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How to get wild Barbie hair under control again

I bet you have all experienced this situation that you have a doll with wild Barbie hair and you did not know how to get them under control again. This happened to one of my viewers in the last weeks and he asked me if I could do a video with the content of how to get wild Barbie hair under control again.

Skipper with wild pony

To be honest I had two ideas in mind when he asked me and I realized that wanted to make a video about this topic but lost the idea somehow in my mind because I had so many other things I wanted to do in the meantime.

Working on a lot of parallel projects is something you have to do when releasing at least one video a week. No losing the overview is important. The video of how to get wild Barbie hair under control again was an easy one and very relaxing. The amount of time I needed for planning, taping and processing was manageable.

Using a special kind of rubber is what I think is the most useful thing for getting long and wild Barbie hair under control again. That’s at least my experience after 10 years of rerooting http://barbie.final-memory.org/my-first-barbie-reroot/ . The second little diy helper I show you here in my video is very simple to diy. You often get these little plastic caps when you buy used Barbie dolls or her sister or family. Let’s call this plastic thing cap. It’s very helpful when you have a doll with a short pony. These hairs have tendency to become wild and uncooperative. It may be in the nature of the short hair. Anyway but I have a solution for these wild hairs. It’s really easy and fun to craft these caps yourself.

Skipper’s wild pony under control
Barbie’s wild hair under control

Don’t forget to plan some weeks until you might have it finally under control. Sometimes the hair is really unwilling to cooperate. Sometimes it can last some months until you see a success.

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The leg repair of an Equestrienne Barbie

Last week I told you a little bit about the leg repair of a Talking Stacey and how easy it is to repair her fallen of legs. If you forgot to read about you can do it here http://barbie.final-memory.org/talking-barbie-and-her-leg-problem/

Successful leg repair of an Equestrienne Barbie

This weeks I would like to tell you a little bit about the leg repair of an Equestrienne Barbie and how easy her repair really is. I have done a video about this topic many many years ago when starting to do videos but until then no second Equestrienne Barbie crossed my way to do the repair another time. However I realized I got a pair of legs and a suitable body for the demonstration of this repair in the last months, had forgotten it completely.

That’s Barbie without legs

When searching in my workshop for new video ideas I found the semi-assembled Equestrienne Barbie just waiting for me. She was the one I was looking for. The good thing is that for this kind of Barbie doll the amount of time needed for the repair is very low. You can do it within 5 minutes when you are trained to do it. This is no joke. You don’t need more time for the leg repair of an Equestrienne Barbie. It’s very simple. You just need hot water, the legs, a little towel, the upper body and some minutes time.

After putting the legs in your bowl with hot water you just need to wait until they become soft. You dry them with a towel. You know the problem that can appear when not doing it properly. Read more about it here http://barbie.final-memory.org/tutti-todd-and-their-problems/

Here we are in the middle of the repair

You dry the legs and them push them over the joints with some feeling. It’s really hard to explain how much to push and how much is too much. I suggest simply trying the leg repair of an Equestrienne Barbie. More than not being able to get the leg in the leg joint again can’t happen. Then you do it another time and it will find its way.

One leg reattached …
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Fashions for Francie doll – here’s what she has now

Finally 1000 subscribers subscribed to Busy B from Germany and I thought for a while how to celebrate the event with fashions for Francie doll. At first I had no idea how to celebrate it. Suddenly an idea came into my mind. I’m not always showing you all the things I do behind the scenes in my workshop. I take this occasion as a chance to show you some of my ideas for dressing Francie,

Francie in a-line skirt, own design

You know I like Francie and I do my own designs now that I have learned what I already wanted to know 25 years ago. In my videos you have only seen a small amount of clothes I made instructions for. Behind the scenes I did a lot more, some things could be seen in my other videos but a big part was not. Not all of my designs are ready yet but I have some ideas how to do this and that even if my time to sew is very limited.

It’s always a good idea to plan ahead what you want to design next. Sometimes I need a year or more to complete my drafts. That’s at least for the more complicated designs true. Easy projects don’t need such a big amount of time. Nevertheless my designs inspired me to do a video with all fashions created until now. Fashions for Francie doll – here’s what she has now in her wardrobe.

Francie in self designed pants and JE dress top

For those of you trained in sewing for Barbie and the family it might be only a small amount but for me it’s a big progress. I have learned a lot since I found my own mistakes in making own designs.

You know it’s all about the correct measurements. I know I’m not perfect and I know that a lot of my designs is still in white but I hope you appreciate the idea to show you my designs as much as I do here.

Francie in self designed top and skirt

I don’t want to create very complicated clothes here. We can do it later. Let’s start simple and let’s stay simple. When you have some basics you can put them together and create a new piece of clothing and play around with your own designs here.

