barbie® clothes

One of Sadie’s little friends just turned 4, and her mom told me she is into all things girly, including Barbie dolls…so I knew just what to make her for her gift.  CLOTHES! (oh and we bought her a doll, too, Paleontologist Barbie, in case you were wondering)

 I used four of my tutorials: the cap sleeve top, basic easy dress, froufy skirt, and easy skirt.

I made a little pleat in the sleeves before sewing them on (just on this white shirt) and it turned out really cute.

These froufy skirts are super easy to make! Seriously, if you want to start with one, these are the easiest and really fast to make once you’ve done one. (or 2, or 20)

I love adding tiny trims to the skirts, too.

This one’s a bit Oklahoma-ish, but maybe in a modern, cool way? By the by, Charlotte has an almost matching dress. details soon!

I added a big bow on the back of this one. 🙂

I’d like to thank Rapunzel for taking the time out of her busy schedule to model these clothes for me. I know managing that rascal Flynn Ryder can be a lot of work, not to mention defeating Mother Gothel or shampooing all that hair. (which, is probably a full time job)

Comments

  1. Oh my gosh these are so cute! I love the skirt with the frill.
    My little one would love it if I could make her Barbie clothes…unfortunately me and the sewing machine aren’t quite friends yet.

  2. Oh, these are adorable!!! Thanks for the link to and for sharing your tutorials…

  3. Adorable. I wish I had someone to make those cloths for. My niece isn’t into Barbie, at all. And that comment about Rapunzel and her busy day made me laugh.
    Greetings from Germany
    Catrin

    • Kathryn Hagseth says

      I gave all my Barbies from the 60’s to my niece. I doubt if she ever played with them. Wish I would have saved them for my daughter. My daughter passed away and I am raising three grand girls. Ages 8, 9, &10. The 8 & 10 year old girls love their Barbies. Clothes are so expensive. I haven’t sewed in 30 years and really don’t know if my machine still works. It wasn’t a very good machine to start with. I would love to purchase some clothes for their dolls.

      • Kathryn Bruch says

        Kathryn, so sorry to hear about your daughter. The girls are old enough to start learning how to sew. The easy skirt could easily be done by hand. I am sure the girls would love designing their own clothes. Good luck.

  4. If we have watched Tangled once, was have watched it 30 times. But it’s fine, I love it too. And so does my husband (but we’ll keep that on the dl…)

  5. Um, kinda jealous of Rapunzel’s wardrobe! Can’t wait to make modest barbie clothes for my little girl! Thanks for the ideas!

  6. Those are the cutest barbie clothes ever!

  7. So Cute! If only I had a closet full of similar clothes! So stylin’.

  8. It’s so nice to see Barbie dressed modestly and so super cute. Now if I could only supersize those adorable outfits for my own spring wardrobe!

  9. I love these! I have a soft spot for Barbie clothes. When I was 6 I learned to sew because I wanted to make clothes for my Barbie. I vividly remember how much fun it was, and how proud I was of my creations. Now, 30+ years later, I earn my living by sewing, and I have Barbie to thank for guiding me down that path.

  10. This brings me back to my own childhood when I would spend lazy summer days hand sewing clothes for my Barbies!

  11. Super Cute!! I love the floral dress! My mom and grandmother sewed and crocheted clothes for my Barbie when I was growing up, and my sister and I used to hand stitch them as well. Sadie’s friend will love what you have made!

  12. I would totally wear most of those clothes. 🙂 PS Rapunzel’s hair looks awesome and I didn’t know there was a paleontologist barbie.

  13. My first thought on the plaid dress was not Oklahoma, but Burberry. They’re all so cute!

  14. These outfits are soooo adorable! Lucky little girl who is receiving them. I admire your ability to make such lovely Barbie outfits …. they’re much too small for me to make (I’ve tried). So glad you shared.

  15. As if any of us sewists needed another justification for keeping teeny tiny scraps! 🙂 Just kidding – this is great. I need to make sure my daughter doesn’t see this or I’ll not get to sew anything else for a while.

  16. These are great! My grandma made me clothes for my Barbies and I plan to make some for my daughter when she gets a little older. Thanks for the inspiration!

  17. Super cute! I love them all, but especially the last one. 🙂

  18. I’m going to have to make some outfits now, my girls love barbies (they’re only at my mom’s house). She has quite a few handmade barbie clothes and they are so hilarious!

  19. man, i want her wardrobe!

  20. They are so pretty! Brings back memories. I learned to sew making Barbie clothes.

  21. I’m made so many Barbie skirts (since the ones you can buy barely cover the poor girls’ bum), but I have the darndest time with those tiny tops! The ones you posted are adorable and look doable! Thanks!

    I personally, I think the “oklahoma” dress is my fave!

  22. Goodness! These are a-dor-a-ble! I love, love, love them.

    And thank you for mentioning that there is a paleontologist Barbie! My niece is an archeologist and spends her summers doing digs in South America, I must find one of these for her! Where did you get yours?

  23. ack ! these are super adorable !!!
    especially the one with the pompom trim 🙂
    please, please tell me what fabric you used for the last dress, where can I buy it ??
    this is how all of my sewing began ~ making clothes for my Barbies when I was a little girl (using scraps of fabric from my mom’s leftover sewing projects)
    have you already seen the book Hankie Couture? it shows you how to take vintage hankies & make Barbie dresses out of them ~ how fun is that!?!

