Barbie Miss Freedom

Having finished Ken's outfit I moved on to Barbie's.

My favorite part of this outfit and the one thing I'd love to come back to again is the skirt. To revisit this outfit I would like better accessories for it as it is a good bit of effort and I wasn't as pleased with the outcome as I'd hoped.

The only item other than the skirt that did not require a 1.25mm hook was the hat which again was the 1.8mm.

Skirt:

The skirt was a somewhat challenging fit at the waist. I did the first two rows switching to a 1.8 mm hook for the rest of the skirt. Once past the initial waist area a B hook was far to large but the skirt would not have fit without starting with the larger hook to establish a wider waist.

This outfit was made with size 10 crochet thread.

Bib:

I'd actually try adapting Ken's bib to Barbie if I made this again. The mock turtleneck looks nice but it doesn't connect well in the back and makes for a bulky join.

Jacket:

This version of the jacket does add the arms as you go but I had to play with the stitches a bit avoid sewing the arms together at the end.

Ken Mr. Freedom

One of the advantages to working on a holiday donation a year in advance is when you miss a holiday deadline you still are ahead of the calendar. I started working on the Independence Day outfits for Ken and Barbie in June but life happens and I finished both up over the weekend.

A while back I had received as gifts patterns from Judys Dolls and Patterns. Her patterns were more complicated than many I had tried but I loved the various styles and themes. Sadly when I went back to link this pattern I found her Etsy page was gone. Now that I had started to work on her patterns I was hoping to purchase more.

In case she does make a return to the Internet this was her Mr. and Miss Freedom pattern that gives holiday outfits for Ken and Barbie sized fashion dolls. One of the reasons I had hoped she was still online is I did find a missing row 8 in Ken's trousers pattern which left me clueless as to how to proceed with a different style of pants than I normally make so I reverted back to my traditional split for the legs as I couldn't figure what had happened in row 8 that possibly made the count in row 9 real.

Notes:

Trousers:

Size 10 thread and 1.25mm hook

I followed rows 1-7 and did my own split for the legs. After doing so I only needed 23 rows for each leg. This could be do to change of pattern of the Ken I made this for either is possible.

Bib:

The jacket was listed next but I thought I'd have a better chance figuring hook size if I made the bib and vest first and this worked out better for me.

I used a 1.25 mm hook and did pattern as written.

Vest:

1.25mm hook

I used a button and avoided snap or bead. I tried the bead but since this wasn't a display doll glue wasn't an option and sewing ruined the look. A small button worked better.

Hat:

The hat was tight and I ended up with a 1.8mm hook

Jacket:

I found the jacket for both dolls a bit tricky to get the front lapels to work correctly.

The pattern calls for the sleeves to be made and sewn in but I've never had luck with this option so I opted to match the stitch count and crochet them on.