I am embarking on knitting some barbie clothes and I have found some fantastic patterns but I seem to be getting no where as far as these clothes fitting the doll - lol. There is no gauge listed and I have nothing to compare to since I have never had a barbie dress before.
I was wondering what everyone uses for yarn. The pattern just states 4 ply yarn. I have used worsted weight - dress was WAY TO BIG - lol. I used a lighter weight (don’t have original label) and that was too small. I just purchased some #1 (superfine) and I’m going to try that.
Please link to the pattern if it’s a free one on the internet. It helps us help you.
I looked up Barbie patterns and [I]most[/I] of them say fingering weight and small needles. The number of plies is a less useful term since modern yarns can be various plies for each weight.
This one you can use any yarn, but have to do a gauge swatch to see how many to cast on for your particular yarn. You may have to do that for your pattern since it doesn’t say what yarn. http://tiajudy.com/barbtube.htm
Thanks for the response. I hit a goldmine of patterns on this site (I hope to make tons of these dresses). I found in on Knitting Pattern Central (newly added patterns section).
I now know that when they mention fingering yarn its for #1 weight yarns and so that issue I resolved.
Check out pattern #145.
I am assuming since there are 4 different contributors for these patterns that fluffy yarn means fun fur??? I’ve been comparing the different pattern directions for one knitter to the next.
But I am still lost As to what 4 ply yarn I should use.
This is a translation which can often cause problems. So let’s work backwards and go by the needle size and see if that helps… 4mm is a US 6 and 2.25 mm is a US 1.
They are using the US 6 on the fun fur and then switch to the US 1. A US 1 is usually used with thin yarns so probably fingering weight would work. That’s what you are using now with the #1 designation.
This is a fitted dress so it’s supposed to be rather tight, but if you find it too tight you can go up a needle size. That’s usually the best way to do it rather than changing yarns.
Thanks for the link btw. That’s a lot of Barbie clothes!
thank you Arielluria. I purchased some #1 yarns today and a skein of sock yarn and I think it’s helping.
Your welcome Jan. That is a ton of barbie clothes. Remember the days of the sears toy catalogs ??? Well I can envision a young girl spending hours on that link (website page) and making out her wish list for xmas. Just think of all the knitting someone would have to do - lol. I know if I was a child again, it sure would have been fun to see all those beautiful barbie clothes.
I used to love Barbies when I was young. I often made them clothes myself, but I didn’t knit then so they were mostly fabric and I didn’t follow patterns. It was all a guessing game. :teehee:
My girls loved them, too. We have something like 50+ Barbies in storage. :lol:
I just wanted to say my mom made my sister & I a bunch of crochet barbie clothes. The yarn was either crochet thread (for some of the dresses) and sport weight for the others (ponchos, pants, etc.) We loved them very much.
I even found a vintage book on ebay (the same one!) and she made some for my daughter when she was little.
