I love custom sewing orders (and am still taking them, in case you wondered!) There is something really fun about starting from scratch and creating something unique and personal. I think even if I had a lot of money, which I don’t, I’d still want to sew on my own to make things just so.
When a friend contacted me about creating some modern, modest Barbie clothes, I was at once excited and nervous. Little girls dresses and costumes are one thing, but teeny tiny curvy WOMAN clothes? I wasn’t sure how it would go. But, I’ve never been one to turn down a sewing challenge, especially one that peaks my curiosity. And, I may have a girl of my own one day who wants some hip Barbie stuff, right? Now is the time to learn.
Well, I definitely did learn. A few things. Let me share them with you:
1) Barbie’s curves aren’t squishy (like mine…) I kept thinking if I made the item of clothing just right, I could slip it up over the hips, down over the chest, etc. There is no slipping along this hard curvaceous plastic body. The clothing needs to either button, velcro or snap into place if it isn’t completely stretchy. That said, I do love the way this little denim pleated shirt and boatneck striped blouse turned out. I’d probably wear them myself.
2) 1/4″ seam on a 2″ shirt=disaster. It didn’t occur to me, until after completing the first version of this striped tee, that I needed to extend the seam allowance on my little pattern pieces disproportionately to the clothes. I was using the serger, so I had a fixed seam, and I kept sewing the shoulders right off! And an off-the-shoulder shirt, however modern, is not modest. Finally I added sufficient material to the shoulders and sleeves and ended up with this girl’s go-to striped tee. What better compliment than a red tucked pencil skirt with a turquoise waistband? Uh-dorable.
3) 1/4″ seam allowance on a 1″ bodice= maternity dress. I was rolling along so well on what I thought would be a really cool full skirted dress. The bodice was fitting correctly after my darting for the bust. The sleeves were perfect. The skirt was gathered and ready to go. Then I joined the two together at the waist, which ended up being the princess seam when I was through. Seriously cut off half of the bodice with that seam! There was no redemption from this one, so it’s now a nighty for my neighbor girls (who sweetly loaned me their Barbie to be my model…) and I decided to stick to jersey for the dresses.
4) Barbie rocks the stretch. Maybe I am just a knit material girl, but I felt immediately comfortable whipping Barbie up a couple dresses in jersey. I was inspired by my maxi maternity dress for this one, and rushed along both sides. I love the result. Simple, hip, modest.
5) Barbie rocks the leather. Since the outfits will be divided between two little recipients, I stuck with the grey jersey and made a simple maxi dress with a leather bow belt. I almost stopped there, but then went ahead and added a leather peter pan collar so it’s still cute when that belt gets lost for a little trendy twist.
Fun little project. Got me in the sewing mood again (I’ve taken a few days off to organize my sewing closet, which is coming along nicely.)
Next up on my list to sew? Some PJ pants for Milo (who is growing like a dandelion), the hems on some pants, and a skirt or dress for myself out of this awesome multicolor bicycle print my mom gave me over a year ago (that she had bought probably 20 years ago…) that I spotted yesterday guess where. For real. Exact same print, but mine is several colors rather than just two. Love that.
Hope all is splendid in your January lives. I have a fun idea to post later this week, if I can pull it together sometime. Cheers!
