Friday, November 02, 2012

Project Runway - Christmas Edition

I was on Pinterest one day and saw a link to this blog- Craftiness is not optional.  On there are tutorials for making Barbie clothes and I was like, "What? I could make Barbie look more like the girl next door and less like the cocktail waitress from the corner bar?!!?  Sign me up."  Now, I know there are Barbie clothes in the stores- but not as many as you might think, and they are made of really cheap materials that tear easily.  (Trust me, I know, I've been shopping for them.)  And despite the marketing of Dr. Barbie, Archaeologist Barbie, etc., most outfits are either designed for Hoochie Barbie or Princess Barbie.  Ugh.  So, don't tell Charlotte, but this Christmas she will be getting some Barbie clothes made by MOM.



My first pattern choice was the "simple skirt." It is really easy, so I made eight of them.  Doesn't Tiana look like she is ready for the neighborhood 4th of July picnic?


This little dress is possibly my favorite.  All of the fabrics came from my scrap box.


I made four dresses total. The ones without sleeves took about 10-15 minutes start to finish.


I'm not great at doing the darts yet, and Ariel is not as.. um.. well endowed as some of the other Barbies in the house, but I wanted to make one gown out of red satin.  It's okay.  The satin was harder to work with though for sure.  I also made a top out of the red satin.


I love this one too.  It's a bit longer and I found a scrap of white eyelet in my mom's old sewing basket so I trimmed the bottom. 


This poofy skirt is adorable... if I do say so myself.  I used the last bit of white eyelet to trim it.  I would totally wear this outfit.


Some of the tops have darts in the to give them a more fitted look, this one does not.

Altogether I made 8 tops, 8 simple skirts, 5 poofy skirts, and 4 dresses.  I hope that Charlotte will like them. I had fun doing this project for her.  Possibly too much fun.  And I will certainly be more willing to play Barbies with my sweet girl in the new year.  ;)  


4 comments:

Aubrey said...

Julie, these are AMAZING! My girls aren't into Barbies because I have never bought them one. The horrible clothes are a HUGE reason for my avoidance. When that first Barbie arrives -- and she WILL arrive if my MIL has anything to say about it -- I'm going to have to give this a try.

P.S. Loved the euphemisms for SLUTTY. Hoochie made me laugh out loud. :)

Mandy Benton said...

Oh Julie how sweet!!! I LOVED Barbie growing up and still have some of my favorites tucked away for Maebry. I hate sewing with a passion but these little dresses are so cute. Wish I had some adult sizes for me!

Johnson Family said...

Awesome job! There is a woman in our ward that told me once she makes Barbie clothes by order - that lots of religions go looking for modest Barbie clothes. My girls have not been super into Barbie, but if they were, I would need to learn this! You could sell this stuff!

chrisnallynkids said...

I love this! I found out how frustrating buying Barbie clothes could be a few years ago. I thought we had plenty of Barbies and now I could just buy some clothes for them. Well, turns out, it is about as expensive to buy Barbie clothes as buying the Barbie to go with it. I don't sew much, but Barbie clothes are something I have wanted to try making. I was so elated one day about 2 years ago when I hit a jack pot garage sale. They had bags of Barbie clothes and accessories they were practically giving away. Good Job Julie!!! Now I just have to teach my girls how to sew.....something they have begged and begged to do.