If you’ve been sewing for dolls for very long, you’re probably aware that doll underpants patterns are hard to come by. Of course, I have free underpants patterns on this website, and my patterns will fit lots of dolls, including the 6 inch American Girl dolls, Skipper, Barbie, and many Barbie-sized dolls, in addition to my baby doll bloomers and 18″ doll underpants pattern. (Click on those links to find them.)
But today I’m showing you a vintage Barbie pattern that has a bunch of accessories, including a pattern for underpants, hat patterns, a swimsuit pattern, and the biggest surprise of all: a pattern for a pair of shoes for Ken!
The underpants double as bloomers for the nightgown shown on the front of the McCall’s doll clothes pattern #6420, as you can see here:
What’s really surprising about this old pattern, which is marked with a copyright for 1962, is the fact that it contains not just patterns for making the six outfits shown on the front, but also the six outfits shown on the back too!
Normally, the flip side of patterns come with instructions for making the outfits, like what type of fabric is suggested and how many yards of fabric (or ribbon or lace or whatever) you’ll need to make the outfits.
Here’s an example of what I mean… The pattern back below belongs to the Mattel Pattern #2896 that I posted images of on Monday, August 10th. Click here to look back at that post.
Granted, that was also a vintage pattern, so there aren’t a lot of details given on the back of that doll clothes pattern either, but at least they tell us we’ll need 1/4 yard of fabric for most of the outfits.
I love the wording there, too: “Barbie has an outfit for every occasion: work or play, night or day.” How cute is that?
I just found it interesting that the McCall’s 6420 pattern didn’t have any guidelines on the package itself. In fact, it says, “For materials required, see enclosed easy sewing guide.” So you would have had to purchase the pattern first, open it up, and then go shopping for your fabric and notions. It seems a little awkward at best, but I wasn’t even born yet in 1962, so maybe shopping for sewing materials and patterns worked differently back then.
Finally, I’d like to conclude with the statement that although this set of patterns is packed with great accessories, it doesn’t come with a pattern for the clutch purse shown in view G:
I’m finding this to be true time and time again with doll clothes patterns. They will often display a purse that isn’t part of the pattern set. I have several doll clothes patterns that do this.
So guess what my new tutorial will feature this week…
Do any of you own doll clothes patterns that have a lot of great accessories, like shoes, hats, purses, bow ties, socks or stockings, and underwear? Feel free to let us know which ones in the comments.
And if any of you are wondering how to safely purchase the vintage McCall’s Pattern #6420 that I’m showing in this blog post, please look back at an earlier post about “Buying Used Patterns.“
Well — I was born before 1962. In fact, I was ten when Barbie came on the market. I spent my allowance to buy one, and I have a modest collection of vintage Barbie patterns, including this one. With doll clothes in general, it didn’t matter about the amount of fabric and notions because we used scraps exclusively. With a little experience, you knew what you needed. And as a girl, I wasn’t concerned about making doll accessories. My Barbie wouldn’t hold a purse anyway.
I also used scrap fabric exclusively, when I sewed for Barbie as a young girl.
Then, when I got into high school, I started a small business for myself, selling my Barbie outfits to local families that I also babysat for. That’s when I started buying fabric in 1/3 yard pieces, so I could reproduce the same outfits for people who ordered them.
Thank you for leaving your comment, Kathy. It’s really fun to hear about other people’s experiences sewing for Barbie! It’s neat that you actually have this pattern in your collection… what a coincidence!