Granted, it's a bit easier to explain when you have a daughter/sister/niece to use as an excuse. I just love making clothes of any size though, and Barbie's are easier to display than full size dress forms.
I picked up this lovely lady at the thrift store the other day, because I was enchanted by the rich varied red of her hair. $2.99 packaged with a horrid Bratz doll which is going right back to the thrift store! And then I got my whole purchase 25% off because it was a monday...
Anyhow, her hair was a mess, so I carefully combed it out, section by section, shampooed and conditioned it, then dipped it in boiling water to straighten it out. Look how smooth and silky it got! I wanted her curls back, however, so I used straws and bobby pins to roll it up and - yes - once again stick it into boiling water.
When her hair dried I took the curlers out and she had a lovely shiny new mop o'curls!
As you can see from this top-down view, I was able to save the narrow braid from the original hairstyle and loop it up again over the curls.
Although I hope to created something more stunning for her eventually, today I just needed something to cover poor Barbie up. So I pulled out this vintage pattern set my aunt had given me and picked the easiest design.
30 minutes later, Barbie has a cute new frock, very Rose Brier in style!
I couldn't resist sticking a little flower in her hair!
Saving and restyling dolls is addicting, but thankfully not a very expensive addiction!
3 comments:
That is so adorable! I love it!
My mom used to collect the red haired Barbies, because they were the rarest ones. My grandmother also made a lot of Barbie clothes for my sister and I, including real mink capes, which I still have! My biggest pet peeve when it comes to doll clothes (Barbie, American Girl, Cabbage Patch, etc) is scale of pattern. My grandmother was a stickler that the scale of the pattern on the material match the scale of the doll. I pass so many booths at craft fairs that sell doll clothes were the scale of the pattern is way off! I'm glad to see you used an appropriately scaled patterned fabric.
Casey - yes, I was going through my fabric stash and the scale was definitely what tipped me in this print's favor. (Despite Anne Shirley declaring that redheads cannot wear pink!)
Post a Comment