Up-Cycling Vintage Barbie Clothing

Happy Wednesday!

If you're like me, you have fond memories of playing with your Barbies as a child. I still have many articles of clothing from my playthings; and since I'm an old broad, that makes them vintage! One of the pieces I still have is this little gem. This outfit is called "Barbie Now Knit!" and it dates back to 1970. I remember receiving this for Christmas from my Aunt Peggy. Hard to believe that was 48 years ago!

As you can see, it originally came with a hat, scarf, shoes, and a belt. I have since lost all of these pieces and, sadly, only the dress remains. To add insult to injury, the dress has a small hole in the silver strip that goes over the left breast.

I did mend the little hole, but I didn't like how it looked; so I ended up putting a "brooch" there to cover the flaw. I improvised with a brad that I took from my scrapbooking supplies. I modernized a belt and made her a bolero, updated her shoes and voila!

I don't just love how the bolero turned out. I was following a pattern I found online, and in the end I wasn't pleased with it at all. After seeing the final result, I think I want to make some changes: I'm going to make a new scarf for sure. And I think I want to make a new belt for her that more closely resembles the original. I just think it's cuter.

I am happy with the look of the brooch, though; although, I think a silver one might be a better fit. I may try to look for one, but overall, I think a brooch right there to cover that flaw really works! Let me know what you think!

And hey! If you haven't done something wonderful and beautiful and creative today, get up off of that couch, switch off that TV, and go do something great with your hands! Blessings,