The other day my four year old found a bag of fabric scraps from old sewing projects. As she was looking through them she got a most terrible idea. "Let's make Barbie clothes out of this fabric Mom!" "No way Jose!" I thought. Sewing teeny tiny Barbie clothes is not what I consider a good time. But then inspiration struck that made both me and my daughter happy. Introducing "the ridiculously easy Barbie dress that can be sewn in under a minute". No tight seems to sew or itty bitty hems to finish. These pretty dresses are so easy to make, your Barbie could have a whole new wardrobe in just ten minutes.
You can even use the same pattern to make a long maxi dress, a shorter knee length dress, or even just a simple t-shirt.
Start with a piece of knit fabric that is approximately 14 inches long and 3 inches wide. It has to be knit fabric or else the dress won't be able to stretch to fit onto the Barbie. Also, the beauty of using knit fabric is that you don't have to sew any hems or edges because it won't fray. This is a great way to use up small fabric scraps or even re-purpose an old pair of leggings or t-shirt.
Fold the fabric in half, right sides together, so that your fabric is now approximately 7 inches long. Starting at the bottom sew up toward the folded edge using a quarter inch seam allowance. When you get about a half inch from reaching the fold stop and back stitch. Repeat on the other side. Once done cut a semicircle along the center of the folded edge as shown below. The semicircle should be about 3/4 inch wide.
Super simple, right? At this point you're just about done. Now turn the dress right side out . . .
And ta-da! You're done. Dress complete. It doesn't get much easier than this.
Here she is, looking pretty in her brand new dress.
One of my favorite things about this pattern is that it still has sleeves without having to actually sew any. So simple, but still so classy.
So go ahead and raid your fabric bin for knit fabric. I know you're dying to whip up some new Barbie clothes now. Even better, have your daughter do it. This makes a great begging sewing project for kids. My twelve year old was excited to sew her little sister some of these easy dresses as a homemade Christmas gift, and she loved them! (See my other ideas for gifts kids can make HERE.)
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