March of the Shieldmaidens: Barbie style

Hwæt! March of the Shieldmaidens is upon us! This was the perfect opportunity to sew a fun ensemble for this cute Nordic looking Barbie I stumbled upon at the thrift store. Disclaimer: There are many historical inaccuracies here. It's purely for fun.

The outfit begins with a simple underdress in a spring green. I think this color was a reasonable one, that would have been easily obtainable in Norse times. The fabric is a rather unfortunate polyester faille, but Barbie's skin doesn't need to breathe. The pattern I used (Simplicity 8333) is a peasant top, which I lengthened into a dress. I also added a drape to the sleeves, which is pretty, but probably not very practical for your average Shieldmaiden.

The second piece is her Viking apron. This is made of an earthy brown linen. It is just two rectangles sewn together at the sides. I left long vents below the hip for easy mobility, should Barbie need to do any sword play.

The broaches are decorative beads. I like the simplicity of them. I gathered the neckline of her underdress with some anachronistic elastic. There's a bit of velcro back there, too.

I added a leather thong tied in a square knot for some waist definition.

And of course, our Shieldmaiden needed a Shield! I made this one out of a picture I printed off the internet and glued to a bit of cardboard.

Then all semblance of historical accuracy flew out the window, as I really wanted to sew her a leather corset. This is the same pattern as my last post, but made from a rayon bonded leather from fabric.com. I love it over her underdress.

But it's even more "fantasy Viking wench" over her apron! I'm loving how these pieces work together, and despite the historical inaccuracies, I think I did a better job than Mattel. Have you seen Viking Barbie??

Simplicity 8333 in faux leather and ponte

Making Barbie clothes is strangely satisfying. And I had some biggish scraps of the faux leather after I made my pants. Obviously, Barbie (or Belle, in this case) needed a tough girl look.

The pattern I used this time is Simplicity 8333, which was printed in 1987. This view is intended to be a tracksuit, with a sleeveless top, jogging pants and a sweat jacket, but it has good bones. The raglan sleeved jacket was just begging to be made in leather and ponte. This leather doesn't like topstitching, so I omitted the front closure and fused down the front fold over facing.

The top and pants are excellent basics. The pants are simple straight leg with an elastic waist. The waistband is a bit tricky to attach, since it is so small, but otherwise, these are a simple sew. I did slim them somewhat from the original pattern for a sleeker look.

I think the top is my favorite piece. I made it in this studded jersey from Girl Charlee and trimmed the neckline with picot elastic. The pattern was drafted for wovens. I included the side dart for shaping, but I took a very large seam allowance to give the top a more fitted look. It closes in the back with velcro, to make it easy to get on and off.

I'm getting slightly addicted to sewing these teeny little clothes. They are great for using up little scraps that I would otherwise toss, so I feel good about that. They also go together really fast, so that's pretty fun. And Myra really loves them, so you'll be seeing more. But don't worry. I'm still an essentially selfish being. MOAR clothes for ME!

Simplicity 8333

There has been a lot of wedding talk* around here lately, and Myra was already a bit obsessed with brides, so she's been bugging me very interested lately in when I am going to sew her Barbie the promised wedding dress. Well, I don't really want to commit to the time I suspect it will take to make the Princess Katherine recreation right now (I do have a REAL wedding dress I'm working on!), so I decided to try out a different, but still fancy dress for Barbie's first wedding dress.

The pattern I used was part of my recent thrifting haul. It is Simplicity 8333, published in 1987. Although this isn't the "wedding" dress included with the pattern, I like it's lines much better than the fluffy, ruffly 80s wedding dress that is included. This dress is a simple wrap dress with a large collar. The skirt is full and gathered and it closes with a single snap at the waist. I used some scraps of taffeta left over from a previous wedding project and added a lace overlay to the collar, made of a swatch of Giselle stretch lace from fabric.com.

The bodice is actually pretty interesting. For Barbie clothes, it is extremely unfitted. In fact, the only seams are at the shoulders, so there is no shaping in the body at all. The wrap gives it some waist definition. The armholes are actually cut out of the bodice, clipped and turned under. All of the edge finishing is a simple 1/4 inch hem.

The veil is a large circle of organza, bound with satin binding and gathered at one edge. I topped it with some ribbon bows I had lying around and sewed on an alligator clip to affix it to Barbie's head. The clip is actually much too large and a bit unsightly, but it is easy for Myra to manage on her own, and I didn't want to spend all day fixing Barbie's veil.

Myra is thrilled with her new Barbie bride. She's always an appreciative child, but she was literally speechless when I showed her this. Myra's generally not one to cart toys around with her, but Barbie went everywhere with us.

* For those that may be curious, work on the wedding dress is proceeding well. We checked the fit on the lining this weekend, and only a minor tweak is needed, so I'm putting the bodice together now and we'll recheck the fit before I cut and assemble the lace overlay, There'll be a lot of precise work on the lace to do, and no chance to make fit changes at that stage, so I want it to be perfect before we proceed.