More maxis, mini sized

I've been a bit obsessed with maxi length everything, so naturally my Barbies needed some maxi length goodies.

Nikki, Teresa and Raquelle were all still wearing sad Mattel style outfits, so they were my lucky models.

Nikki was first. She is a playline "Beach Nikki" doll that I rebodied onto a Liv body. Her dress is Simplicity 5755, which I have used before for Teresa. I added about 4 inches to the length to make it a maxi.

The fabric I used is viscose jersey left over from this top. I did have to take in the side seams considerably, as the pattern is drafted for woven fabrics, and the Liv body is slimmer than the Barbie body it was drafted for. I ended up just sewing all the seams at 5/8 instead of 1/4 inch. It worked out perfectly.

Teresa was up next. Instead of a maxi dress, I decided to make her a skirt and top combo.

The top is from Simplicity 4702, which is quickly becoming my favorite Big 4 Barbie pattern for basics. This top is a halter style with a tie at the neck and velcro to close the back.

The fabric I used was a thrifted baby shirt. The pointelle knit is pretty and perfectly scaled for Barbie. It also had a nice lettuce edged hem that I used as the bottom edge of Teresa's top.

The skirt started out as the straight skirt from Simplicity 4702, lengthened to maxi length. I skipped the darts of course, and used 3/8 elastic for the waistband, but it was way too bulky, so I hacked it off and added a yoga style waistband. The fabric is slinky knit left over from this top.

I left the side seams open below the knee as side slits. I simply hemmed the edges. I decided not to hem the bottom, as I had lost some length when I hacked off the elastic waistband. 1/4 inch is a lot when you are only a foot tall!

Raquelle got the last maxi dress. I really wanted something soft and floaty with a full, breezy skirt.

I started with Simplicity 8281, a vintage Barbie wardrobe pattern from 1977. View 4 is a cute empire waist sundress with a darted bodice and full skirt. The skirt is already midi length, so it only took a few inches to make it a maxi.

The fabric is a very lightweight rayon challis from fabric.com. It was left over from my BHL Anna maxi dress. Fabric is one of the trickiest parts of sewing for Barbie, as woven fabrics tend to have less drape that his scale, but I think the challis worked well here.

Once it was finished, the volume of the skirt and the placement of the seam had a bit of a maternity affect, which I definitely wasn't going for. I added a wide velveteen belt (borrowed from Army Barbie) which gave it exactly the look I wanted.

The straps were kind of painful to turn, but they definitely add to the look. In back, the dress closes with snaps, which I prefer over velcro for a snug bodice.

I love maxi dresses for relaxing in the summer. I think Barbie likes them too.