Naked Barbies No More!

When my youngest first discovered the one Barbie and multiple princess Barbie dolls we have in the house, she was quite taken with them. Especially their sparkly dresses. Then one day it was as if a switch flipped and they all needed their clothes off all the time.

Sometimes we would be heading out and Jasmine or Cinderella would tag along, in the nude. The naked dolls didn't phase me much, but we did seem to get regular comments about them.

It seemed that they had been naked so long, we had a hard time finding all their pretty dresses. One by one we dressed most of them. A couple were still missing.

With naked Barbies on my mind heading into a naptime, I searched around for easy Barbie sewing patterns. I found two that looked perfect. Jessica's tutorial at Craftiness is Not Optional is clear and simple.  I also liked the bodice idea from Nancy at My Cotton Creations.

A few days later we tried the patterns out. I used the sleeve idea from one, the bodice from another and a nice full skirt. I figured it should take about 15 minutes. Well I forgot how challenging it sometimes is to sew tiny seams and tiny clothes. The sleeves were getting all kinds of caught in the machine and then my sewing opportunity for the day was over.

I was able to come back to the little pink dress today along with my mini helper and it all went smoothly, not taking much time at all to finish. Why not make another! This time I tried just the simple straight bodice and less full skirt. It probably took 15 minutes as predicted. I did put the bodice on Barbie to figure out the darts as the tutorial shows. It all worked well. And the delight on my daughter's face as the dresses neared completion made it an even more satisfying project.