Aileen’s Petite Fashions – 82 Easter Parade

Posted on April 21, 2025 by Deborah Cooke

You don’t have to buy many patterns for doll clothes to come across Aileen’s Petite Fashions. These patterns are hand-drawn and clearly vintage. The title is hand-printed and the instructions look as if they’ve been typed. There’s usually a drawing of the doll and garment. At right is part of the one I’ll show you today.

Something about them reminds me of “ditto” copies, which our teachers made in the 1960’s and 70’s. (Dittos were made on spirit duplicators and characteristically were purple copies. The machines were hand-cranked and had a specific sound, and the process produced a memorable scent.)

I don’t know the history of these patterns, but they seem to date from the early sixties. There are a number of APF patterns reproducing original Barbie outfits. I found a list of them, here, though the site is old and it’s not clear whether the patterns are still being sold from this site. I’ve mostly come by mine via Etsy purchases, though often the finished garment is shown in the picture and I don’t realize it’s an APF pattern until I’ve downloaded it.

I recently made my first APF pattern. It’s APF 82 – Easter Parade, a reproduction of a 1959 Barbie fashion from Mattel. It included a black unlined coat, a print sleeveless dress, a purse and a “hat” (which is kind of a hairband, made with a “garbage tie”. Hmm.) Here’s a description on the Barbie Wiki with a picture of the Mattel original. I got this pattern on Etsy somehow, probably in a bulk pattern purchase.

And here’s my first attempt.

Aileen's Petite Fashions #82 Easter Parade sewn by Deborah Cooke

I made the coat of black Kona cotton. The instructions, like those on many older patterns, seem to assume that you already know what you’re on about. I used ribbons for the bows on the pockets, because I had no idea how big to cut the bias strip to make them, and couldn’t see them well in the picture to mimic the original. The coat has no front fastening because it’s pretty full. I did finish more edges than instructed and it came out reasonably well. I think it would benefit from a lining as the back collar bit does not give me joy but there you go.

silk pillbox hat for Barbie made by Deborah Cooke

Vintage B is wearing it here with a sheath of emerald satin and a pillbox hat with two feathers. (I love this little hat!) I’ll show you the sheath in another post, once I work out some kinks in the pattern.

I also made the dress from the pattern, using a teeny-tiny cotton floral print that I bought on Etsy. This one seems very generous in bodice, particularly in the upper front. I think if I made it again, I might curve down the neckline that takes the bias band. Overall, the fit is generous, more suited to “little fingers” than sleek couture.

The black seemed a bit austere for an Easter coat, so I cut another of bright pink. This is a French shirting cotton with two shades of pink that gives it a pretty crosswise stripe. (I originally made myself a shirt of this fabric. What happened to that shirt???) I added 1/4″ to the length of the sleeves to allow for a doubled hem, and again used ribbon on the pockets. You can see that this kind of collar doesn’t fit under a coat very well.

And here’s an interesting detail. I recently bought Kenneth King’s book on sewing for dolls and was intrigued that he used bridal tulle as a lining on some garments. It’s very thin, as he notes. Well, Aileen was using bridal tulle sixty years ago – the top of the dress is lined with it. It does work out quite well, making a very thin lining. The skirt of the dress is unlined.

Tulle lining in dress from Aileen's Petite Fashions #82 sewn by Deborah Cooke

Simple Sundress

Posted on April 17, 2025 by Deborah Cooke

I’ve admired this pattern from Hankie Chic for a while, and finally bought a copy. I also made it for the girls almost immediately, which is pretty amazing. Usually patterns have to wait their turn in the queue. Not only that, but I made a second one right away, in a fabric that had just joined my stash, so I’m making personal ‘firsts’ all over the place this month. 🙂

Here’s the pattern – it’s available from the designer’s website right here. There’s just the one view, although you can see that the designer did some fussy-cutting to have borders and bands in different places. I found this to be a very easy and quick make.

Here’s the first one, made of quilting cotton and lined with cotton voile. This is one of the new Barbie Basics dolls with a MTM Original body, and the dress fits her. It’s a bit looser on her than on the original Silkstone, but I positioned the snaps for the Silkie girls. I did some top-stitching on this one as the quilting cotton seemed more bulky than crisp.

