I played with my Barbies longer than most of my friends, but towards the end I suppose I used her more as a mannequin doll than a toy. It was a great education for me, as I made lots of clothes for my dolls from my mum's old McCall's Barbie pattern sheets. I would go so far as to say that I learned the basics of clothes sewing from making Barbie clothes. Because even though the clothes are tiny, the skills required are mostly the same - such as making darts, gathering waistlines, hemming and so on. And the pattern pieces for Barbie clothes from McCall's use the same termination as their human-sized patterns.
Most of these clothes were made in the early to mid '90s, using scraps from my mother's fabric cupboard. She also had some fabric swatch books from Laura Ashley, with swatches large enough to make a Barbie dress. I bought tiny buttons at a toy market, which I placed over snaps to make the clothes look more like the real thing. I must say, looking at these clothes again, that my early teen fashion sense was actually quite good. However, I suppose it couldn't have turned out all that horrible when what I had at hand was '60s patterns and fabrics...
A couple of weeks ago I had a fashion shoot in our living room, and intended to post them straight away, but due to illness and, well, everyday life, it has taken me quite a while to do so. I'll show you a few outfits from one of the pattern envelopes today, and then more later on.
McCall's pattern 7311 - front and back.
Wedding dress, made from parachute silk.
Shift dress, made from Laura Ashley swatch.
Long dress (wedding dress pattern), made from synthetic material and ribbon.
A baby corduroy suit for Ken, with real leather for the collar, pockets and elbow patches, based on the tuxedo pattern.
Blouse and slacks, made from scraps.
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