A Barbie Valentine

A few weeks ago, I turned around at church and into my view came the most adorable little girls.  Seeing them sitting there with their dad reminded me of when my favorite niece and I started attending the church a couple weeks after the memorial service for my college sweetheart fourteen years earlier.  

My story gave my favorite niece an idea.  And this project was started.   

Using #Simplicity 4719 view C and some #Valentine fabric I found while unpacking in my new workshop, two dresses emerged. 

#Simplicity 4719 view C is a strapless princess line short dress. 

The first dress was made from a pink cotton with white hearts in a flower arrangement print. 

The second dress was made from a white cotton with a pink heart print. 

For the picture,  my tall fashionista #Barbie modeled one of the dresses putting in her first appearance on the blog. 

To see how these dresses turned out,  check out sewdolledup.blogspot.com 

Trip Through History via Fashion

All anyone seems to be able to talk about right now is navigating these unprecedented times.  

Instead of providing opinions on how that might work, I thought it would be more fun to take a trip through history using fashion. 

This trip will include looks from the middle ages to the Gibson Girl.  And to keep it interesting,  the posts will be in a random order as opposed to following a timeline. 

Distract yourself from the pandemic and enjoy the #Ellie'sStyle history trip.

Fashionista in Blue

While shopping in the toy department during the holidays, I gave into the temptation to pick up a couple of the new Barbie Fashionistas for myself. 

I added two of the curvier dolls and one of the tall dolls.

And so temptation drew me back to my design roots and working with Barbie again.

For my first look, I worked with a curvy brunette. I went for a look that was sleeveless  with pleats just in the center front. 

Then to set the look off, added a gold and blue beded necklace.

Interested in how this turned out? Check out Sewdolledup.blogspot.com.

Sarah's Wedding Dress

Going into her 20th anniversary, Sarah came across a picture on a vintage #wedding gown.  She shared this image with me indicating that if she'd had a church wedding, this is the dress she would have chosen.

This conversation inspired me.  Taking the picture, I began shopping for fabric, a #Barbie and flowers in her favorite color.

After studying the picture for a while, I began to create pattern pieces.  I then cut out the pieces in the main fabric and in the lace overlay.

After putting together a strapless dress, I began to piece together the lace to create the look of a v-neck with sleeves. Both of these pieces are sewn on by hand to the strapless dress.

To finish off the look, a veil was created out of the lace.  The hair of the #Barbie was braided on each side then brought together in the back.  The veil was sewn to the braid and then a flower crown was created by threading flowers into the braids.

Flowers were also banded together with the stems wrapped in purple ribbon.  Streamers of this same ribbon was cut to fall from the bouquet, which was then placed in #Barbie hand.

This look was accessorized by the necklace, bracelet and matching shoes originally worn by #Barbie.

Interested in seeing how this look turned out?  Check out SewDolledUp.blogspot.com.

Anniversary Bride Barbie

While most of the bride #Barbie dolls I have made are for wedding presents, this time is was different.   I was given wedding pictures and asked to make a #Barbie for a 45th wedding anniversary.

With all the "changes" #Barbie has undergone this year, the hardest part of doing a custom doll has become creating a pattern that fits.  So first I had to create a sloper for this particular doll's body shape.  A task that was complicated by the fact that unbeknownst to us when the doll was purchased, the doll is standing with one hip cocked higher than the other.  Once I got the sloper, I was able to create the pattern.

This dress was the equivalent of a satin strapless dress with a full lace overlay.  The lace goes to a collar around the neck, into long full sleeves gathered to a cuff at the wrist and then over the entire skirt to the floor. 

Then beads were sewn onto the lace at planned intervals.  I used 11/0 white glass beads (the original had pearl beads sewn every third flower). 

The bouquet is red ribbon roses circled by white ribbon roses.  And the stems were covered in a silver ribbon. 

The headpiece is the glass beads strung on a wire to encircle the dolls head and then tulle gathered and sewn to the bead circle.

In the end, the look has a very 70s vibe to it.

Want to see the picture of how this look turned out?  Check out SewDolledUp.blogspot.com.

Aina Dress for Silkstone Barbie

As a change of pace, when the J-Patterns Aina Dress for 12 inch dolls such as Silkstone Barbie showed up in the testing queue I couldn't resist.

The hardest part of this project was actually locating where I was storing my Silkstone Barbie.  I've been focused so much on the bigger dolls that my Barbies are not as prominently displayed any longer.

This dress is color blocked in red and black.  And I was able to put it together in a single evening (a really great thing given my schedule right now).  While the instructions recommend a silk or satin, I used a lightweight cotton I had sitting around and it still works.

Check out pictures of the look on SewDolledUp.blogspot.com and Flickr.

Have a Silkstone Barbie and want to try the look?  Find the pattern on Pixie Faire.

Mom's Wedding Barbie

So all the #Wedding #Barbies I've done recently got my mom to thinking. 

So I got a call with a broad hint that she'd like it if I created an artistic rendition of her wedding dress.

Then not long after that, three pictures showed up in the mail: a closeup, a picture of the dress from the front and a picture of the dress from the back.

I guess this means my future holds another #Wedding #Barbie.  Maybe I can get it done before their 45th anniversary.

Chelle's Wedding Barbie

After six prototypes slowly adjusting the pattern, I finally got the patterns to reflect the look I was going for.  (One of these days I might get used to all the figure changes Mattel has put #Barbie through in the last couple of decades.)

The under dress/lining is a mermaid style dress is in satin with a lace and shiny tulle ruffle.

The over dress is also in satin, but more of a fit and flare style.  Lace covers the dress from the strapless neckline to just past the hips. Lace also covers around the hem of the skirt and drapes partway up the skirt.

The lace on the skirt has white sequin interspersed in the design.

Just under the bust, a white satin ribbon encircles the dress with a teal satin ribbon centered over it for a pop of color.  The lace on the bust is embellished with beads.

The center back of the dress laces like a corset with a teal organza ribbon.

After all of this, I only hope the bride sees this as the perfect artistic rendition of her own wedding look.

Watch for pictures of this look on Flickr and Sewdolledup.blogspot.com.