Simple Sundress pattern from Hankie Chic made in quilting cotton by Deborah Cooke

One of the results of using quilting cotton for a pattern like this with a very full skirt is that the gathers at the waist add a tremendous amount of bulk. The fabric is gathered as much as it can be or close to it, and that adds a lot of fabric in the seam allowance. You can probably see a huge difference in the waist in the second version.

This one is made from a piece of silk taffeta that I got at our sewing guild’s fabric swap – yes, it was here for less than a week before some of it was sewn up. (I know. The world is wobbling on its axis.) It’s also lined with cotton voile. This one is so very crisp. 🙂

Simple Sundress pattern from Hankie Chic made in silk taffeta by Deborah Cooke

The skirt on this one is a little bit longer than the pattern specifies. Silkie has a new pair of shoes that coordinate perfectly. It pleased me that the gold vertical stripe lined up on the skirt and waistband, because I hadn’t planned that. Sometimes there are good surprises!

Part of the difference in the slimmer waist is the doll, of course – the Silkies are smaller in the waist than the new MTM dolls (and bigger in the bust), but still. There’s a lot less bulk in the seam allowance because the silk taffeta is much thinner than the quilting cotton. Using a thinner fabric – like the silk or a cotton voile, perhaps a Liberty Tana Lawn – diminishes the bulk of the seam allowances at the waist. I don’t think you can trim it much and am not sure it would matter as you’d still have some gathered skirt seam allowance. Another way to address this would be to cut a circle instead of a rectangle for the skirt, as there would be less gathering – there could even be no gathering at all, depending on the size of the inner (waist) circle. I think I may play with that a bit.

The only pattern modification I made for the second one was to move the gathers out a smidgen on the bodice. I thought the first bodice was a little ruffly at the centre front – that could be a bit of an illusion because the doll is flat there. It does make sense to have the gathers immediately under the bust. For the second, I left the first centimeter from the front edge on each front bodice piece flat, and gathered from there to the side seam. Again, the fabric was gathered about as much as it could be in that small space. Another solution would be to pleat or dart the front pieces to get the fit. There’s something else to play with.

One last observation – I’d forgotten how much silk taffeta wants to fray. I ended up sewing one centre back edge a second time – the seam allowance frayed away after I trimmed the seam, so I sewed it again, then zigzagged the seam allowance just to be sure. I dislike how products like FrayCheck make fabric feel, so the next time I cut this silk taffeta, I’ll finish all the edges before I start assembling the garment.

I’m really pleased with both. 🙂

Revisiting McCalls 7550

Posted on April 10, 2025 by Deborah Cooke

The first sewing pattern I used for the 11.5″ girls was this one, McCalls 7550. That experience taught me to look at the dolls modelling the garments in the picture, because nothing I made from this pattern fit my vintage Barbies. I made the sundress (shown in a blue floral) in navy and again in pink, and it just barely fit the Silkstone girls. The pattern is drafted for dolls that are less curvy than vintage B.

Here’s my post about those dresses.

Now, of course, my newest girls have a different body sculpt than vintage B. original Silkstone or articulated Silkstone. The Made-to-Move Original body is smaller in the bust and hips, and generally less curvy. I have the Looks 20 redhead, and the blonde from the new Basic Black series has the same body sculpt. I was wondering what patterns to use for them – the garments that fit the Silkies are a bit big in the bust for the MTM Original body – and remembered this pattern.

Aha! It works brilliantly.

Let’s have a look. I made sundresses again – that view has a halter top – but left out the crinolines. Here’s one of them in a cotton print (with cotton voile lining) on Barbie Basics #2: (Hmm. Now I see the red thread on the front of her skirt. Oops!)

McCalls 7550 view B on Barbie Basics #2 sewn by Deborah Cooke

I’ve always thought these hats were funny – they’re made of two circles of fabric with a wedge cut out, like a piece of pie. The opening is then seamed, like a dart, and the two sides sewn together and turned. It looks like a plate to me BUT it’s hard to make hats for the girls. In the first place, they’re fiddly, and in the second, they often are too small to sit well on their heads. When they’re made big enough, they look disproportionate. I love hats and this frustrates me. I tried the disc hat on a whim, and it actually looks pretty good. Who would have guessed?

