Barbie Winter Formal Dress

I went back to look for notes for this project and the last time I made this outfit was in 2011 for a now adult niece. However, I did realize one challenge has remained the same. The original directions for this dress don't fit the Barbie I'm using. The Barbie I used back then and my current model are slightly larger than the Vet model I used in previous years. I'm going to try this with the directions as written to see if it would fit Skipper without changes I needed to make for Barbie.

This pattern comes from an old out of print Annie's pattern club leaflet, Fashion Doll Quick and Easy 87D20. The original pattern uses trim for the skirt, top, shawl, and as an outline for the dress. Oddly there is no mention of what kind of trim or how to attach it. The trim in the pattern picture creates a beautiful illusion of there being an under and overskirt but with the time and resources I had on hand the trim wasn't an option.

When I previously made this dress I made limited mention of the changes I needed to get the outfit to fit the doll. I plan on a more fuller explanation for my own purposes because I will return as Barbie has become a more fixed donation and this is a quick outfit to add.

Notes:

I followed the skirt pattern and the shawl pattern as written with the exception of the trims. I eliminated the trim for the skirt as I've yet to figure out how this can be done easily without directions.

For the shawl I used size 5 crochet thread and a D hook and used a shell pattern of dc ch1 dc ch1 dc (3 dc with a chain between them) around the edge of the shawl spaced as evenly as I could. One change I would make is to make a larger shell at the spike of the shawl. I had ended it off before I realized this would have been a better option and didn't wish to go back. This would work well for next time. The shawl closes with a snap.

I tried a variety of yarns for the dress to see if I could get it to fit the waist line before resorting to my old trick of using elastic for the waist and crocheting around it.

I have an old big ball of Red Heart sport yarn that I used for this project. I picked it up back in the time I was still making Barbie clothes and really haven't touched it since. I'm hoping to utilize it for more Barbie projects and finally send it off.

I measured the elastic around Barbie's waist and sewed it together.

It took 29 sc to cover the elastic join and continue to join for all bodice rows.

From here I worked up the bodice section.

Dc 5 decrease around

DC 4 decrease around (21)

DC 3 decrease around (18)

DC even for 2 rows I might reduce this to one with the added trim.

I would use the size 5 crochet thread next time for the top. I didn't come up with the idea until working on the shawl.

Creating the bodice this way makes the dress slide on and off with no need for snaps or buttons.

I followed the skirt pattern as written although I believe mine was short on rows as the bodice was longer. It's a trade off I need to work on. As I mentioned above I'd likely reduce a row on the bodice which would start the skirt higher giving it a better look.