Playscale Halloween

Halloween always seems to sneak up on me. I have no excuse. It's the same time every year...

Pris is a little pissed off that she didn't get the epic witch costume I had in mind for her, but this little top and skirt number will have to do. I think it's pretty wicked looking, at any rate.

This top though. I'm super pleased with it. The little waist cut out and peplum are so on trend. I started out with McCalls 7428, view C. Babs was pretty fashion forward in 1964! This view is a dress with a gathered skirt, but I was intrigued by the wrap bodice. It doesn't look like much on the pattern envelope, but it is really interesting. The skirt and bodice don't attach in front, leaving the keyhole opening you see here.

In back, the top has a pretty little v neckline, and is topstitched to the peplum waistband. The peplum is a simple 1/2 circle skirt that I nabbed from one of the other views and shortened to hip length. The only closures on the top are two snaps. One closes the skirt portion and the other the wrap top.

The skirt is Simplicity 4702, my go to pencil skirt pattern for Barbie. I was going to make it maxi length with a thigh high slit, but I think this mini works really well with the top, and my girls will definitely get a lot of use out of a basic black mini.

I hope those of you who celebrate it have a wonderful Halloween. But watch out for witches with shiny apples! Mwahahahahaha!!!

Bow Girls!

A few years ago, I bought this cute bow print thermal knit from Girl Charlee. It took me forever to finally sew it up!

My original plan for this fabric was a sweatshirt style top for me. I wanted something comfortable just for hanging out at home, but even at home I like to be cute.

I wanted a sleek fit and I thought a dropped shoulder would be fun. I started with the Kitschy Coo Comino Cap top, which I love the fit of, and just drafted a semi-fitted sleeve. Instead of a band at the neckline, I bound it with my coverstitch, which made the neckline a little bit higher.

I love the slightly scooped back neckline of this top. It's so pretty. You can see the dropped shoulder a bit better from the back. I think it's a fun detail. It nods to the wide shouldered 80s trend without the linebacker shoulder pads.

Since the Comino Cap Top is so economical of fabric, even with long sleeves, I had a ton of fabric left over.

Myra got the bulk of the leftovers. I pulled out an Ottobre raglan tee pattern I've made for her twice before. It is from the 04/2013 issue and has a nice fitted shape with a bound neckline. I made the sleeves 3/4 length, as Myra has trouble keeping long sleeves out of messes. And because her cute baby-chubby wrists slay me.

When I showed Myra her new top, she immediately wanted to know where Teresa's was. Ooops. Back to the sewing room! I was initially trepidatious about this print on Barbie, since the scale is rather large, but it worked out nicely with a single motif centered on the front of the tee, and at the sleeve hems. Teresa got a bound neckline too. The pattern is a blend of Simplicity 4719 and 4702.

So, between sewing a trio of thermal knit tees, and this weekend's extremely pleasant weather, I think I'm ready to start sewing for Fall and Winter. Bring on the wool! I'm ready!

School Spirit Refashion

One of our neighbors has a daughter who has just moved up from the Elementary School (where Myra and Logan attend) to the Middle School. She passed down a couple of tee shirts to Myra, but they were a bit too large...

I considered just taking them in at the side seams, but the neckline was slightly off the shoulder and the logo was weirdly placed on her chest, so I decided to completely remake them.

I thought a baseball style tee would be cute, so I used Ottobre 04/2013-12, which I've made for her before. I accented with white to make the logo stand out.

For the main body of the shirt, I sliced the original shirt at the sides, then removed the sleeves and cut the shoulder seams. I did my best to get the fabric on grain, which was impossible in front since the logo has to stay level, but I think I got the back pretty close.

The white fabric is Chez Ami interlock. It makes great binding fabric, since it is so stable and has excellent recovery.

Since I didn't need the sleeve fabric for Myra's new top, I decided to use them to make Summer a tee, along with a tiny scrap of white rayon jersey so she and Myra could match.

Summer's top was made using Simplicity 4702. I lengthened the top 1/2 inch and slimmed it about 1/4 inch at the side seams. Summer has a Model Muse body, which is taller and slimmer than Barbie's Belly Button Body. I also made Summer's Bermuda shorts, using a tracing from the pants the Divergent/Tris doll wears. I shortened them to hit just above the knee and slimmed them slightly at the side seam, again to fit the Model Muse body.