The shoes make me laugh. They were included in a mixy-mixy bundle of shoes for B. They should have red soles because they look like Christian LouBoutin’s Daffodile pumps embellished with Swarovski crystals. (Nothing but the best for the girls!) I’m trying to figure out a way to neatly paint the soles red and make them sparkle. Too bad I only have a white pair.

I also made the jacket and pants (shown in pink on the pattern envelope) with the top but without the scarf. I used pleather for the pants and these are snug even on MTM Original. It might be the fabric.

McCalls 7550 view E on Barbie Looks #20 sewn by Deborah Cooke

They look great, though, and the length is perfect. I made the top but didn’t like it particularly. It’s a little loose in the bust on this girl but just a relaxed fit. I changed the neckline to a V instead of the round neck so now that top looks a bit like scrubs to me. That may be the issue for me.

Instead of the top, I knit a top from Sticka-til-Barbie, #263, in black Malabrigo Sock. Here’s the Ravelry link for that pattern. Like so many of these patterns, it’s a quick and clever knit. I made the decreases mirror each other, but otherwise just knit as written. This one is a little confusing – it’s knit in the round to the bottom of the front slit, then you need to work past the CB to the othet CF with each row.

The jacket is also quilting cotton, also lined in cotton voile.

I tried both on an articulated Silkstone and an original Silkstone.

McCalls 7550 view B on articulated Silkstone Barbie Best in Black sewn by Deborah Cooke

This is a little loose in the waist and fits perfectly in the bust on the articulated Silkstone. (She’s Best in Black, btw.) If I was sewing specifically for her, I would just move the waist snap 1/8″.

Here’s an original Silkstone in view E.

original Silkstone Barbie in view E McCalls 7550, sewn by Deborah Cooke

This is A Model Life. The pants are quite loose around the waist for her but fit okay through the hips. I think they could be a teensy bit longer. She refused to wear the red boots, btw. 🙂

She also wasn’t fond of the sweater, as if was quite loose for her, especially in the waist. She preferred this little short sleeved cotton top that I drafted up for the Barbie Basics 20. (She liked it, too, but it didn’t fit under the coat, which she loves.)

Sticka till Barbie top #263 knitted by Deborah Cooke in Malabrigo Sock and modelled by an original Silkstone Barbie (It's a Model Life)

Short-sleeved top drafted and sewn by Deborah Cooke, modelled by an original Silkstone Barbie (It's a Model Life)

So this pattern that I’d set aside in frustration is now a go-to for the newest girls. This pattern is still available new, in either print or downloadable PDF. Here’s the link to the product page at Simplicity patterns.

I’m now regretting that I chucked out the suit I made from this pattern. It’s shown in green on the envelope, a dress and jacket, and I made it of ivory silk. It was soooooo pretty but it didn’t fit any of my girls then. I guess I’ll just have to make it again – but now, I have a piece of green silk that will be just perfect.

Danielle Two-Piece Dress

Posted on February 14, 2025 by Deborah Cooke

Barbie Mode: Dresses for Classic Barbie Dolls by Kate Mitsubachi

It’s been a bit crazy around here lately. I apologize for the silence here on the blog. I have a number of posts queued up that need pictures. Today, I’ll make a start on finishing them up to be shared.

First up, I finally got back to Kate Mitsubachi’s books, Barbie Mode. Previously, I made the Double-Breasted Suit and the Soirée evening gown from Kate’s other pattern book, Stylebook for Dolls. I had an idea when I first got these that I’d make every garment for the girls, but life happened and I was distracted by other projects. In December, I dug back in.

Both books are in Japanese, but the instructions have illustrations and are easy to follow. I have a print copies of the books, but you can buy scans of them on Etsy.

The third garment featured in Barbie Mode is a two-piece suit called Danielle, which is shown in red and black. At left is the picture from the book.

I made mine in a linen and cotton blend, because it looked to me as if the sleeves would hang better in a lighter weight of fabric. I lined mine with white voile, and it came out pretty well. I haven’t made the hat and am not sure I will.