I hope you like my ideas here and that you like the fashions for Francie doll that she has now in her wardrobe. You know I came across the idea for making all the fashions for Francie doll because her original fashions are so expensive. It’s easier to make own patterns than to buy what she has now. Why not use the problem for what you ever wanted to do in your life? Become a fashion designer! Read more about it here http://barbie.final-memory.org/how-to-make-a-pair-of-pants-for-barbie/

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My new book from Amazon Japan

In the last week my Japanese Barbie doll book from Amazon Japan arrived. It was much faster in Germany than I expected. I haven’t read much in the book yet. I have to translate it sentence by sentence from the Japanese but this is going to last some time but I’m curious what to read and find in it. This is my first real Japanese Barbie book. I have another one but it has not so much text and I haven’t translated it. For the long journey from Japan it arrived here in an astonishing short time. I think it was only three or four days. I didn’t expect it to arrive so soon. In general I can say that it is no problem to order there a book.

Japanese Barbie book by Fumiko Miyatsuka

I’m really curious what Fumiko is going to tell. She worked closely with Charlotte Johnson in Japan for one year and they produced the prototypes of fashions for Barbie available in 1959.

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Let’s celebrate 22 years of Barbie collecting!

Sometimes the time goes by really fast. That’s how it feels when I look back. I really started 22 years ago with Collecting Collector Barbie as she was called in the last 10 years. When I started in late 1996 the whole collector thing was known as Barbie Collectibles. I still have some advertising and catalouges from back then. All of them were made very high-quality. I guess the input to produce the whole thing was very expensive and very time consuming back then. Not to forget to mention that it was a very expensive hobby since single dolls were very expensive and at first I had to convince my parents to drive with me to special toy stores where they were sold. You were never sure what to find. It was not like ordering online. It was still unknown to most people. I got my first book online ordered in 2003. Man, that was a thing… and the delivery time for English books to Germany was 4 weeks from amazon.

My collection is not under age anymore

In the last decades I got to know many Barbie collectors. Some collected only for a short while. Other are long time collectors like me. What we all have in common is a topic to talk about. Although it became easier to order the dolls online you often still need the help of other collectors because there’s always you want and can’t buy immediately.

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Do you want a Vintage dress like Barbie?

Have you ever considered to dress like a Barbie?  I have considered it. I have several dresses like the very early Barbie Vintage dresses. I don’t wear them daily but sometimes when I go out for a dance or when our group has a appearance. I’m a member in a local dance club.

I enjoy dressing myself up. Of course there also a clothing line by Unique Vintage and they have copies for humans of original Barbie doll dresses. I have none of them. I have dresses from other labels like the one below. I got this one yesterday.

Barbie Movie Date dress
Neckholder dress by Vivian of Holloway
Blue and white neckholder dress
Neckholder dress by Vivian of Holloway
with a gigantic skirt

You can wear a real petticoat under the dress. There’s enough space for it. I write it down here because I also have skirts and they aren’t wide enough to wear a petticoat under it. So let’s thank Vivan of Holloway for this fabulous dress. I’ll take care of it.

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How not knowing the Winter Holiday outfit makes you a rookie

You maybe know the say “unexpectedly comes often” and so it was with this outfit. Last week I saw it and bought it. I had seen it in a video before and liked it. It was not a long time ago. My outfit is not complete here. It’s just a part of the whole outfit. The handbag, the jacket and the shoes are still missing but I like the hoodie and the pants. I was surprised how the hoodie was cut. The idea with the little zipper is just great. In general I think I have told you about the quality of early Barbie doll fashion.  It’s very good in comparison to what is sold nowadays in toy stores.

Is it warm enough for a Winter Holiday?
Or is Barbie freezing in these pants?
Anyway, let’s hope the best.
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The only 7 Barbie resources you will ever need

When you’re looking for suitable books I can recommend you these books:

  • The Collectible Barbie Doll: An Illustrated Guide to Her Dreamy World, by Janine Fennick (1996)

  • Barbie Doll Around the World 1964-2007: Identification & Values by Michael Augustyniak (2007)

  • The Ultimate Barbie Doll Book by Marcie Mellilo (1996)

  • Barbie Fashion Vol. I – III by Sarah Sink Eames (1990)

  • Skipper Barbie doll’s little sister, second edition by Cottingham, Arend and Hemingway (2011)

  • The story of Barbie by Kitturah Westenhouser (1994)
  • It’s All About the Accessories for the World?s Most Fashionable Dolls 1959-1972 by Hillary Shilkitus James (2017)

And when you’re looking online for information:

  • e-book: Barbie® Talks!: An Unauthorized Exposé of the First Talking Barbie® Doll: An Expose’ of the First Talking Barbie Doll. The Humorous and Poignant Adventures of Two Former Mattel Toy Designers (2001)
  • https://barbieinthehouse.com/2017 (for Vintage and MOD Barbie dolls)
  • http://papusilemele.com/en/  (when you search for information about the latest Barbie collector dolls)
  • http://www.sewingandpattern.com/all-barbie-patterns/ ( Source for free patterns)
  • https://plus.google.com/photos/115834299775567346266/albums/5279686365593771025 ( free sewing patterns)
  • https://www.dollreference.com/barbie_vintage_fashions1959-1963.html ( Page for Vintage Barbie dolls and clothes)
  • http://www.fashionave.info/ (Page with all Fashion Avenue fashions from 1990s – 2000s)