Coordinating Coat...

Okay, I’m having some serious fun, here! The coat is made from a buttery soft microsuede-type fabric. I know that’s not authentic to the time period (late 50s – early 60s) but I liked how it coordinated with the dress. This particular pattern also includes pants, top, jacket and a skirt. I’m thinking I may try enlarging the pieces to fit my 16” dolls.

Vintage Fashion Sewing for Repro Barbies

There was an article in the 2009 August issue of Haute Doll magazine about collecting and sewing old patterns for vintage Barbie dolls or reproductions. My most recent doll acquisition is the beautiful bubble blonde repro below. She arrived sans clothing and needed something to wear, quick! I found a vintage pattern for a simple sheath but it wasn’t lined. Well, I really wanted to add a lining but wasn’t quite sure how to go about it, so I searched the web and found this pattern for a lined dress for a larger doll and just followed the construction directions. I used “Silk Essence” as the lining material. Having never used it before, I’ve got to say it is wonderful stuff – lightweight, inexpensive and easy to work with – and comes in many colors! For the fashion fabric, I used a pretty scrap from my mom’s old stash. I'm not sure of the content but it is a very soft twill weave and is wrinkle resistant. The scale of the flowers is just right for Barbie. I love the way this dress fits! Next, I’m making a coat to coordinate with it.

Recycling Old Vinyl Doll Bodies

There are new articulated replacement bodies available for Gene Marshall doll collectors to upgrade their old beloved Gene dolls for more pose-ability. I just performed that easy operation on one of my dolls and was wondering what people do with the old bodies. I belong to a Yahoo group for Gene dolls and someone in the group suggested adding Styrofoam or wooden eggs to the necks and turning them into mannequins to display extra outfits. I found an abandoned needlesculpted cloth cat head (from a pattern in an old dollmaking magazine) and placed it on the neck of the old body. Perfect fit! Now, I have to figure out how to finish it. I will either add cloth ears and then paint it or I will add paperclay on top of the cloth and refine the sculpture a little more before painting.

Anyway, here are a few photos of the muslin-sculpted head. Check out that overbite!

Hope everyone is having a safe and happy holiday!