Here’s mine:

Danielle two-piece suit pattern from Barbie Mode by Kate Mitsubachi, sewn in a linen blend by Deborah Cooke

I like the seed beads on the front of this one. I think the belt in the book is made of satin ribbon, but I made this one of belting that’s available for dolls. I thought the sleeves might be softer in such a fine fabric, but they’re still a bit structural.

One change I made was to add some top-stitching to the jacket. I find that princess seams on a jacket lie flatter in doll-size if they’re sewn down. I pressed the seam allowances away from the centre, and trimmed one to 1/8″ inch before pressing then top-stitched on the outside of the seam, catching the seam allowances underneath. It would have been tidier if I’d sewn a little more of the jacket hem before turning it and handstitching the rest, but overall I’m pleased with the result.

I’m ready for a break from pink, though.

McCalls 8544 Enchanted Evening

Posted on January 22, 2025 by Deborah Cooke

I showed you this new-ish sewing pattern from McCalls for the girls, McCalls 8544. It’s for three ensembles that are close copies of vintage official Barbie outfits.

I made the ballgown, which is similar to Enchanted Evening, this month. This dress reminded me why I hate sewing polyester satin, although it came out well enough.

I haven’t made the gloves yet, or dug out a pair from the wardrobe.

The pattern calls for that swishy addition to be lined as well as the bodice, but not the skirt. I modified that and lined the skirt, too, which made construction a bit more challenging than might have been ideal. (Bemberg rayon and polyester satin together. Yikes.) I like the result, though.

McCalls 8544 sewn for Barbie by Deborah Cooke

In terms of future mods, I think the front skirt is a little wide – that rose ends up a bit further back on the left hip than would be ideal. I’ll take a teensy bit out of the centre front next time. I also don’t love that folded piece at the top of the bodice, much less how it overlaps at the center back. It’s cut on the bias, but I think I’ll modify the piece so that it tapers toward the center back. I also want to trim the backs so that the main fabrics end at the CB and there’s a tab of lining to tuck under one front for the snaps. I think that makes a cleaner back.

It is a teensy bit long for vintage B, but the perfect length for the Silkies. I’ll have to take more out of the CF in both the skirt and the bodice to make one for the Silkie girls.

The fur stole isn’t supposed to have a brooch, but I found the perfect buttons. There’s a hook and eye holding it closed and it’s lined with the same pink satin.

The pink is lovely but I’m looking forward to making a couple of these in jewel tones for the girls. I saw one in red on a Silkie on Facebook and it was just gorgeous.

Enchanted Evening was a fashion offered for Barbie in 1961. Here is the reproduction, with doll, from 1996. You can see that in the promo shot of B on the stairs, the image has been reversed and the gathers are on the right instead of the left.

Barbie Enchanted Evening reproduction 1996

Margot Robbie also wore a version of this dress to the première of the Barbie movie in London. You’ll find lots of images of that online!

Simplicity 9913 – The Mondrian dress

Posted on January 20, 2025 by Deborah Cooke

I have been finishing up some projects this month, but haven’t been good about getting pictures taken. This week, we’ll catch up a bit.

This pattern features designs from the 1960’s. It’s not currently available new, so I bought a digital download on Etsy. It’s Simplicity 9913.

I wanted to make the Mondrian dress, inspired by the Yves St. Laurent model on the right. Because I didn’t trust the download’s sizing, I made one in a solid color first. It actually came out reasonably well – the one difference is that I added a button band to the back closure to keep it tidy. I tried both hats but didn’t have much luck with either, maybe because my model’s hair is thick. They just perch on the top of her head, which looks silly.

My model today is a new girl here. She’s Barbie Looks #20 (that link will take you to the Mattel site) and was discounted on Cyber Monday. I’ve been wondering how the new articulated bodies differ in proportion from the other dolls in my collection so bought this one. The main difference in proportion is that her bust is smaller. She’s probably closest in size to the model muse body sculpt.

Her hair, btw, was not like this official picture. The ends were frizzy and it was very bulky – there was some product in it that made her ponytail as big around as my thumb. So, she had a boil wash and a trim. It’s still not like this picture, but is an improvement.

