.
There are also extra patterns for 8 different styles of purses/handbags and 3 fun hats (there are more hats included with some of the outfits).
There are also simple instructions on how to make 6 items of jewellery to go with the clothing, and 3 sweet recipes!
At the back of the book, there is a nice clear list of all abbreviations used, and a very handy chart of yarn weights and their equivalents. This will help you knit the patterns using a variety of types and brands of yarn.
Also included is a glossary of terms, and illustrated instructions for duplicate stitch, how to make a pompom, embroidery stitches, kitchener stitch, 3-needle bind off, making I-cords and adding beads to your knitting.
If you are looking for 18 inch doll patterns that are suitable for older collectors, or wanting a bit more of a knitting challenge, this book will give you many hours of fun creation.
And with the range of designs, and potential for lots of different looks by just changing colours, “Knits for Dolls” is excellent value for money, in my opion.
Links to “Knits for Dolls” by Nicky Epstein on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
Here are links to this book on Amazon.com (top) and Amazon.co.uk (bottom). These are affiliate links and if you purchase after clicking on them, I may get a small commission from Amazon for sending customers to their site. This is at no cost at all to yourself. Thank you.