Things have been a little quiet here, mostly because of real life. When things get busy and even a little unpredictable, I always choose some comfort knitting. Lately that’s been knitting for the girls, as well as mittens and socks. Today, we’ll look at my latest completed project for the girls.
This is another free pattern from Sticka till Barbie, this time for a knitted coat. It’s amazing that I’m always learning more about fitting clothes for the girls – this time, I learned that vintage Barbies have shorter arms than modern Barbies. MTM and Silkstone (articulated and original) all have longer arms than vintage B.
I knitted the first coat following the instructions for #101 Yellow Coat. Here’s a Ravelry link for the pattern. The original website was taken down in 2022. The wayback machine’s backup of the original site has changed now – previously you could download individual patterns from there. There is also this other backup at the Internet Archive. Scroll down for the link to download a zip file of all the patterns. I’d do this soon, as it seems the content is vanishing. There are so many clever patterns in this collection.
Here’s my first coat in Patons Kroy sock yarn, on a MTM doll.
This coat is knit from the front hem up over the shoulder and down the back. You knit one front, then the other, then join them at the back collar line and knit down the back. The sleeves are added as you go – it’s shaped like a T, kind of like a kimono. Stitches are picked up at the neck for the collar.
This coat took 35g of Patons Kroy – I just barely made it with my partial ball of the red mix, so couldn’t make the hat shown with it in the pattern picture.
I cast on a second version and cast on two less stitches on each sleeve, to make shorter sleeves for vintage B. Here’s that one – this time, I had enough yarn for the hat, too.
The hat is cute and quick to make. I joined mine in the round so there wouldn’t be a seam, although the instructions are to knit it flat. The hat pattern is A-41.
I’m working on a modification of the coat, resizing it for the 16″ girls. I’m knitting it in a kettle-dyed Koigu that is quite pretty. It’s amazing how much more knitting that requires, but I’m headed down the back now and should have it done soon.
When you need a quick project, a doll garment can provide that almost-instant gratification – and a free pattern from Sticka-till-Barbie might be just the thing.
Here’s the Internet Archive backup of the Sticka till Barbie patterns. There is no longer the option of downloading individual patterns at the Wayback Machine, but the Internet Archive offers a zip file of the entire catalogue. I’d grab it now.
This is a straight dress knitted top down with ribbing at the waist. The original pattern is seamed down the back, but I joined the cast-on stitches in the round.
I think they allowed two stitches for the CB seam, as the first dress was a bit broad in the back for Barbie (who is bigger in the front than the back). I knit that first dress, then modified the pattern and knit the second. I liked it much better so I frogged the first and reknit it following the modified instructions.
This one fits vintage B best. The yarn is Koigu KPPPM and it used 10g on 2mm needles.
My modifications: Instead of casting on 52 and knitting flat, I cast on 50 and knit in the round.
Row 1 in the pattern says: K9, cast off 8, K7, k2tog, K2tog, K7, cast of 8, K9 (34 sts)
My revised Row 1 is: K7, cast off 8, K20, cast off 8, K7 (32 sts)
I tried the dress on my skinnier girl and it was too big, especially in the shoulders. I could have diminished the stitch counts again, but remembered the differing results I had with different yarns when knitting sweaters for the girls. Mad Tosh Merino Light is still a fingering yarn, but it’s much thinner than Koigu KPPPM – Koigu KPPPM has 160m per 50g, or 320 m per 100g, while MadTosh Merino Light has 384 m in 100g. It’s thinner.
I followed the same instructions and used the same needles, and look at the size difference:
Purple is Koigu KPPPM and the brown is MadTosh Merino Light. I may have added a row or two more to the length, but it’s amazing how much skinnier the second dress is. (It also took 10g of yarn.)
And here’s the brown dress on a MTM Barbie with the regular body sculpt:
She’s the 2025 Barbie Basics #2, and yes, her hair does have a bit of a violet cast to it. Here she is for sale at the big river. (Interesting that it notes this product is often returned. All of the boxes on my 2025 Barbie Basics dolls were damaged. The dolls were fine, but for those who keep their dolls boxed, that would be an unacceptable situation.)