My idea was that she could be my sixties girl, instead of a Poppy Parker, so here she is in the test sew of the YSL shift. I made the dress in one color, with the purse. I used a 10″ square of orange quilting cotton (used it all up!) and lined the dress with cotton voile.

Test sew of YSL Mondrian dress, sewn by Deborah Cooke and modelled by Barbie Looks #20

It’s a little bit loose for her in the front bust. It fits the vintage body sculpt perfectly through the bust.

She doesn’t seem inclined to be a sixties girl, maybe a contemporary girl who likes vintage fashion, as you can see from the Blundstone boots she’s chosen. She is very posable, which is fun, although I think her knees and elbows look odd.

Next up, the YSL dress with the color block. The black is done with a narrow ribbon topstitched to the dress, which is clever.

Wiki says there were six variants of the YSL Mondrian dress, though it’s tough to find pictures of them all online. Here are a couple of images from the September 1965 issue of Vogue, which featured the dresses. The one on the cover is the one you see most often.

YSL Mondrian dresses in Vogue magazine, September 1965

This pattern is for the dress at the back in the right picture, probably because the front is symmetrical and that’s easier when you’re working small. There was a series of three Yves St. Laurent Barbie dolls released in 2018, including a Mondrian one wearing a replica of the front dress with the blue shoulder. You can see them all in this blog post at The Fashion Doll Chronicles.

I was also trying to find a picture of the back. The pattern has the back in pieces, making me think the middle panel on one side or the other must be in a color, too. I can’t find it, so I just decided to make one of them blue and put some yellow on one shoulder.

Here’s the finished dress:

YSL Mondrian dress for 12" dolls from Simplicity 9913, sewn by Deborah Cooke

I’m not much for clear yellows, so the only yellow fabric in my stash has tiny white dots. I think it works just fine. I do wish I had a mod girl with flat feet to model the dress. She could wear flats (as the YSL girls did, with big buckles) or white go-go boots. The dress would also fit her better in the bust than the Silkie girl, as the made-to-move dolls had proportions more similar to vintage Barbie. Another girl? Hmm. I don’t know…

Phoebe Suit

Posted on November 27, 2024 by Deborah Cooke

I’ve had a disappointing run of making this fall, with more failures than would be ideal, but here’s something that came out well. It’s a silk suit for the girls.

The pattern is Phoebe from Hankie Chic. You can buy the pattern right here. The pattern is for a two-piece suit, with a straight skirt and a fitted jacket with a peplum that opens at the front. The jacket has a small collar and 3/4 sleeves and is lined.

I cut mine of that striped silk in green. I thought the back was too wide – the instructions say to put the back edge of the pattern on a fold, but I subsequently seamed it. This made the back 1/2″ narrower. The jacket is a very precise fit for the Silkie girls (and will be looser on the articulated Silkies) but I’d need at least half of that seam allowance back for it to fit the vintage B girls better. Right now, it goes around the doll and the front edges match, but they don’t overlap.

Here’s the suit on Dusk to Dawn:

Phoebe by Hankie Chic sewn in green striped silk by Deborah Cooke

Those are little gold shank buttons from I Sew For Doll. I love this shade of green on her!

Because it’s a lengthwise stripe, the direction of the stripe changes in the garment. The bodice top is cut in one piece, without a shoulder seam, so ended up on the bias at the front. I like this construction a lot, as it’s less bulky. I cut the peplum lengthwise and crosswise, planning to use the one for the facing that I liked least. The grain on the center back ends up perpendicular to the front edges – I liked it best when that was lengthwise at the back (even though it means the peplum is crosswise at the front.)

The peplum is much longer in the back than I’d expected. It’s almost like a frock coat. It’s also a lot more full – it was tight to jam in all of those gathers and I’m not sure they’re all needed.

I topstitched the collar and the hem of the peplum. I also understitched the sleeve lining and the skirt lining, all at the hems, but that’s not visible. It stabilizes the hem, though.

