Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Cut the Fabric
Use a seam ripper to take apart an old long Barbie dress. Only use the body of the dress as the pattern, not the sleeves. This will be your pattern. Fold your Japanese print fabric in half and iron it so that it lays flat.
Trace around the old Barbie dress onto the fabric with a fabric pen or pencil. Cut out your tracing. You should have two dress body components when you're done: the front and back of the kimono.
Extend your Barbie's arms and measure the length from the shoulder to the end of the hands. Measure from the top of the Barbie's arm to halfway down the Barbie's leg. Using these two measurements, cut out four rectangles from your folded Japanese print fabric. These will be the sleeves.
Trace the 1-inch cardboard square onto the Japanese print fabric. Cut out the square.
Cut a rectangle 1 inch wide by 2 inches long. This will be the piece for the belt.
Iron all of your cut fabric pieces and lay them out on your work surface.
Assemble the Kimono
Place the body pieces on top of each other so the pattern is on the inside. Sew along the two sides of the body but not the arm holes. Sew the top of both shoulders. Carefully turn the dress inside out and press the seams.
Lay two sleeve pieces on top of each other, pattern-side down. Sew up the sides, leaving a 1/4-inch opening for the arm holes. Sew the bottom and top. Do the same for the second sleeve. Turn both sleeves inside out and press the seams.
Using double-sided fabric tape, tape the sleeves to the dress body. The tape should be hidden underneath the fabric. Press hard together with your fingers for a minute to ensure that it sticks.
Glue the square of fabric onto the cardboard square. This will be the back of the kimono belt. Affix one side of the belt to the cardboard side of the square using the double-sided tape. Put a small piece of double-sided tape on the end of the belt. This is how you'll fasten the belt when the barbie is wearing the dress.