Monday, January 09, 2012

The Barbie Wardrobe

If you are just reading my blog for the first time or are a new reader, you may not know that I am a Barbie Rescuer.  I can't help myself.  If I see a poor, neglected, naked Barbie at the thrift store or yard sale and she is $1.00 or under, then she will be coming home with me.  I wash them up and dress them and sometimes I keep them and sometimes I give them away.

I had bought a CD on Ebay last year that had about 25 different vintage Barbie patterns that they had copied and put together on this CD.  I printed them off, hoping that they would run true to size and have found to my delight that they are!

So this weekend, having done most of my housework at nights during the week, I spent the day making up all the view on this pattern:
Wouldn't you like to have these clothes for yourself?  I would!

I think this Barbie may have once been Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz, but she came to me naked and now she sports this adorable red and white striped shirt dress with a red jumper over it.  Excuse her wrinkles, she had been sitting on my sewing counter.
This lovely lady, who I think has had a haircut at the fingers of her former owner, is looking springy in her white and floral sheath which she can also wear with the long green and white polka dot vest:
I need to invest in some Barbie shoes!
I changed this little suit up a little bit as I had just a tiny bit of this decorative lace in my sewing box and thought it would look lovely on this navy skirt.  She also wears a white jacket trimmed in yellow edging.
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This lovely lady isn't a rescue, she was mine when I was little.  At one time she had different wigs to change her hair style but they are long gone!  But I think she still looks sophisticated in her black dress with lace trimming and rose accessory.
And last but not least, this pretty redheard looks stunning in this yellow gown.
I had so much fun sewing these and I like to make them look as much like the pattern as possible just for fun. 
I also made an Easter rabbit that turned out .....uummmmmm... interesting.  But I'll save that for another day!
Hope you have a great week!
Linda

8 comments:

Ann said...

My goodness the likeness of the original is amazing. How did you find fabric so close to the original pattern??? They are all gorgeous, I think my favorite is the first one. Great rescues.
Ann

Shirley Hatfield said...

My sister Patti would love you! She is also a Barbie rescuer, but since she doesn't know how to sew...all her poor dolls are naked. She has a huge collection of Barbies new in their boxes. You made me miss Grandma Patta with her drawers full of fancy fabric and manilla envelopes of Barbie patterns. She probably sewed the exact same dresses at one time. BTW my second Barbie was the Fashion Queen with the wigs. I wish I still had her.

Anonymous said...

Naked Barbies at the thrifts were always quite distracting to my 4 boys! Thanks for resucuing these poor girls and clothing them. :)

Shirley Hatfield said...

Quick note...do you have wigs for your Fashion Queen? Some ebay sellers have them. I was curious and checked just now.

Sandy said...

OMG you are a woman after my own heart. I'm not a Barbie lover but I have a special affection for dolls...my lastest are Fashion sized ones..Gene, Tyler, etc. I have them set up out in MY Little House... still a work in progress, hopefully these next few weeks I'll get them all in order and share. This will spur me on. Your girls are just lovely and the vintage...let's just say "heart swooning". Have a great day. Come on over and visit with me...love to see you. xoso Sandy

Nicki said...

I saved my Barbies (and their friends) in hopes that one day I would have a little girl and she would love them as much as I did. I had a little girl and then a little boy. Girl could not have cared less about Barbies - the boy LOVED them. How wonderful for you to rescue and give them new life with a vintage wardrobe.

Texan said...

When I was little, one year I got a whole shoe box full of barbie clothes! All hand made. There was also one pkg of shoes in the box it had about 6 pairs I think in it. It was the best present!

It seems like those itty bitty clothes would be so hard to make!

Jenny said...

I love the doll that the previous owner gave a new "hair style" to...

All the clothing turned out fabulous!!!