I got my start as a designer sewing for Barbie and she has been the inspiration for many others.
Big named designers have created amazing outfits for her, mostly as one of a kind art pieces.
Big named designers have created amazing outfits for her, mostly as one of a kind art pieces.
Wedding dress by British designer Freddy Fox
My family knows how important Barbie has been for me and over the years have giving me Barbie books.
The one on the right "Barbie, what a doll", is basically a photo album of lots and lots of her outfits from the beginning, 1959, until 1994 when the book was published.
I love this book because it has good studio shots of what the Barbie clothes I own looked like before I played with them to death, like this beautiful wool knit career suit. Barbie started off as "the teenage fashion model." I still have all the pieces to this outfit, except the neat red hat box!
The one on the right "Barbie, what a doll", is basically a photo album of lots and lots of her outfits from the beginning, 1959, until 1994 when the book was published.
I love this book because it has good studio shots of what the Barbie clothes I own looked like before I played with them to death, like this beautiful wool knit career suit. Barbie started off as "the teenage fashion model." I still have all the pieces to this outfit, except the neat red hat box!
The middle book, "The collectible Barbie" focuses on collecting, no surprise. This book has a photo of MY Barbie case ... very exciting!
Read my previous blogs to see the one I own filled with clothes.
Barbie blog
Ken Blog
Read my previous blogs to see the one I own filled with clothes.
Barbie blog
Ken Blog
The book I like the best, is "Barbie, her life and times" by BillyBoy. It is a detailed account of Barbie's origins filled with beautiful photos of Barbies from 1959 - 1987, when it was published. But, all I care about, really, are the early Barbies. This is one of my favorite photos in this book. It shows another outfit I own, in perfect condition.
I don't think there has ever been such a Barbie fan as BillyBoy. He convinced a huge number of very famous designers in the late '80s from France, Italy, England, and America to create wild ensembles for Barbie and Ken. Below are just a few.
 Gown by Valentino, hair by Sergio Valenti!  Sweaters by Perry Ellis |  Fun outfit by Kenzo  two outfits by Yves Saint Laurent |
As a professional toy designer and designer of patterns for home sewing, I have gotten to design and make lots of clothing for Barbie and Barbie sized dolls.
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These two were for a Hanna Montana doll (now that was a few years ago!) and were meant to be sewn in a factory not by the home sewer.
When making something that will be sewn in a factory, I know exactly what fabric will be used for each piece and that can make a big difference in the fit of the garment. Also the ladies who sew these clothes are experts in working on this scale. The seam allowance used is 3/16" instead of 1/4" that I use when making home sewing patterns. So, the fit of factory made dolls clothes will be much better.
When making something that will be sewn in a factory, I know exactly what fabric will be used for each piece and that can make a big difference in the fit of the garment. Also the ladies who sew these clothes are experts in working on this scale. The seam allowance used is 3/16" instead of 1/4" that I use when making home sewing patterns. So, the fit of factory made dolls clothes will be much better.
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These are my reference photos of the most recent fashion doll clothes I made for Simplicity. Including, below, front and side of Kate Middleton's wedding dress.
The original concept for this pattern was to make REALLY simple pieces in 3 sizes for Barbie, Bratz, Liv, Moxie, etc. But, half way through Simplicity called and asked me to include the wedding dress. So, pretty much these are easy piece, except for the wedding dress.
There is a lesson for sewing tiny doll clothes on the Simplicity website I wrote when I made this pattern. It talks about fabric choices and has tips such as using tweezers to guide the fabric under the machine needle. Click here to check it out.
One more word of caution about this pattern. The sizing can be confusing because Simplicity judged the 3 sizes by height, but it should really go by body measurements. Barbie and Liv are Large, Moxie is Medium and Bratz is small.
Here are my basic body measurements for these dolls. I'm going to give you 4 measurements in this order ... Bust, Waist, Hip and back waist length (nape to waist) for each size. Then measure your doll to determine the size.
Large - 5"- 3 1/8" - 5" - 2 1/4"
Medium - 4" - 2 7/8" - 4 1/8" - 1 5/8"
Small - 3 1/2" - 2 3/8" - 3 5/8" - 1 3/8"
Please write with any questions about these clothes!
The original concept for this pattern was to make REALLY simple pieces in 3 sizes for Barbie, Bratz, Liv, Moxie, etc. But, half way through Simplicity called and asked me to include the wedding dress. So, pretty much these are easy piece, except for the wedding dress.
There is a lesson for sewing tiny doll clothes on the Simplicity website I wrote when I made this pattern. It talks about fabric choices and has tips such as using tweezers to guide the fabric under the machine needle. Click here to check it out.
One more word of caution about this pattern. The sizing can be confusing because Simplicity judged the 3 sizes by height, but it should really go by body measurements. Barbie and Liv are Large, Moxie is Medium and Bratz is small.
Here are my basic body measurements for these dolls. I'm going to give you 4 measurements in this order ... Bust, Waist, Hip and back waist length (nape to waist) for each size. Then measure your doll to determine the size.
Large - 5"- 3 1/8" - 5" - 2 1/4"
Medium - 4" - 2 7/8" - 4 1/8" - 1 5/8"
Small - 3 1/2" - 2 3/8" - 3 5/8" - 1 3/8"
Please write with any questions about these clothes!
Well, this has turned out to be Barbie week. I forgot how much I loved playing with her.
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