I often have fitting adventures when I sew for myself, but I never expected to have so many fitting challenges for Barbie. Among my recent fails has been this top for Barbie. It’s a cute pattern and very cleverly designed, but it was my first big lesson about fit for my 1/6 scale friend.

This is another free pattern from the Sticka til Barbie website: a sleeveless top with some great bias shaping detail. It’s pattern 174 (that’s a Ravelry link) which also includes a trumpet skirt.

This little top is knit flat and seamed up the centre back. I knit the first one (reddish) in MadTosh Merino Light and it was very snug on my vintage Barbie. VERY snug. It was tough to get on her at all. Hmm. What was wrong? I used up one stitch for the seam, but that didn’t seem excessive.

My friend Terri is a tailor and we talk about fit a lot. One of the things she considers when fitting women is shape, and the location of curves. She talks about drawing an imaginary line down center front and another down center back, then one down each side seam. This divides the bodice into four quadrants—but they probably aren’t the same size. One woman with a 40″ bust could be buxom with a narrow back, so maybe each front “quadrant” is 13″ wide and each back one is only 7″ wide. Another could have a broad back while yet another could be asymmetical. Knowing where your curves are means that you can adapt the pattern to fit. So, this little top isn’t taking that into account at all. Vintage Barbie is very buxom, yet this top divides into four equal quarters. It has no back or front. Of course, it will be snug for Barbie.

With this in mind, I knit a second (green) top in Malabrigo Sock, joining it to knit in the round – which gave me one more stitch because there wasn’t a seam – and added two stitches to the front, one on each side. This one is still snug – in fact, it’s not a lot bigger than the first one because the Malabrigo Sock is a thinner yarn. Hmm.

I switched to larger needles for the next one and a thicker sock yarn. This is the bright red one. I also added one repeat to the length. It came out bigger, longer and thicker. It’s a better fit for vintage Barbie. I’m not so fond of how thick it is, though.

The curious thing is that in the pattern picture, the top looks loose in the bust. What’s different? The doll modelling the top is not a vintage Barbie.

Similarly, I had issues with the sundress from McCalls 7550 being too snug in the bust for my vintage Barbie. After writing that blog post, I made the suit (shown in shades of taupe on the pattern envelope) in some scraps of silk dupioni. The jacket was snug but fit all right as long as she had nothing underneath. (Not perhaps the best look for semi-formal wear.) The dress was so tight that it was ridiculous, and the jacket wouldn’t go over it at all. That one went into the trash.

Once again, the doll modelling the clothes is not a vintage Barbie and that’s the key.

There is a difference in measurements between vintage Barbie and newer Barbie, as shown on this free download of slopers for Barbie. (This blog post includes instructions on drafting patterns from the sloper. Look in the sidebar of the website for Downloads, then you want BarbieBasicPatternSet.pdf) There are two styles accommodated here: vintage Barbie and what she refers to as the newer Barbie body style from the early 2000’s.

There are, though, a lot more variations than that. I have a number of Barbies, some having been my dolls and some from the thrift store, and when I line five of them up, it’s easy to see the changes in body style and dimensions. Have a look at them naked:

From the left – vintage repro Barbie, Silkstone Barbie, Twist-and-Turn Barbie, Bellybutton Barbie and Model Muse Barbie. The bust size changes between these three body types, as does the height – and the dimensions of the foot. It looks like the curves of the original Barbie were made less dramatic, beginning with the Bellybutton Barbie – vintage and TNT are very similar in shape, but Bellybutton has a smaller and higher bust as well as a thicker waist. Then the vintage shape made a comeback with Silkstone and other collectibles, with some changes. Silkstone is slimmer and taller than vintage, for example, with a higher bust. Model Muse is another thing altogether, the slimmest of all of these and also taller than vintage, TNT and Bellybutton. This doesn’t consider other 11.5″ dolls from other manufacturers and their dimensions or the current body styles. Given the scale, it’s pretty easy to see that something that fits one of these dolls might not fit the others. Model Muse can wear the two tops at the top of this post – in fact, they’re a bit baggy on her.

Of the slopers posted in the link above, “old style” will fit vintage and TNT. “New Style” will fit Bellybutton. That body type was used on a lot of dolls, including My Scene dolls (which have bigger heads), and can be easily identified by the cross-hatch “panties” – and the bellybutton, of course. Silkstone can wear “old style” but it will be loose around the middle. I haven’t figured out Model Muse with her tilty hips.

This means that Barbie is that most annoying of dressmaking clients—the woman whose measurements change over time. (Even her height and shoe size changes.) Just as with any other dressmaking, I need to know my client’s measurements to get the best fit.

We’ll talk more about that next time.