Friday, March 6, 2009

Barbie fun

This past week Maya has been home sick with a sore throat, general icky cough , some fever but in a good mood. Just to do something different and special with her I decided I was ready to show her my Barbie collection and give her all my Barbie clothes. Afterall, haven't I saved them all these years to give to her eventually? At almost 7, I think she is careful enough to enjoy them without destroying them. So....out they came, much to her complete amazement! She thought they were BEAUTIFUL despite the obivious signs of aging! She loves the clothes I made as a kid since at this point she doesn't notice the uneven stitching and frayed edges.

The box of naked Barbies below are the only ones I left to keep out of the play arena. They are the stiff legged original styles of Barbie and Skipper from the early 60's. (My Ricky and Ken with stiff legs were stolen from our car in 1972 in Italy.) Francie and Julia (the nurse) are also favorites and when I took out a similar aged Barbie her leg snapped off immediately in my hand so I decided they should stay in the box too.

Below is one of the Barbies who seems strong enough to play with Maya...next to the clothes I made for her. My mother made the adorable sweaters. And Prince Erik (Ken) is hanging out in the hammock...which is actually a banana keeper I bought for 10 kr. at a Loppis last summer. Perfect for the Barbies! This group of photos below are my next set of WISPS to work on..... Does anyone else remember these patterns for Barbie clothes and assessories that you bought already printed on the cloth? My mom made a lot of them for me but she didn't quite get through all we had bought. I've been saving them all these years and was debating whether or not I should keep them uncut. But realistically...will I make a fortune selling them on ebay? hardly! I think I'd rather make them so Maya can enjoy them now while she's interested! And who knows...she might give them to her child in the future! (if you look carefully at Ken's jacket pattern you will see the heaps of pins used to keep the sleeve on the main body of the jacket...a prime reason I hated sewing clothes!)
I love these 1960's patterns below! Mom wrote in to Woman's Day magazine to get them. They are easy to make with felt! Mom let me pick out the colors and buttons, maybe I helped sew on a few things, I can't remember. Unfortunately, most of the clothes she made became food for moths in our house in Florida while in storage. (You can see the way the little jacket below is unuseable from the moth holes.) I found some pieces we had cut out a long time ago..probably late 60's or early 70's...so will finish them for Maya and make a few more things...FUN!
Does anyone else still have their Barbie projects?

5 comments:

Unknown said...

What a treasure those old Barbie clothes are! The style and fabric patterns are so 60's. That must bring back a lot of memories.

Sandi said...

Oh I would have loved to have had a barbie doll when I was little! Some of my friends had one. I had probably a cheaper version of one and of course made clothes for her. Don't know what happened to my dolls. I remember having a big doll called 'Giggles' which giggled when you pressed a button (I think). Her outfit was a bright pink and orange striped top and matching shorts - very sixties. Later on, I had a Monchichi monkey doll which could suck its thumb, my friend had one too, and we played with them for hours.

Marie said...

Oh CaROL WHAT MEMORIES MY GIRLS SAVED THEM AND GAVE ThEM TO THEIR GIRLS TOOO. I believe we probably were in Gainesville along the same time you were. my in laws lived on the last street before it went into Alachua. spent many years traveling up there and going all over.Lots of happy memories. Hugs, Marie

Sara said...

oh I bet Maya is in heaven with all the great stuff you have! I am sure she will be careful with it and just to know that it was yours makes it special! There is some great stuff there!

vera said...

Love the Barbie clothes! I didn't have Barbies, but I did make doll clothes as a kid...in fact I posted about it, and mbduke sent me here to meet you! :)