Monday, March 9, 2015

SUPERSIZE BARBIE PART 2

The My Size Barbie has finally gone to her new home.  I hope her new little owner will enjoy playing with her.

I ended up making her two dresses.  The client had only requested one but seriously, whoever heard of a Barbie doll with only ONE dress.

The first dress was based on a 'Review' brand dress I was altering for another client.  It was a lovely shape that just suited Barbie.  When this client came to pick up her altered dress, I told her I had copied her dress and she was quite happy about that.  Then I showed her what I had done and she was enchanted, she thought it was so cute.

 
The fabric is an actual Mattel licensed print with Barbie written inside pink hearts.  I found it with some fabric another retiring dressmaker had given me  - a lovely unexpected present.  She was retiring and found me on the internet and rang me up to offer me her fabric.  Some months later, here it was.  The perfect fabric and the perfect amount for this little girl's present.


Just before I sent the doll off, I added a headband made from the fabric scraps.  (Sorry, no pictures of that.)

For the second dress, I used the pink satin that the client had sent me and, just as Night Owl suggested, made a princess dress.  This one is all lined and has a tulle underskirt.  I would have liked to have added another layer or two of net  underneath to make the skirt even fuller but I also didn't want to make the skirt too big so I left it at one layer.




I also made a rose and put it on a hair clip to hold back some of her hair.








I'm not sure what her original hairstyle was like but now you can see her pretty face properly.


15 comments:

  1. Beautiful dresses. I especially like the darker pink one. The shape is so pretty. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Farrah. It was the perfect colour for a Barbie princess dress.

      Delete
  2. Fantastic job! I actually like both. One for dressy casual and one for those princess nights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you grandmommy - that's what I thought too. As I said, I couldn't have let her go with only one dress, my Barbies would never have forgiven me.

      Delete
  3. Wow! The printed fabric looks like it was meant for this project. I'm sure the kid will be thrilled!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are exactly right, there was just enough to make the dress and headband and maybe I can sqeeze out another headband. I just happened to decide to look through this fabric I was given as I was about to make the dress and there it was. I hope the girl is happy - I know her grandma is as she has already told me.

      Delete
  4. I really love this first dress - so cute and girly. The second is beautiful too, but the first is my favorite.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Welcome to my blog Natalia. Thank you so much. The first is a really pretty design. It is cute and girly but it suits everyone, I think. In real life, the dress I copied was being worn by a mother to her son's wedding.

      Delete
  5. Those are lovely dresses, Carrickters. I agree that Barbie should have more than 1 dress. The fabric rose hair ornament is a charming addition.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow! These are beautiful! I really like the first dress. Perfect for a tea party.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Gorgeous dresses and beautifully made!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hello from Spain: you sew very well. I love these dresses. She's very pretty. She looks like a real person.We keep in touch

    ReplyDelete
  9. The original dress on many of these dolls had an elasticized bodice designed so that it could also fit a little girl. Mine are destined to be dressed in traditional folk costumes so that they will become transportable mannequins for community festival display, if only there were some matching Ken dolls to partner them!

    ReplyDelete
  10. The original dress on many of these dolls had an elasticized bodice designed so that it could also fit a little girl. Mine are destined to be dressed in traditional folk costumes so that they will become transportable mannequins for community festival display, if only there were some matching Ken dolls to partner them!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Yes, some of the sites commented on that when I did a google search. I like your idea of using them as transportable mannequins. Their size means that you can get all the detail in the folk costume but they are not too big to transport. Unfortunately, there are never as many male dolls as female dolls. I wonder if you could make one of the Barbies into a male counterpart like people do with the American girl dolls.

    ReplyDelete