doll clothes

Hi Larisa,

I've made doll clothes galore all with great results...for Barbies up to American Girl Dolls. I use a small stitch length, and about a 1/4" seam. I usually leave the seams unfinished for cotton and the like, but with fabrics such as velvet or satin I'll serge the edges so they don't frey. The tricky thing is hemming those tiny cuffs! Ugh!

-Irene

-------------- You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.=20

--Mae West=20

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HINT: Basting tape is your friend, pins are a pain and take longer. I do use pins for major seams but not for those tiny hems. I also use it to place trims before sewing.

I've made piles of Barbie clothes and my easy solution for the hemming is

1/4 inch basting tape......(note: check the labeling, basting tape and craft tape are packaged almost identically, the craft tape will gum up your needle)...lay the tape on the wrong side edge and fold over the 1/4 inch and run a seam for the hem or fold it once more. I often use a decorative stitch that will somewhat overlap the raw turned edge. I've done this for lots of little Barbie outfits and they hold up just fine. For most little girls quantity edges out time consuming designer finishes. I also, depending on the age of the child, cut the small Velcro dots in quarters, use a little basting tape to place them on the garment and then do some quick "X" stitches to hold them down. For older children I use snaps and buttons. Even where buttons are called for I'll put either Velcro or a snap and sew the little button on top. Easier and more stable than a teeeeeeeeeeny little buttonhole. I found a web site that sold tiny zippers for Barbie clothes a long time ago and bought a huge package that I still haven't worked through after 15 years. Once again, basting tape is your friend.

If something is really ravely I lay the cut piece flat on stabilizer and serge what will be raw edges before I sew it up. I still use the basting tape trick on those. Much easier than trying to pin. I also use that clear plastic sort of "U" shaped foot on my machine for the tiny sleeves and pant legs. It's shorter so it fits inside the loop better.

The one thing that I have done is lay the uncut tissue pattern on iron on interfacing and then cut them out. I have patterns that are over 20 years old and still remain in very usable condition.

Val

I can not believe she is old enough for Barbies already. It seems just last week, she was so tiny. Kids do grow up so fast. Emily

I make barbie clothes, and I find that it is easier to use my Singer

99 (or any straight stitch machine) to stitch those 1/4' seams, as the feed dogs are closer together, and the presser foot is narrower. (Yes, you could use the straight stitch foot on your zig zag machine, but the width the feed dogs are apart can make this narrow seam combined with such small scale difficult.)

Many sewists curse barbie clothes. (laughter)

Generally I finish the seams using a narrow zig zag on my Singer 401a, letting the edge of the z-z wrap the fabric edge in a pseudo serge. I may use better seam finishes for the more expensive barbie clothes, but I find that the simple z-z finish is usually suitable for "play" barbie outfits for little girls.

Tip: If you make your daughter's clothes, use left over scraps from her outfits to make similar barbie clothes. Little ones LOVE that.

me

A few years back I made matching dresses as Christmas gifts for my two neices, who were 9mo and 4 yrs old at the time. I also purchased a 14" doll (American Girl style) and made a matching dress for the doll as well as some other clothes for it (pants, jacket, etc). The doll and clothes were then a Christmas gift for the 4 yr old. What a hit the matching dress was! Their mom had a portrait taken of both girls and the doll all wearing their matching dresses. So cute!

-Irene

-------------- You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.=20

--Mae West=20

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LOL well, she'll be 3 in 14 days. Starting earlier on the Barbies than I did, which is why she has some of my first ones. If they have held up for 20+ years, they can take the beating she will give them. However, I didn't keep any clothes but the ones they came in, which is why I need to make some for her.

She is total girly girl right now - for her birthday, she wants a Dora cake and "Princess presents" lol.

Larisa

Thanks for all of the advice!! I was thinking that I might just do the hems by hand. Otherwise, I'd probably get too frustrated and trash the whole idea. I just made her some purple pants with a lilac turtleneck, and I still have those fabrics around here somewhere. My thought was to do just what was suggested and make Barbie clothes to match hers. Also, since I'm in the middle of the Christmas outfits, I was going to do a dress out of the scraps...glad to see I actually had a good thought about this!

I'm still wondering why I ever thought about doing this. Last time I made anything for a Barbie, I was my son's age, mom helped me cut it out, and it was all sewn by hand...that is roughly 27 years ago!!! ARGH!

Will post a link to pictures when I get some done, so you can see how all your advice helped me!

Thanks again,Larisa

I traced mine onto typing paper, using an iron-on pencil. Pattern laid out and all marks marked in one fell swoop! So there are some pink marks inside the clothes -- they have gone together perfectly on the outside.

(This was back when Barbie was eleven inches tall, so the parts were really tiny.)

Joy Beeson

That's what I did when I made Barbie clothes. (Egad, the kids are

*grandparents*!) But way back then, you didn't "finish" *any* seams. If the fabric was ravelly, you'd pink the edge and run a line of straight stitch about a quarter inch in. Sewing books also recommended turning the edge of the seam allowance under and stitching to make it stay folded, but I never saw this finish in person. A lot of work to make a thick edge that might show through to the right side, in my opinion.

I still don't "finish" seam allowances. If I don't want a raw edge, I'll flat fell the seam or make a french seam.

Joy Beeson

Dear Larissa,

I made tons of Barbie clothes for the original Barbie back in the fifties. I lines everything--much easier than trying to finish seams.

Teri

LOL Oh there are times...but see, these fall into the "vintage" category. As in, if they were in perfect condition and I still had the boxes, they would be worth quite a bit. However, for the ones that I gave her, this is not true. There are about 30 more, still in their boxes, stored in the garage. I still have to find the "Happy Family" barbies that DH bought for me....perfect for the kids to play with as there is dad and the older brother and mom and the baby sister.

LArisa

cea wrote:

I can't find a simple link to this, so go to

then scroll down to Burning Man, look for the little "more" on the right of it. A pop-up menu lists several galleries - including the Barbie Death Camp, which you gotta see. Some of you do. If you loooooove Barbie, skip it.

Hehehehehehhehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For those of you having a problem finding the "Barbie Death Camp", here is a direct link to the gallery in question:

Have you seen this Barbie? You might like her:

It's my favorite Barbie memorabilia. My second favorite is the letter to Santa -- you know, where she threatens a meltdown? LOL