I have a number of patterns for sewing clothes for Barbie dolls. I even have some Barbies - both the well-worn dolls I played with - and sewed a few clothes for while growing up - and some newer ones, bought to sew clothes for. I don't know why I want to do this, except to challenge myself and relive childhood perhaps. There are no children in my life who'd play with these dolls or the clothes I'd make.
These are just a few of the patterns I have. There are more.
I wonder too if anyone has actually made these clothes. I see these patterns for sale on eBay and they do have buyers, but I've searched and haven't found any evidence of anyone making them. If anyone has, please let me know!
The reason this topic came up is because I came across a new Barbie who'd actually be a more appropriate model for the historical clothes, should I actually make them, than the perky blonde Barbies of my youth, the vintage cat-eyed one of the 60's, or the new dolls that Mattel has come out with - they really do have a wide variety of looks, ethnicities now. But to me, this Florence Nightingale doll fits the look for me - not a lot of makeup and her hairstyle fits a broad range of periods.
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| Photo from barbie.mattel.com |
So yeah, I bought it. I felt that I should make a decision with these patterns - either keep them with an intent to sew them one day or get rid of them because I'll never make them. If I decide to sew them then I'd want a doll that looked appropriate wearing them. But if I wait, this doll will eventually only be available from resellers or collectors, which means potentially more money than I will want to spend. And if I eventually decide I won't ever use the patterns, then I can sell them. Hey, maybe I'll sell the patterns with the doll for someone else who'd want a more appropriate doll to model the clothes.
I've made them. Think two of my blog posts are on them. One day I was going through some old McCall's magazines my hubby's grandmother had given to me with patterns for the Barbie doll and bam, I wanted to make them. After I had made about a dozen or so my thought was OK, now what am I going to do with these?
ReplyDeleteI wound up selling them in crafts shows and giving some as gifts when my granddaughter came along.
About this point Mattel began making all different shapes of the dolls and it just wasn't the same amount of fun making them. I quit the crafts shows. I still have quit a bit of yarn and thread to knit and crochet small items as well as fabric and some patterns left after selling some.
Crafts shows just aren't as abundant as they were twenty years ago. I suppose you could sell them on ebay or donate them to an organization like Toys For Tots. When I see a pattern I want to sew more outfits or knit some, but I have too many other items to get to.
Believe I wound up making about two hundred outfits, including some I knitted based on patterns I saw in a catalog of Princess Diana's outfits.
Go ahead and make them, Lori, and enjoy! A lot of adult women create the clothes, have fun with them, and keep them.
Wow! Two hundred outfits! I'm impressed. I hope you took some pictures. Craft shows aren't my thing but collecting is. As long as doing so doesn't impact my finances (not a problem) or my living spaces (becoming a problem!)
DeleteThen go for it. Yes, I took pics, some of which are on my blog. They are a lot of fun to make.
DeleteOh dear, I'm not sure it's good for me to know that there were costume patterns for Barbie sized dolls. But yeah, the size changes over the years means a bit of measuring before sewing up. Just like for real people patterns.
ReplyDeleteI missed out on some from Simplicity that were decade-themed. I don't think I want them enough to buy them on eBay though.
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