New Barbie repair adventures ahead

I know I haven’t posted anything for two weeks but now I can tell you something new. I’m going to get a parcel this week with lots of Barbie dolls for repair and the best thing is I haven’t to pay for them. They are a gift from another collector who likes my idea to get repair without paying the repair itself only the shipping and handling costs and material costs.

She asked me to test a new glue for broken necks and I said I’d be glad to test and do a video, although I don’t know if this stuff is available outside from Germany. I’m curious to do the test. I heard a lot. Now I get the chance to do a test.

What else happened in the meantime?

Well I had to work only three days last week and had a long weekend that I used for Barbie, not for doing videos but to continue to develop my sewing and pattern making skills for Francie. I started on May 1rst I think with a pattern for Francie and had problem to make it fit to her size. I had too many wrinkles at the wrong places but this weekend I had an idea how to make it probably work. I tried it and had success with my idea. It’s not perfect yet but I think I’m on the right way to find the pattern. I did a second project yesterday and designed my very first sleeve. The sleeve is definitely something for the next weekend. I saw some progress in my Francie “Let’s Dance” sewing project. It feels good to see some progress.

Short update for pattern making friends

I can’t believe how fast the last week passed by. Last week I designed my first top pattern for Francie and I was really nervous how this would turn out because the pattern form I got for Francie was very similar to the pattern I did for Barbie. Had I used the right measurements? I was so nervous that I didn’t want to start sewing it. This sounds strange, I know. Again I had the same problem like with the one for Barbie. My front middle part had too much fabric to fit in a perfect way. I had this while doing my Barbie top. After my first Francie top try I already knew where to modify the pattern. I think the next try will fit much better because of the modification. This time I tried to document what I did because I realized that I forgot a lot. Additionally I took the measure from my Vintage Skipper so that I can do patterns for her or Ricky too in the future. Maybe pattern making becomes easier the more often you do it. At least I hope so.

If you ask yourself why I suddenly started to do pattern making for Francie, well this is due to the fact that I was not 100% satisfied with the pattern I used for my “Let’s dance” Francie dress project . So I decided to try another approach and doing my own top to come as close to the original as possible. You know I’m a purist. If you’re not familiar with the topic, just watch the first part of my new video series.

I’m going to insert a pic of my first try here in the next days. I’m still sitting here and write this article.

Designing Sewing Patterns for Barbie and the family

Greetings and welcome to my crazy Barbie world. You have not heard about any Barbie related stuff in the last weeks from me? Yep, that’s right. I was working on some new ideas and I do course after course to learn new things and improve my skills concerning Social Media.

That’s why you haven’t heard very much from me. Today I’m going to change this. I’ve been working on new sewing patterns for Francie, the cousin of Barbie doll. You may have heard from her?

Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an

1966 Francie has finally got some clothes of her own. Pink Power #1762 from 1970 although she is left wondering what the heck happened to her pink stockings. They seemed to have been chopped into socks! ? #barbie #vintagebarbie #vintagebarbies #barbievintage #fortheloveofvintagebarbie #francie #pinkpower #vintage #vintagedolls #vintagetoys #barbiecollector #vintagebarbiecollector #vintagebarbieclothes

Ein Beitrag geteilt von For The Love Of Vintage Barbie (@fortheloveofvintagebarbie) am

Her size and proportions are a bit different from the measurements of Barbie and I created a sewing pattern for her. Since I’m not doing this every day it always lasts a while. While doing my draft I did a stupid mistake. It was the same one I did years before when I did my Barbie top. Nevertheless I wasn’t sure about my draft and asked someone who did many sewing patterns for Barbie and her family to have a look at my pattern. The answer was no. What should I expect? I’m long enough in the scene of collectors. You often have selfish persons.

You know it’s not for me about making money with the stuff. I simply want to do my own patterns in a correct way and become better in doing so. I’m convinced I can find someone who is willing to help me and understanding my own mistakes. You can only become better when you learn from your own mistakes.