  24. so cute! i love that the outfits are all modest too. i really need to get on it and make Sutton some barbie clothes! please tell me who makes the pretty mustard yellow floral print! i adore it!

  25. YEY! Thanks for another ace post. I’ve been looking everywhere for tutorials on cute barbie clothes for my 3.5yo. (For some reason, although I read your every blog post I’d missed your tutorials!) So excited to get sewing for my little woman and her ever increasing Barbie collection!

  26. Do you hand sew these adorable creations? Or use your machine? I’ve been trying to make a few things for my daughter and the stitches are so small, it’s difficult to use my machine! Amy tips?

  27. These are terrific! Just to cute for words.

  28. These are SO CUTE Jess! I love your Barbie clothes, they’re so sweet. I almost want Em to start playing with Barbies just so I can make her some of these! 🙂

  29. Aww, I made a boatload of Barbie clothes a couple of years ago. It seems like such a fiddly little project, but I loved it because they go together so quickly! I used some vintage patterns for mine 🙂 Yours are adorable.

  30. I’m really impressed, doll clothes are so tiny and hard for me!

  31. Yeah, super cute. Would like to know what that beautiful floral on the dress with the bow is. Super pretty!
    encutshall (at) gmail (dot) com

  32. You are too clever! These are awsome.
    Katie x

  33. I love all those outfits! My SIL used to make her own modest barbie clothes for my nieces. That takes talent and patience!

    Alissa
    ripleyadoption.blogspot.com

  34. Oh, just adorable! Reminds me of the little tube tops and dresses I used to put together for my barbies. I think I sometimes used staples. I eventually got better at them, though!

    Love the prints and colors!

  35. Rebecca Collier says

    Just came across this post… How easy or hard would it be to make these bigger for an 18 in doll. I got an “easy” pattern for outfits… not sew easy 🙁

  36. Thanks you Jess for this easy and nice tutorials!

    I used it in France for my little cusin as Christmas present and she was soo happy

    I made an article on my blog ans I link back here to your tutorials
    Here is the article
    http://byjuliehandmade.wordpress.com/2013/01/18/latelier-du-lutin-julie-n2-les-vetements-de-barbie/

  37. Love your little designs have been making Dolls clothes since I was a child Barbie was always a favourite now I make for the Porcelain Dolls which tend to be a bit more involved…Sue

  38. It is always be a dream for me to be a Barbie designer, and you are inspiring to me! Your realisations makes me want to jump on my sewing machine and create a doll collection! Love it!

  39. These are adorable and I see that I need to make these pronto! Thanks for the info and love the fishtail braid in R’s hair. Wish I had thought to do that before our two Rapunzel’s hair got SO OUT of CONTROL! lol

  40. Do you have a pattern for these? I would love to make some for my girls!

  41. LOVE these! I think I’ve got the bug! I came looking for a shrug for barbie… Could you come up with one? I would feature you on my blog! Thanks ever so much.

  42. Dear Jess, Thank you so much for sharing your cute tutorials for Barbie clothes. I followed your directions and made three different outfits for my 4yr old granddaughter for her birthday from your little skirt and top patterns. I added some cute trim and embellishments. I made doll clothes when I was a girl, way back when Miss Barbie first hit the stores. I had a clone, and Mom & Dad could not afford to buy me the cute stuff I saw at the TG&Y store. So I made my own…..a creative gene was set loose. I love your simple instructions. Thanks for sharing your talent and for re-kindling my ancient Barbie fashion gene…Bless You….I’m putting the word out about your blog, so other Moms and Grannys can see what fun there is to be had sewing for Miss Barbie.
    Best Wishes and Happy Sewing
    Granny B.

  43. Thank you for these tutorials! When I was growing up, I made Barbie clothes with my mom, but never tried by myself. That changed yesterday, as I made clothes for my daughters’ dolls. Your tutorials made it easy, and they were easily modified for Skipper & Staci dolls (although I got frustrated mid-afternoon while making itty bitty sleeves for Staci’s shirt, so we took a trip to the pool!)

    Your dress tutorial had asked for photos to be uploaded to your flickr account, but since I don’t have a yahoo account, I couldn’t do it. Here’s a link to my blog if you ever want to see a photo…I winged it on some mermaid tails, too 🙂

    http://justswritehere.blogspot.com/2014/07/finishing-touches-fill-me-up-buttercup.html

  44. Thanks for the SUPER EASY barbie dress instructions! I decided to go for it and made a barbie dress out of the back of a stained t-shirt. Sewing with knits isn’t easy for me, but it only took about 20 minutes to make anyway! The dress is SO cute AND modest, but the VERY BEST part is that my 3-year old can put the dress on and take it off ALL BY HERSELF! What a relief! I figure, if I make one dress a week, I shouldn’t get burned out or bored and her barbies will have a pretty nice wardrobe! Thanks again!!! 🙂

  45. christine says

    can I have the link to download the pattern? My nieces would love these clothes.

  46. I would love to get these patterns for Barbie clothes. They are just what
    I’ve been looking for.

  47. Judy Hoppe says

    I am busy making clothes for the Barbie doll that Santa brought my granddaughter. I’m not very good at small things so I am going to make just a few simple pieces. Please send pdf. Thanks!

Trackbacks

  1. […] post features some lovely patterns created by Jess at Craftiness Is Not Optional (click over for the how-to). She has developed miniature patterns for tops, skirts and […]

  2. […] Sew a Mini Wardrobe for Fashion Dolls […]

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