See ORIGINAL PAGE for explanations.
And here’s the pattern for Barbie OSFA peasant dress
Cut one pattern piece on fold of fabric.
Make tiny clips at corners where indicated
Fold over neckline and sleeves shy 1/4“ (almost 1/4″ but err towards the narrow side) and zigzag over a piece of cord, then pull up to the measurements given (printed on the pattern for your convenience for hand sewing while travelling) – sleeve edges 2.5 inches and neck to 5 inches.
Sew up side seams.
Fold back edges under to finish, then add velcro.
Narrow hem or a ruffle.
Hi Janel,
I’m getting back to you with some of the dresses that I made for the underprivileged children in our area that I was making doll clothes for Barbie/fashion dolls that I picked up from a local thrift store. It all started when the leader of the Crossroads Kids Club was gifted a box of used dolls that had 4 naked Barbie dolls in it. She was going to hand them out to the kids as they don’t have very many toys to play with. So I took the Barbie/fashion dolls home as I wasn’t going to have young girls playing with a naked Barbie doll! And it snowballed from there. I now have used your peasant dress pattern for 5 or 6 dolls and used the shift dress for a couple. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pictures of the dolls with their new clothes on. I didn’t do anything different with your swing dress pattern. But once I got the hang of making the peasant dresses, I changed them up a bit so that the girls that got them could tell their dresses apart right away. I used recycled fabric, but made sure that each doll was in a different fabric. Plus I made a couple with the shorter sleeves and some with the longer sleeves. The one difference that I did with the longer sleeved ones was to leave the elastic out of the end of the sleeve as I remember back in the day that for a while that style of peasant dress with long sleeves had more of a flared look at the wrist end. So I left them that way. Plus it saved me quite a bit of time as I was burning the midnight oil trying to get these dolls to the school before their last meeting for the year. I was so sleep deprived that I forgot to ask someone to take the pictures. But everyone who saw them before they were taken into the school were very impressed with how they looked. So a big THANK YOU for providing these Free simple dress patterns to help me and others to dressed naked Barbie/fashion dolls without breaking the bank!
Oh this is just wonderful to hear! Thank you and I’m so glad I could have a little part of helping!
What type of cord did you use? I tried a round elastic and was unable to zigzag over without catching the cord. I finally basted the neckline edge and used 1/8th inch elastic with a multi-zigzag which helped pull the neckline in but I think I can shorten the elastic a bit. Any other suggestion would be helpful. I have 18 Barbie dolls I am making clothes for to give to the foster program in my area and was happy to find this one piece pattern but the neckline is giving me fits and I have 16 left to sew (only needed 17 total as had one top from when my girl played with the doll).
I recall using bedspread crochet cord. It’s tough but still “thread”. Doesn’t need to stretch because Barbs doesn’t move. Should be much smaller than your widest zigzag.