Barbie Strapless Shell Dress and Cape

I mentioned in Friday's Ken post that I had stumbled upon a new to me out of print newsprint series of doll patterns published by Tower Press. This one is even more low tech than the House of White Birches one and the patterns reflect more of a 1970's feel, but again there are some here that will work for my donation and if I see others in this series I'd be more likely to pick them up.

One of the things I liked about this leaflet is like the House of White Birches on its focused only on fashion dolls. I have some other vintage titles that try to hit a variety of dolls, some even a variety of craft styles and often the patterns aren't as helpful. It would perhaps have been better if the editors had narrowed the topic and picked patterns people would make.

This is listed as p-810 by Lynn Vol 2. I'm interested to see if I come across more of these as they are designed to build a basic doll wardrobe.

I'm a big fan of quick projects. This was finished in a day and ready to go in Barbie's donation bag.

I ended up consulting with Crochetville board members on the meaning of sc behind the dc row. I tried a back post stitch and it was clear that the result was way to bulky for a doll dress. The quality of the black and white photo printed on newsprint combined with the section of the dress being covered by the cape made guessing more challenging. However, the suggestion to work in the blo for these rows worked out and solved my question on how to get the pattern to work. I was especially pleased since this direction shows up in several of the other patterns.

I would experiment with the reductions at the bodice when I make this the next time. I ended up fixing a gap when I finished the back prior to adding a snap for closing the dress. There does need to be a reduction but modern Barbies have larger waists I suspect than the older models and I'll need to account for this as I'm looking at the reductions.

I used the suggested e hook and switched to a sport weight 2 cotton yarn after trying a 3 weight baby yarn that was too heavy. I have no idea what brand this is but it is on my orphan yarns to use up list so while not finished it at least was usesd. The pattern suggests using a pearl button for the cape which I missed. Not sure I have one Barbie sized but I'd look before making this the next time.

Barbie Bathing Suit Cover-Up

One of the lessons I've learned since I started back down the road of making Barbie clothes is when I start with a new pattern leaflet try a small item to work out guage before moving on to the more complicated patterns.

Now you might ask why not just use the pattern guage. Well I do that, but I've got two challenges with that. The first is my guage doesn't always match that of the designer. Sometimes I'm spot on and sometimes it feels like we are doing completely different crafts.

The second challenge is more practical. While I am honest about my lack of Barbie expertise, I have learned that Barbie has changed and continues to change in size despite retaining the 11 1/2 inch height. Therefore, when you look at an older publication you don't know precisely which Barbie or other fashion doll those clothes were sized to fit. While I might have a challenge if I had the same doll the designer used in matching gauge. I can guarentee I can't trust the guage will match when working on a modern Barbie. I choose to try a small project before jumping to a larger project. It generally helps me to work out some of the sizing issues before also adding more complicated construction issues.

This pattern comes from Lesiure Arts Vacation Fashion Doll Wardrobe 2716. This was another leaflet that was in my Barbie binder from my last round of doll clothes making that I didn't use because the patterns are all made with crochet thread. While I wasn't able to use them back then, they have proved a wonderful investment for my current projects. I have my own pattern library to pick through to find items to make that I'd never tried before.

This also reminded me of the extra clothes we used to need when visting the less than warm waters of Hampton Beach, NH in the summers of my childhood. While the air might have been hot your feet sometimes felt like they were frozen when you returned to the hot sand. So having warm to put on was essential to our beach outings. Barbie's coverup is a bit more fashionable than my beach clothing of those days, but it brought back some fun memories.

Notes:

To get the sizing I wanted I used a Tulip Etimo Steel -Size 2/1.5mm Crochet Hook with Aunt Lydia Crochet Cotton, White and golden yellow.

Barbie Easter Bunny Costume

I decided to try out my new talent with thread to make Barbie an Easter Bunny costume. This pattern is an out of print Bunny Costume from Annie's Fashion Doll Crochet Club, FC24-03 published in 1996. It was written by Jo Ann Bright for anyone who might want to find it on any of the resale sites.

It came out a little bigger than I expected, but considering how the thread catches that might not be such a bad thing. I was surprised because when I originally checked my gauge, I was concerned I might end up on the small side. Therefore, either my gauge changed or the gauge for the pattern was off. I tend to think it was my mistake.

Based on the fall scenery of the pattern picture, I believe this was originally intended as a Halloween costume. However, it seems perfect for Barbie to hand out Easter Eggs at her local Easter egg hunt with Skipper and Kelly or Chelsea, as I believe she is now being called. The clock is ticking on getting my Easter projects out and I am participating in an Amigurumi Swap. I have at least one item for the swap completed. We will have to see how far I get with anything else for that package while finishing my Easter box. I have several finished Easter projects to post this week. I only need one more ami bunny to finish the set. I have three ready to share this week. I will wait until after the swap is over to post my swap projects.

Barbie and American Girl Doll Free Patterns are listed on my blog at these locations:

Barbie Crochet and Sewing Page

Barbie Knitting Page

Ken Page

Kelly/Skipper Page

American Girl Doll Crochet and Sewing

American Girl Doll Knitting

Doll Blankets and Pillow Patterns

Additional Doll Patterns also Available on the Holiday Blogs:

Christmas

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

Barbie Irish Dress

Annie's Attic has created e-patterns for many of their patterns, but I wish they would revisit their old doll and toy patterns. I keep searching the vintage markets, but the competition is fierce and the prices can be intimidating.

This dress is my adaptation of the Irish Lass pattern from Annie's Attic's Fashion Doll Wardrobe International, 87D10. People are often frustrated that I cannot offer them all the patterns I write about here. My suggestion is to lobby Annie's Attic to offer these patterns as e-patterns. I respect copy writes and will not violate them. These books are still available on vintage and auction sites. Check with friends and relatives that make dolls clothes. I suspect I am not the only collector of these booklets. You may find people who are willing to loan you the pattern.

This dress was one of the most challenging Barbie outfits I have made. The pattern calls for Knit-Cro-Sheen. I used Knit Picks Finger Yarn and Bernat Baby Yarn. I ended up decreasing the stitches in the skirt. The top fit as written. The details were fun to try. The vest came out better than expected. The apron needs more work for me to be satisfied. I will try again. I will be revisiting this pattern. It made a nice addition to my St. Patrick's Day package.

Barbie and American Girl Doll Free Patterns are listed on my blog at these locations:

Barbie Crochet and Sewing Page

Barbie Knitting Page

Ken Page

Kelly/Skipper Page

American Girl Doll Crochet and Sewing

American Girl Doll Knitting

Additional Doll Patterns also Available on the Holiday Blogs:

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Pictures may not be used without written permission.