By Adeline Panamaroff
Barbie has her own official line of clothing, comprised of highly collectable and attractive outfits, but what if you have a style in mind that Mattel never seems to produce? Sometimes you want something different for your favorite fashion doll. If you know how to sew and also happen to collect antique hankies, you can mash these interests together to design and make hankie dresses for that Barbie doll in your collection, creating a unique, one-of-a-kind look for her.
I have been sewing hankie dresses for Barbie dolls for several years now and find that putting the finishing touches on a new creation can be the funnest part of the process, along with hunting antiques shops for cute hankies.
With the ongoing war in Ukraine top of mind, I have found inspiration in my Ukrainian heritage for this dress. While not strictly traditional, this dress is made with a love for where I come from and a hope that Ukraine will soon win their freedom.
To Begin
Start by finding suitable hankies for your project. Look not only for cute designs but also for hankies that have the right thickness of material, and think about how you can use parts of each hankie’s design in different parts of the dress.
For me, I chose the crows-baked-in-a-pie hankie for its border, not the main graphic in the middle, using the edging to represent embroidery at the cuffs and neck of the blouse. I also used some of the edging from a larger blue hankie to represent embroidery on the shoulders. The “Mother” hankie was chosen not for the embroidery on it but for the light weight of the fabric. I only used the embroidered part because I ran out of plain fabric, but it turned out to be a nice choice. The rabbit hankie was used for the apron-like effect that the main graphic and border created when gathered at the top for the skirt.
One nice thing about hankies is that their edges are hemmed or finished in some way. This makes hemming any doll garment made from them unnecessary and allows you to use the whole hankie. It also saves a few quarter inches of fabric that would be lost to hemming.
All pieces of this dress are sewn together by hand, due to the fragility of the materials used, the short seams involved, and the narrow seam allowance needed.
Peasant-Style Blouse
1. Cut out the four pieces from the paper pattern — one for the front, one for the back, and two for the sleeves.
2. Sew the shoulder seams of the front and back of the blouse together.
3. Baste the wider “embroidery” pieces across the shoulder seams (in this case, they are blue). Use a blind hem stitch to sew down the other three edges, while turning the raw shorter edges under.
4. Stitch the cuffs to the bottom of the sleeves. Then fold each cuff toward the shoulder, stitching down with a blind hem stitch.
5. Pin and stitch the sleeves onto the shoulders of the blouse, centering on the shoulder seams.
6. Cut one whole edge off a hankie and sew it around the neck of the blouse. Turn to the front and stitch the finished edge down with a blind hem stitch.
7. Turn the blouse inside out and stitch together the sides and the underarm of the sleeve using one long, continuous seam. Turn the blouse right-side out and place it on the doll.
Skirt
1. Cut the hankie for the skirt to the length desired, measuring against the doll for visual aesthetic. Cut the undesired length off from the top of the hankie, so the finished edge at the bottom can be used as the hem.
2. Turn down about ¼ inch at the top of the skirt and finger press flat. Sew a loose running stitch through the two layers of fabric to gently gather and adjust to the waist size of the doll. Sew a band of floral ribbon over the gathers to secure them in place, folding under the raw edges at either end. The ribbon represents the traditional belt that is worn with this style of dress.
3. Sew the back edges of the hankie together to about 1 ½ inches from the top edge. Sew one ¼-inch snap at the top of the back opening, as a closure for the skirt.
4. Place the skirt on the doll, tucking in the bottom of the blouse. For added effect, you can add two yarn ties to the neck of the blouse and a wreath of flowers for the hair.
Endless Possibilities
Blue and white are only two possible color options. You can also use red, black, or oranges on a white blouse. Using a full floral pattern with a red background on the skirt would be more traditional. Alternatively, you could make the apron portion of the skirt as a separate piece (they’re usually white or brown) and decorate it with small rickrack or ribbon.
While ethnic wear is not new to the world of Barbie, using a selection of hankies puts a new spin on old items. If you have inherited some from a cherished relative, it can be a nice way to create a unique memento.
There are many hankie Barbie dresses and garment styles out there. Whole books have even been written on the subject. These outfits create a vintage feel with the material used to construct them. Depending on the era and origin of a specific hankie, you can create a Hawaiian-themed 1960s dress or a cozy 1950s American pajama set.
The options are as endless as your imagination, your supply of hankies, and how far you reach into the crafting rabbit hole that is the internet.