There are no grainlines on the patterns from this company, so you have to guess how to lay out the pieces. I put the center back seam on the straight of the grain, which is why the fronts ended up on the bias. It might be interesting to try a variation with the center front on the straight of the grain, which would put the CB seam on the bias. I’ll also likely try one with a shorter peplum, perhaps one that is less full than this one.

I have ideas for many variations and experiments, but the suit came out well as it is and I’m very glad to have a small triumph!

Malia Dress for 12″ Dolls

Posted on August 1, 2024 by Deborah Cooke

Malia pattern for Silkstone Barbie by Hankie Chic patterns

A day late on this post because I didn’t have pictures done. I took one inside but it was dingy – yesterday was sunny so I got a second one.

Malia is a pattern for 12″ fashion dolls from Hankie Chic. (That’s an Etsy link.) There are two skirt variations included for this dress – a fuller below-knee skirt and a straight full length skirt. The bodice has pleats over the shoulders, which form short sleeves. There’s a long-waisted bodice piece, too.

I made this from a cotton with a tiny print in navy. I ordered this fabric from Charlene Lu’s Etsy store, and she has it in several colours in 70 x 50cm squares. It’s really a very delicate print, a great scale for dolls.

This dress is lined with cotton voile and was machine sewn – except for the bodice lining, which I sewed by hand. The pleats that are formed over the shoulder open up when the dress is on the doll in a very attractive way.

Malia pattern for Silkstone Barbie by Hankie Chic patterns, sewn in printed cotton for Silkstone Barbie by Deborah Cooke

Isn’t this a pretty dress?

Here’s the dress off the doll. (I’m not sure the details are more visible, though that was the idea.) It has a couple of snaps at the back waist.

I have another one cut out in cotton, also with the full skirt. I’ll have to try one with the long straight skirt, in a shiny fabric. The one on the pattern image looks like it might be made of that Chinese brocade, which is beautiful but also quite thick. I’ll probably try a crepe back satin first, even though it’s slippery stuff.

Vogue 7010 for Barbie – View C

Posted on July 3, 2024 by Deborah Cooke

Vogue Craft 7010 is another sewing pattern for dolls that is out-of-print but available as a downloadable PDF from vendors on Etsy. I’m not sure which vendor I bought this one from, but it’s one of the better downloads I’ve ever bought – there’s a measuring tape on each page of pattern pieces. It’s also kind of nice to have a pattern with cutting layouts, line drawings, grainlines and dots to match on the individual pieces. Yup, call me old-skool.

Although I bought it for view E, the first dress I made was view C. That’s the little teeny one in pink. It has a great yoke – but then a lot of the designs in this particular collection have some great seaming details.

It’s just so cute. Here are the girls in their new dresses and sunhats.

Vogue 7010 for Barbie view C (front view) sewn by Deborah Cooke

The pink one is a quilting cotton, lined with cotton voile. I made the hat with two layers (the pattern specifies one) because I wanted to finish the inner circle rather than just gluing it (as specified.) The inside layer is the same quilting fabric as the dress, while the other is a plain white linen. I put the two fabrics right side together, sewed the inside circle using the pattern piece as a template, trimmed the middle so there was a 1/8″ seam allowance, clipped the curves and turned it. I pressed it, then topstitched around the inner circle. The outer binding on the edge is a bias-cut strip of coordinating cotton voile in hot pink. I sewed it to the linen side, then turned and pressed it, hand-stitching it on the pink flamingo side.

I wasn’t crazy about the order of the seaming on the dress, so I cut another one of green quilting cotton with green cotton voile for lining. On the pink one, I followed the directions, sewing the dress and the lining fronts and backs, then the shoulder seams. I sewed them together at the neck, sleeve holes and hems, then sewed the side seams and the back seam. I ended up doing a lot of handstitching on the lining because it was very tight to manage on the machine.

For the green one, I sewed the side seams first. Fronts and backs, seamed at the shoulders, in both the lining and the dress, then sewed them together at neck and sleeve. Then I sewed the side seams, and the back. I sewed the hems, turned it through the open center-back skirt seam, then hand-stitched that closed. I’ll use this method in future.

Here are the backs and you can see the linen side of the sunhats, too.