Two new girls moved in over the holidays and I finally remembered to show you them to you. The theory was that they would be the last additions for a while – but then the Barbie Basics 2025 happened. Oh, and Lacie Churchill, too. (!)
First up, a Silkstone Gift Set that I’ve admired for a while. This is A Model Life from 2003. That’s the gift set at the left, then the two promotional images from Mattel.
Silkstone Barbie A Model Life 2003
The doll comes with her lingerie, two pairs of shoes, a pantsuit with pink blouse and a coordinating black skirt, as well as a pair of pantihose and other accessories. I bought mine new in box (NRFB actually), so she’s precisely the way she originally shipped. That said, the materials used for these dolls don’t always age well. It’s pretty common to discover that hair elastics have crumbled to dust or that the tape has dried out. The skirt peeled a bit when I removed it from the box – it was taped in and the tape had dried to the pleather so that they bonded together forever. Also her hip joints are also a little looser than might be ideal, which is another thing that changes over time. Funny that I just saw a video demonstrating how to restring these dolls when that happens. (Who knew? Not me.) So, I don’t think I’ll buy more older dolls without being able to have a good look at them first.
On the other hand, this encourages me to try something I’ve been thinking about. When the last Silkstone girl arrived, I thought about replicating some of her clothes in better fabrics. The designs and the cut are usually interesting and a better fit than many of the patterns available for sale. So, the first job on that list will be replacing this little black skirt. It should be easily done. The “official” clothes from Mattel aren’t usually lined – this skirt isn’t – and tend to be serged together. I suspect my replacement skirt will be nicer. 🙂
Her hair looks like it’s full in the back in these photos, but actually, she has the (inevitable) ponytail and forehead curl. The elastic in her hair is holding but just barely. I’ll have a look at options one of these days when it needs replacing.
2024 Poppy Parker It’s My Party
The other new girl who arrived is my first Poppy Parker. Her story is that she’s a girl from the Midwest who moves to New York in the 1960’s to become a model, so all of PP’s wardrobe is 60’s-inspired. She’s made by Integrity Toys, and often has amazing accessories. This one is a little simpler in that regard. She’s called It’s My Party and is from 2024, also NRFB – at least until she arrived here. This is the fourth doll from the At Home collection, which celebrated Poppy’s 15th anniversary. At right is one of the promo images.
Here’s a blog post featuring all four of the dolls in that collection with lots of pictures.
2019 Integrity Toys Jade Feelin’ Extra
I have one other doll from Integrity Toys, my Jade Feelin’ Extra, and expected some similarities between these two. Jade has beautifully made clothes – that baseball jacket is exquisite, embroidered, lined, and with a working zipper – and also fun accessories, like her purse and shoes. She has a second pair of hands in a different pose as well as jewellery.
Poppy is similar. She has the same body type, or very close to it, with a lot of articulation. She also has a second set of hands, painted to look like she’s wearing short gloves. I don’t love the joint at the ankle on the PP’s with interchangeable feet, so I’m glad that this one only has high-heeled feet.
I’ve also gotten some new storage for the girls and their gear, which tidies things up considerably and also has let me get a bit more organized. (Nowhere to go but up with that situation.) This is a shelving unit from Ikea called Kallax. We are changing out the knobs with an upgrade from Lee Valley. I love the seagrass baskets (also from Ikea) – they look great and smell wonderful.
The mister is still installing the pair of doors at either end of the middle row, but the drawers are full of teensy supplies, all neatly sorted. Those are all my books for the girls at the top left and their shoes at the top right. The red binder has my knitting patterns for the girls. I’ve put their stands in one of the baskets which is a great solution. That box of patterns will go into another basket, then maybe projects-in-progress (now in a box off to the right) in another. The fourth will probably have fabric stash. It certainly is making things feel neater, even though it’s still in progress. The girls will stay in their carriers and their clothes will remain in wardrobes. I have to figure out what to do with the 16″ girls since they don’t fit in these cubbies and it’s hard to find boxes tall enough for them. One step at a time!