Myra likes her new shirt very much, and especially loves that she can match Summer! She told me that she wants me to make all her dolls new shirts. Sadly, there are no more sleeves! We'll have to wait for the next Myra make.

Back in the Country: Backwoods Barbie

I actually made this outfit some time ago, but I never took pictures of it. It suits though that I waited until I was living more in the country to post it, since it's kind of a country girl look.

I started with some jeans shorts, using the pattern I used for the jeans in this post. I planned for these shorts to be worn by a doll with a Liv body, so I used my smallest version of the pattern, but neglected to account for the decreased stretch in this denim, so it doesn't fit Liv! Fortunately, the posable older style flat foot Barbie body has quite slim hips, so these fit Teresa very well.

To turn the jeans into cut-offs, I just cut the pattern piece short, and placed the hem line on the cut edge of the denim, which had already frayed just from handling.

The top is also from Simplicity 4702, with some slight alterations. The pattern instructs you to make a casing for the sleeves, but I just stitched on the elastic and turned it under. I used clear elastic to minimize bulk.

The neckline is supposed to be finished with a facing, with a bit of lace trim sandwiched in between the neckline and the facing. I skipped the lace altogether, and gathering the neckline into a facing seemed like an exercise in futility at this scale, so I just applied elastic in the neckline, just like the sleeves.

I added some elastic shirring under the bust for some shaping, and trimmed the empire line with polka dotted ribbon and a satin rosette.

I made a halfhearted effort to match the gingham at the side seams. It came close, so I'll take it. My walking foot doesn't like these teeny seam allowances, so I need to pin more. You can see the teeny rivets I included on the shorts. Teeny rivets (actually 2mm hotfix studs) make me happy.

She also got functional back pockets on her shorts. Her top closes in back with velcro. The gingham matches well back there!

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.

Daniel Bingham Designs Hostess Blouse

Now that I feel like I have the basics down in terms of sewing in 1/6 scale, I felt like I was ready for a challenge, but sadly most of the commercial Barbie patterns out there are "Easy", "Perfect for Beginners!" or "Make it in 30 minutes!". Where is the Claire Schaeffer of Dolly land??

Fortunately for me, there exist in the Barbie world a few independent pattern companies to cater for to my desire for couture. One such is Daniel Bingham. They offer high end sewing and knitting pattern for the doll enthusiast, as well as Spoonflower designs to print your own fabrics in the perfect scale.

Evie is modelling the Hostess Blouse for you. It is a FREE pattern from the site, so perfect to try out this line. Despite being free, there was no cutting corners with the quality of this pattern.

I don't even think I have words enough to express how impressed I was with this pattern. The pattern pieces were easy to read and use. The download and print process was effortless. The directions were clear and so complete.

The blouse if fully lined (!!!), and includes a separate underlap for the snap placket.The pattern includes tips for dealing with the bias cut chiffon collar, as well as seam finishing and pressing instructions. Seriously, this was one of the best written patterns I have ever seen. And it was for BARBIE!! I've already downloaded their suit pattern and read through it. The tailoring instructions are amazing. I can't wait to make it.

So, my version has a few imperfections that I think come down to poor fabric choice. The brocade I chose is beautiful, but it really is too thick for Barbie clothing, and it was really unstable, so my pattern pieces stretched out of shape in places. The hem is the most egregious. It is too high over one hip, and rippled all over the place.

The chiffon for the upper blouse is a pretty orange and red ombre, which isn't too obvious at this scale. It also has a subtle golden sheen that compliments both the brocade and Evie's coloring. It was actually easy to work with, particularly since it is polyester. The tendency for chiffon to shift and move around was really minimized when the pattern pieces are this small. It really was surprisingly easy to handle, which was good given the trouble I was having with the brocade.

The front of the blouse is lovely, but the back is really a knockout. The neckline scoops into a low v, and the collar opens into points around the back closure. I added two small pearls to the collar points, partly to keep them in place. They tended to wing up a bit, since polyester doesn't press well, I suspect had I made it with silk I wouldn't have had this problem.

The skirt, by comparison is pretty unexciting. I used Simplicity 4702, which is rapidly becoming my favorite basic Barbie pattern. The skirt in this pattern is quite short, and I wanted a more sophisticated look. I added 4 inches to the length, which equates to adding 24 inches to a human sized skirt. That is one short skirt... I pegged the hem a little for a vintage look.

I am so thrilled to have found this pattern and this company! Barbie's wardrobe is about to get amazing.