Vogue 7010 for Barbie view C (back view) sewn by Deborah Cooke

This dress also has a placket at the back for the overlap, a very nice detail. I cut it of the lining for the green one to reduce the bulk, which worked out well for bulk – though it was tough to sew the snap to it.

The girls also have had their earrings removed. I knew the regular dolls could get green ear from the earrings – and had noticed a teensy mark on my repro ponytail girl – but saw a horrible pic of a Silkstone, never removed from box, with a bad case of green ear. It’s possible the vendor had never even opened the box. What a nasty surprise! So, all the girls had their earrings removed this past weekend. Only one pair was actually finished well enough to save – the others were already corroding and/or broke into bits while being removed. Why doesn’t Mattel include earrings in a little bag for the dolls, stapled to the inside of the box, like other vendors? Why don’t they stop making earrings of cheap metal that corrodes? These are the questions. In the meantime, take out your girls’ earrings.

Next up, the shirtdress from this pattern, while I hunt down something suitable for that leopard print evening coat. 🙂

McCalls 8532 Instant Wardrobe

Posted on March 27, 2024 by Deborah Cooke

This is an older sewing pattern for dolls that I found on Etsy as a digital download. Once upon a time, my grandmother made pantsuits with palazzo pants for my dolls and I wondered whether this might have been the pattern she used.

After downloading it, though, I realized there was a very neat feature about the designs – the suit and the coat are made of felt, so there are no edges to finish. In scale, it’s as if they’re made of boiled wool. Hmm.

One thing that is good about this download is that there’s a tape measure on each page of the PDF. This should make it easier to ensure that the pattern pieces are printed to scale. More about that in a minute.

Here’s my first attempt at the suit. The jacket is great as is (and very clever, too) but the skirt is meh, IMO. It’s just a tube with a paperbag waist and the same kind of belt-and-slits finish as the jacket. The result is quite bulky around her waist. I’m not showing you the paperbag waist because, well, meh. We can do better. 🙂

McCalls 8532 for Barbie sewn by Deborah Cooke

I’m a little concerned about how well the felt belt will wear. (There’s another one on the skirt.) With a lot of play, I could see it just shredding apart. I may make a fake leather belt next time.

The hat was enormous, probably to go over those early 60’s bubble cuts, so I cut it way down for the version on the right.

It’s still a bucket hat, so not the most flattering option possible. I like the felt, though, and it’s got me thinking about tweaking it to a more vintage style.

The dress had a lined skirt but an unlined bodice. I chose to do it the other way around since lining the bodice makes it easier to finish the neck and sleeve edges in this scale. I also modified the back to have an overlap in my usual way. I like it in this Kaffe Fasset cotton print.

There’s a triangular kerchief to match the dress that irked me a bit. I made two and hemmed hemmed them in two different ways – one with the edges turned under twice, as per the pattern, and one with fusible interfacing on the edges, then turned under once and zigzagged – but I don’t like either particularly. Maybe it needs a snap – there’s not much fabric to tie it in place. Hmm.

The knit top that is supposed to be sewn into the skirt came out so big that it fit Tyler instead of Barbie. Again, the construction is interesting so I’ll modify it a bit to make a t-shirt pattern for both Tyler and Barbie. I printed the pattern page so that the included tape measure is exactly right, but this makes me wonder whether the tape measure image was added later than the scan of the pattern piece – and is actually wrong. Hmm.

I still have to sew up the pantsuit, which I cut of a woven rayon jungle print, just for fun.

This pattern also made me aware of a lack in my doll accessories – I don’t have any white go-go boots for B. I have tall white boots for her, but am now on the hunt for those mid-calf ones. They’d look great with that dress.

Like most doll patterns, this one needs a few tweaks to bring me joy, but there are details I like about it as it is. I really like the felt for a jacket that resembles boiled wool, so I cut out another one. Inspired by a Simplicity pattern for women, I all add darts to the waist of the jacket to give it some shaping. I’m also going to modify the paperbag waist on the skirt – there’s too much bulk with it under the jacket as is. I’ll show you that and the pantsuit when they’re done. I’ll probably make the coat, too, and another hat. It really is an instant wardrobe!

Alive & Knitting

Knitting and other tangled webs we weave

Tag Archives: Sewing for Barbie