You might remember the Blue Glitter Dress from Stickatillbarbie.se (pattern number 619) that I showed you in December.Here’s a Ravelry link, and here’s the link at the Wayback Machine for that page (patterns #601-650).
I made another one in plain black. This is an acrylic fingering yarn that’s labelled as baby yarn, that I bought at Walmart for a couple of bucks. I liked how soft it was, but (of course) that means it’s splitty, too.
Here’s the finished dress, which looks much better in plain black than in that glittery stuff:
I knit this one longer, so it would fit the Silkies, and that turned out to be a good thing. Even though the stitch counts and needles are the same on the bodice of both dresses, this one is much skinnier. Only the Silkie girls can wriggle into it. This time, the hem wants to roll, even though it’s in garter stitch. The acrylic yarn won’t take a block, so I sewed a line of beads into the garter stitches to weigh it down. That didn’t actually work – I had to fuss with the hem to get this picture and it flipped up again right afterward – so I’m thinking I might thread some wire into the hem to hold it in place.
Otherwise, I’m quite pleased with it, though – and I’m done with knitting ballgowns. They take forever!
This project has been on my needles longer than I expected. Usually, knitted garments for the girls are quick projects, but this time, the yarn was a challenge.
Here it is:
What the camera isn’t picking up is the glitter. This is a sparkly yarn with a bit of metallic thread included in it. It’s structured with a central cord that might be cotton, then the lumpy-bumpy-glittery color bit is wound around that in a spiral. When you knit, the spiralled thread slides up and down, which makes for some bigger bumps – and a bit of frustration. I don’t know what the yarn actually is as I found it without a label at the thrift store, but I’m sure it’s not intended to be knit on 2mm needles.
Finally, finally, I finished the dress. This is the Blue Glitter Dress from Stickatillbarbie.se. It’s pattern number 619 – here’s a Ravelry link, and here’s the link at the Wayback Machine for that page (patterns #601-650).
The glitter really doesn’t photograph at all. 😦 Too bad, because it’s very shiny, just the thing for a festive party. Without the sparkle showing, it just looks lumpy. (Although this makes me wonder if I should use the rest for a tweedy little suit. Hmm.)
I didn’t love this pattern as much as some of the others from this designer. It’s a top-down knit, starting with 60 stitches – which is a lot. I see on Rav that some knitters have taken that down to 50 stitches, and I would do the same if/when I knit it again. With this one (and part of that might be the yarn. It’s pretty crunchy) the shoulder band is way too big. I ran a few rows of stitches through it on the back side with buttonhole thread to tighten it up.
I did modify the pattern to knit it in the round. The body is knit fairly straight according to the directions, but I substituted my shaping from the dresses with the fur skirts.
I could not get the stitch counts to work out on the mermaid flare. Picking back this yarn a couple of times really wasn’t fun. 😦 The increases are done before and after a knit stitch, and those two M1’s so close together were a challenge in a yarn with no stretch. I’m not sure what I did wrong, but after picking it back twice, I rewrote the instrcutions for the flare increases. You can see in the picture that I divided the skirt into quadrants, offsetting the increases so they’re centered on the right front, the left front. It’s the same on the back. They’re still on either side of a knit stitch, with 3 rows worked plain in between each increase row. This way, my stitch counts worked out.
There’s four rows of garter at the hem before binding off, which echoes the six rows of garter at the shoulder band. I’m pleased with the dress now it’s done, but the next one will be in regular fingering weight yarn. I think it will be in that solid black baby yarn.
It’s possible that I’ll add another set of increases and made the skirt a half an inch longer. It really looks short on the Silkies. I’m also wondering about adding a tulle ruffle under that flare…
I seem to be finding a lot of ways to avoid setting in the sleeves of my black cardigan in Kidsilk Haze. That’s certainly not a job for the evening or even one particularly suited to the dark days we’ve been having. I need to turn on a bright light, buckle down and get it done.
