Behind The Scenes

Here you will find a nearly complete photo journal of what it takes to make a Barbie princess dress. This isn't really a true tutorial, because I do not have patterns to offer to you. I don't have patterns for myself, either. Mostly, I just put the Barbie up to the fabric and cut around her. For this dress, I made sure to make the front bodice piece wider so that I could put in princess seams.


So, first, I cut out the bodice front and back.






Then I cut out the skirt. It is really only a big rectangle. I have 2 layers in this skirt, as you can see.















Then I put in the princess seams. I hold the piece up to the Barbie, mark where her breasts will be, then sew the darts.











Then, I sew the back to the front at the shoulders.










Sew an extra square of fabric to the neckline, then cut out the middle.
















That leaves it looking like this:












Turn that extra piece inside out, sew around the neck again, and you ahve a finished neckline.













See? Pretty.








Then put on the sleeves. (I forgot to take pics of that part, sorry.) These particular sleeves are gathered at the shoulder and at the elbow.





Then sew from the sleeve edge down to the waist on both sides.











Make sure it fits. Adjust, if necessary. I got it perfect the first time! (That only happens once in a while.)











Skirt:Finish lower ends however you want. Then, baste top edges together.












Pull strings to gather. POOF!














Put right sides of skirt and bodice together and baste.

See?

Then go over it again for strength and to make the seam lay straight when you put it on.

If you want, gather up a couple inches of tom layer and "garnish" with a bow.

Turn under the back seams, ending just at the widest part of Barbie's hip.

Start at the bottom of the skirt, and sew up to where the top seams stop at the hip to close the skirt.

Put on velcro. make sure you use REAL velcro. Not that Wal-Mart crap.

Cut off excess threads.

Ta Daaa!! Princess Dress!!!

Re-defining Modest Barbie Style

Modest Barbie Style has modest, durable, and stylish clothing for today's Barbie. This is my goal. To stay true to my goal, and provide a quality product for an economical price, has proven itself to be a challenge and a stretch these last few weeks. I was given the opportunity by a customer to create a few dressier dresses, and I learned some important basics about sewing in the process.


DO you know what a bias
is? I didn't. But now I do. Fabrics like satin are stiff in one direction, and stretchy in the other. Now, if you cut out your pattern pieces in all different directions, and then try to sew the stretchy pieces with the stiff pieces, do you KNOW the havoc that can cause?? I do. believe me. On this pink/gold dress, I wanted the floral piece to cross her body as you see. Getting the multiple pieces to line up while one of them was stretching and the other wasn't, was like living in a bad dream. I called my mom (the all-knowing sewing fairy) and asked her what was wrong with my fabric. Her first question to me was, "Well, did you cut on the bias?" My dumbfounded silence was enough for her to know that I had not.


With that lesson learned, and filed away for next time, I could not let this dress go to the garbage. I worked and worked, using more than an entire bottle of fray-check, and finally achieved sufficient success. So, valuable lesson learned, and one fancy dress to show for it.

Thank heaven that I actually cut the black dress on the bias. Phew.

Lesson #2: Did you know there are multiple kinds of twill? While doing these outfits to the right, I began researching different types of "khaki" and began to discover the amazing versatility of the fabric we call "twill". There is foulard or surah, serge, twill flannel, sharkskin, herringbone, houndstooth, lining twill, denim, jean, drill, covert, chino, gabardine, cavalry twill, and fancy twill. BRILLIANT! I can't wait to get my hands on some of these fabrics!

Lesson #3: Racer-back, sports bra style bras work best for Barbies.

Last lesson: Making quick-sew items for my daughter's friend's birthday party can result in making items too quickly to realize that the dress and shorts are a bit too short. I mean, I DO have a reputation to keep up! This IS Modest Barbie Style after all!

So, what do you think? Tips? Tricks? Comments?

Custom Orders

This is the first of three custom orders that I have going on right now. This one is for Wendi. Next week I will be working on Staci's, and after that, I will be working on Melanie's. Did I forget anybody? You?

Working Hard

I have so much in the works right now! As you can see to your right, there are new things listed on Etsy. Also, I am working hard on some custom orders, AND indulging myself with a few items I have been wanting to make. I am even working on a life-size skirt for my 7-year old! Oh! How I love to sew! If only housework was this fun...

Do you have anything in your life that is so fun to do that you dream about it and count the hours until you can do it? If you don't have anything, but you would like to, what would it be? Think big... Anything at all... what would you LOVE to do?

Rockin' and Rollin'

WOW!

I am giddy with excitement over the support and encouragement I have gotten from all of you!! Thanks to all my followers, customers, fellow bloggers, and all those of you who were lucky enough to stumble upon my blog! I now come up on the first page when you google "modest barbie clothes". I can't believe it!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Today was my first "on-site" party. My sweet sister, Laura, is the creator of some of the most beautiful one-of-a-kind earrings, and my mom decided that she would host a party for the two of us to showcase our creations. She invited pretty much everyone that we have ever known, and it was a blast! Imagine lots of ladies, lots of food, and lots of fun creations.

YUMMY!!























Here's Mom, hostess of the year.












Me on the left, Laura on the right.







Thanks, Laura, for the Barbie jewelry!

The panties were a hit!














Laura's creations really are amazing. What is more amazing is her singing voice! Her youtube channel has been in the top 100 of the world for nearly a year now. One of her videos just hit one million views! The awesome thing is that each of her earrings is named with a song title or lyric. SO COOL!!

Check her out here:

www.youtube.com/user/disneydiva7

Or here:
http://www.disneydiva7.etsy.com/












My display table.













Avalon, my 7 year-old... Princess of the party, of course.

My youngest, Embry, finds a friend in Grandma.

Thanks to all of you who were able to attend. It was wonderful to see you all!

For those of you who missed the party, you still get a free panty if you place an order.

And don't forget to check out Laura's sites!

Surplus Sale

I have decided to run my first surplus sale.

This means that you can choose any three outfits you see in this post for a total of $15.

If you want 4 outfits, your total is only $18,

and if you want 5, you pay only $21.

That is a savings of up to $9!

Leave a comment if you are interested, or email me at modestbarbie@gmail.com to place an order.

These deals are not currently available on my Etsy site, but if you want to use paypal, let me know what you want, and I can list them on Etsy just for you.

Not into Barbies? Do you know someone who is? Please forward my link, or at least let me know you stopped by. It's always nice to know you've been here.

Thanks!!

UPDATE: Many of these items are in the process of being sold. Please contact me to see which ones remain.