I have a collection of now 5 of these Disney Animator’s Collection dolls (Merida, Ariel, Elsa, Finn/Eugene, Snow) and only 2 of them came with original outfits, as all dolls were thrifted.

I sewed the beginning of a witch school costume for Merida a long time back, inspired by Miss Cackle’s from the Netflix reboot of The Worst Witch (2017). Actually so cute, I do want to finish that outfit, but sewing is a lot trickier for me than crocheting or knitting.

So when I ended up with basically 5 nakey babies (bc I don’t like the original costumes anyway), I decided it’s time to come up with some clothes for them. I looked into buying pre-made from other doll brands but found out their sizing is very specific. Etsy is an option but I’d honestly prefer to just make my own at that point, given the price point of most handmade stuff, plus I can do my own colors, designs etc. Patterns I found to be cheaper and more doable for me. I might/will likely get some sewing patterns to help me get started down that path too, but starting with the easiest possible, I went with crochet. Image of a Disney Animator's Snow White doll wearing a teal crochet top

This lil dress pattern cost me just under $8 CAD—so less than an Americano and a croissant in my neighborhood—and uses all familiar stitches, is beginner friendly, and works up fast. I got to this point in the photo after two evenings of tv watching and careful pattern reading.

I like that I can probably use this as a basis for making my own iterations and creations now! Like, I could stop here and have this be a cute frilly t-shirt. I have a cardigan in mind that I can’t find a specific pattern for, but having this pattern to work with will help me transmute a baby cardigan pattern into one that would fit these dollies.

Having fun with it so far! Hope I don’t get bored with it too quickly.

*Note: Will have to look up how to make shoesies for these bebbies too. And remove some of the marker stains on Elsa, Finn, and Ariel with zit creme.