Easy Sewing Project: Doily Barbie Doll Dresses

For most people recycling means separating paper from glass, plastics from cardboard. For people who love to craft it can mean something completely different. Recycling can repesent a method in which you take something that used to serve a particular purpose and make it into something else. If you do a little crafting and sewing youll enjoy recycling old doilies into new outfits for a Barbie or other doll. Theyre quick, easy and beautiful! Doilies vary greatly. Some are large, some small. Some are all tatting and others feature a cloth piece surrounded by tatting. Still others have a lace trim and no tatting at all. The type of doilies you choose for making Barbie doll clothes will determine the kinds of outfits you can create. Ones that are all tatting arent appropriate unless you first sew a thin piece of fabric to the back of the doily.

It literally takes only a couple of minutes to turn a doily into a Barbie doll skirt. Stand the doll on a table, fold the doily in half, and hold it up to the dolls waistline. This will help you determine the length the finished skirt will be. If the doily hangs on the table below the doll you should choose a smaller doily.

To make the skirt simply cut a hole for the waistline. For a fitted skirt cut the hole so that the waist is a little larger than the dolls. If you intend to add elastic cut the hole to be somewhat larger. For an elasticized waist simply sew a piece of narrow elastic around the waist, folding the edge of the doily over it. Stretch the elastic a little as you sew and it will help to gather the skirt around the waist. To make a fitted skirt, hem around the cut area of the doily then cut a slit down the back. Attach a small piece of Velcro as a fastener for the skirt. Make a dress in a similar manner. Cut a hole in the doily so that it can be slipped over the doll. When the dress is worn the hole goes around the chest and back area of the Barbie doll. Hem around this area, make the slit in the back, then attach the Velcro as you did with the above skirt. Or, sew a piece of elastic around the cut area. There are many ways to change the look of the dress. Tie a belt around the waist, add a single strap, or add two straps. Straps can be made from strips of cloth, lace or ribbon. With the skirts or the dresses narrow ribbon can be threaded through tatting on the doily to create yet another design. You - and your dolls - will adore the new outfits you make in minutes!