But in the meantime, I’ve been knitting dresses for the girls. I saw a picture on social media of someone’s knitted dresses for fashion dolls. They were unspeakably cute with fluffy skirts, knit of novelty yarn. She said she was using a free pattern, so off I went to hunt down options. I chose #146 from Sticka till Barbie as my base pattern, then made a bunch of modifications. Mine needed to fit vintage Barbie with her curves and the existing pattern had pretty much a straight bodice. I added decreases and increases. I also modified the instructions to knit the dress in the round, and made the increases/decreases mirror each other because that makes me happy.
And here are the girls, posing in a diorama-in-progress that I’m making for the 16″ girls:
The diorama, of course, is another timesink, but a lot of fun. I like working in the foamboard – it’s easy to cut and light, and the gratification is almost instant.
The gift boxes are from an Etsy vendor who sells printables. It’s right here. They are a bit fiddly to assemble, which is why I’ve put together just two even though I bought this almost four years ago. So cute, though, and they fold up so precisely.
Here’s a better look at the dresses.
For these skirts, I used an eyelash yarn called Bernat Boa. (That’s a Ravelry link.) This yarn is discontinued, but I found my little stash at the thrift store. The bodices are knit of fingering yarns – the black is an acrylic baby yarn, the purple is leftover MadTosh. I made the skirt longer for the purple one (15 rows before decreasing instead of 12). The bodice looks longer on that one because the articulated Silkstone is thinner and taller than vintage B.
It’s interesting how the same yarn can feel different in different colours. That always mystifies me. The purple Boa doesn’t feel as silky as the black and red. I remember a lot of colours of this yarn, so will keep checking the thrift store for more. (I also have some variegated pink, but no fingering weight to match.)
I think the original pattern was knit of something more like a fringe yarn than this eyelash yarn, because the skirt isn’t as puffy in the pattern picture. I have some Lion Brand Fun Fur (also a thrift store find) so will try that out next.
That’s a link to the Lion Brand website – how lovely for a manufacturer keeps the link live after the yarn is discontinued! Here’s a Ravelry link so you can see what other knitters have made with it. I hopped into the advance search and sorted for doll clothes – sure enough, there are a few versions of this dress.
These are also like potato chips. It’s hard to knit just one. I need to find something to go with that pink, and try out the other yarn…
Berroco has a tradition of publishing patterns for miniature knitted sweater ornaments. Every year, I think I’m going to knit a bunch of them and make a garland of mini-sweaters as a Christmas decoration. This was the first year I actually cast on one of them. Here’s what happened.
Fievel is one of the 2022 Minutia designs from Berroco. (Here’s the Ravelry link and here’s the Berroco link. This is a free download in both places.) It’s supposed to be knit in a DK weight yarn on 4.5mm needles, but I decided to make mine smaller. Here it is in MadTosh Merino Light in Cardinal, knit on 2.5mm needles:
There’s a small difference – I don’t have a single knit stitch following the raglan line on mine. Maybe that stitch is missing from the instructions. (?) The result is quite cute, though.
I was thinking about the size of this little sweater and then this happened:
She’s right. It would fit her – if she could get it on. And so, I revised the instructions: as instructed, you start knitting at the back left shoulder and work in the round. There’s not an opening, just an end to sew in. So, I moved the starting point to the center back and added a stitch so there’s a wee bit of overlap. I worked flat until the work was divided for the sleeves, then continued in the round. I had to make the sleeves longer (fortunately, you can take off the hands of MH dolls to get a sweater on).
Here’s Frankie at right with her holiday sweater, a giftie from me. This one is Malabrigo Sock in Rayon Vert, knit on those 2.5mm needles.
Oddly, she doesn’t look much happier.
You can guess what happened next: Babs wanted one, too.
I used those same directions with the split at the center back but used a thicker yarn – this is Kidsilk Aura knit on 4.0mm needles. I’d been envisioning a chartreuse fluffy sweater for B with this yarn, as a good match with this fakey leather skirt. I had to frog this one back a couple of times, given B’s curves – I kept ending up with too much sweater in the back.
The final result has decreases on the back after the work is split for the body and arms, making the back narrower. It’s also shorter, more of a cropped sweater that ends at the waist. It opens all the way down the back – I’d thought of joining it, but there was all that bulk and I went with simple. There are snaps on the back and little non-functioning buttons.
