Sewing Doll Clothes [Archive] - Simple Living Forums

mschrisgo2

1-30-18, 12:18am

I love to sew, and haven't done any sewing at all for several years. Now that I an retired and mostly decluttered, I am beginning to sew. My first project is clothes for my great niece- she got a My Life (18in) doll for Christmas. I have several bins of fabric, so I pulled out some appropriate pieces. Looked at the pattern I had bought for another niece... then logged on to YouTube. Oh Wow. Lots to look at, and what a time sink! But I did get great ideas and confirmation that my (old) ways of sewing are more efficient that what the pattern showed. So I'm just using the pattern for a size guide and not really following it. Great fun, though. I will have several pieces completed in a day or so. If I can Figure out how to post pictures here, I will.

Anyone else sew doll clothes?

iris lilies

1-30-18, 12:39am

The closest I have come is dog costumes, and they are not weel made they are just made, haha.

My grandmother made a few Barbie clothes for me if I remember correctly. What a nice tradition!

catherine

1-30-18, 9:13am

I used to make doll clothes! I used to make all my high school clothes, and like IL, I made Halloween costumes (for my kids, not my dog) every year.

But when I think of sewing doll clothes I'm reminded of my elementary school best friend, who had 8 siblings all living in a house that was probably about 1200 square feet. That mom was amazing.

A lasting image in my head is her sitting at her sewing machine in the corner of the dining room, daughter's Barbie doll sitting on her 8-month pregnant baby bump, as she fitted the outfit she was sewing for the doll. So, not only did she manage a household of 11 people, but she did all her baking from scratch, her house was neat as a pin, she made her kids' clothes AND she found time to make the kids' DOLL'S clothes!

nswef

1-30-18, 10:12am

My mom used to make all our clothes, sewing machine on the dining area table...When we were little and got one doll at Christmas I was always so excited that Mrs. Santa had made clothes for my dolls that matched my clothes! Mom also smocked and those dresses- always plaid because the hem changes didn't show traveled from my older sister, to me, to cousins and back to my baby sister born 13 years after my older sister. We used to go help pick the fabric and the smocking colors. White collars, cuffs, puffed sleeves. We looked good!

JaneV2.0

1-30-18, 10:25am

I haven't done so in years, but dressing fashion dolls was always something I enjoyed. It's a creative outlet, and the client never complains. :~)

Williamsmith

1-30-18, 10:27am

I wore second and third hand jeans and shirts from my older brother and cousins. They all had hand sew patches and hemline rings on the pant leg bottoms. I’m not much with dolls clothing but I remember my mother making sure her kids knew how to use a sewing machine and needle. I do remember helping make a pair of raggedy Ann and Andy dolls once. Now that I think of it.

Float On

1-30-18, 11:18am

My barbie dolls were the best dressed! Besides my mom's skills, three older women sewed clothes for my barbie dolls. I probably had more fun organizing the clothes than actually playing with the barbies. We wallpapered an old record player suitcase box for me to use for trips and visits to friend's homes to carry my dolls and traveling wardrobe!

Have fun and I sure hope you do share photos. I'll have to check with my mom and see if she kept any of that or passed it on to my nieces.

iris lilies

1-30-18, 11:47am

Teacher Terry

1-30-18, 12:03pm

My Mom made all our doll clothes and she was very creative so made her own designs. She also could go to a store and look at a dress and then copy it. Once she retired she sold barbie clothes at craft fairs. She was very talented. Me not so much:((

JaneV2.0

1-30-18, 12:30pm

I had Barbie dolls in the heyday of her clothes,the 60’s mass produced clothing was couture and from real fabric. Eveything was cotton, I believe, noth Ng was polyester.
....

My grandmother was a collector, and had the first couple of Barbies and their wardrobes. They really were beautifully made; that level of attention to detail (like teeny toggle buttons on the canvas car coat, and the coordinating cork wedgies) is long gone.

catherine

1-30-18, 1:23pm

I had Barbie dolls in the heyday of her clothes,the 60’s mass produced clothing was couture and from real fabric. Eveything was cotton, I believe, noth Ng was polyester.

I look back at those clothes from then and marvel at their detail. I do remember some homemade pieces from that time never really measured up because the scale of trim pieces was wrong, everything was too big. Barbie is tiny.

Hmm.. How many of us wish we still had a boxed Barbie in our attic, with either a pony tail and curly bangs or a big bouffant? I had both of those, with the iconic black and white one-piece bathing suit. I had a really smart cousin--she lived on a really rare wooded lot in Bridgeport and I remember sitting with her on a rock in the woods at age 13 and helping her (haha) draft a business proposal to Mattel for a Barbie Baby doll to complement the Barbie/Ken franchise. Shoot-there was already a "Barbie Dream Home" on the market--why not populate one of the bedrooms and turn it into a nursery!

They wrote back to her/us politely declining the idea. They probably didn't want to rob Barbie of her sex appeal and turn her into a sleep-starved Stepford Barbie. Who would buy that??

I haven't seen this particular cousin in years, but I have a feeling she's had a productive life.

saguaro

1-30-18, 2:20pm

My mom sewed some cool doll clothes. I have some of them though unfortunately they are in bad shape after being in an uninsulated attic for decades. I do have her patterns though. I also made some Barbie doll clothes for my niece when she was little.

I have continued to make some doll clothes for fun, usually with scraps of leftover fabric. Guess there's that part of me that's still a little girl. Here's one I am working on from scraps left from making my sister's wedding dress:

https://www.ebay.com/i/132461509838?chn=ps