If I knit it again (ha!) I’d change the stitch distribution so there were more stitches on the front than the back. It is a bit stretched over her bust, and that’s where the extra bulk is in the back. At least two stitches should move, maybe four. The decreases in the back might not be necessary then.
Here are the three versions.
Phew. Do I dare to cast on another mini-sweater Christmas ornament?
Sometimes you need a quick project. I’ve been pushing dragon alphabets around the floor and needed some close-to-instant gratification. My go-to in these situations is making for Barbie and friends. Modern Day Goddess is a fantastic little pattern for a slip-on sleeveless dress for 11.5″ fashion dolls – and it’s free! (That’s a Ravelry link.) It requires a bit of sock yarn and is knit in the round from the top-down. There are just two ends to sew in and it’s ready to wear.
I knit the first in leftover sock yarn with a slow gradation and a tweedy flick. I followed the directions as written, then noticed that the pictures all showed Barbies with the Model Muse body sculpt. I have one (rescued from the thrift store) so here she is in her first dress. (She was naked at the thrift store and has since been washed and had her hair redone.)
This dress is the same front and back, which makes it easier to pull on right. It fits like a dream and was really a quick project.
This Ms. B. is Top Model Resort Barbie from 2007, and originally looked like the image below:
Hmm. I need to steam down her bangs. But that hat! I see a listing for her on ebay NIB for $299US today, so I’ll stick with my thrift store girl and find a different hat.
The pink purse is a new acquisition – it seems to be hers now – which AstroJen sent me. It’s from a 5-Surprise Mini Fashion by Zuru. (That’s an Indigo listing. Amazon.ca doesn’t stock them. This company makes a lot of different miniature bundles, so check the fine print and make sure you’re getting the fashion bags if you want the purses.) Each one contains a mini purse and four other things (one might be a sticker. Hmm.) Jen sent me her duplicates, which was sweet. The purses are just the right size for the girls and are quite well made. (I succumbed and ordered a few myself now that I’ve seen them.) There’s a third one in kind of a silvery purple, but the Monster High girls made off with that one. (They made a quick getaway on the Vespa.)
My only concern with the dress was that vintage B isn’t the same size front and back. The blue one stretched tight over the front and the armholes gapes. I made some modifications on my second version to give her a little more fabric over the girls. This one is knit in Koigu KPPPM. Ms. B. is also rocking a purse from those surprise packs.
You wouldn’t know it from her expression but she’s happy about the better fit.
What did I change?
• In the original pattern, the top decreases are at the sides. I moved the decreases to be below the bust, like darts, because there are more of them. The pattern has this nice 6-st panel running down the front and back of the skirt, so I lined up the bodice decreases with that.
• I cast on 4 more stitches.
• I also knit 2 more rows before splitting for the sleeves. That makes the neckline a bit wider and less like straps.
• I cast off fewer stitches for the sleeves. The armhole gaped on vintage B, probably because the fabric was stretching across the front.
• I positioned the sleeves so there would be more stitches on the front than the back. (That’s where my extra 4 stitches went, in front.)
• I added 2 rows to the bodice length. From that point on, I knit following the original instructions.
I really like how both versions came out. I still need to block them both, and that will uncurl the necklines a little bit.
This process inevitably gave me More Ideas, so I’ll have another variation to share later. I also found paper boxes in the stores again (yay!) so will be creating two more carriers, one for the Barbies and one for the Monster High and EverAfter High girls. We need more closet space!
This purse is A-1 (the first pattern under Accessories/Accessoarer) which is orange on the pattern. It’s a clever little pattern, mostly knit in stockinette with the bag seams in reverse stockinette and the flap in garter stitch. Instead of crocheting the shoulder strap as specified, I knit mine. I used sock yarn—the purple one is that Mad Tosh Twist Light that I used for the Timely Twin Set (still more left! LOL) and the red is some Diamond Yarn sock yarn. Here they are:
Size-wise, it’s more of a messenger bag than a purse, but I like the results a lot. The purple one is for my EverAfter Briar Rose doll, so it got a rose button for a clasp.
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.
Alive & Knitting 