
Today’s project was part of my adventure in sewing some of my vintage patterns, in combination with some of my own patterns.
You’ll remember that I made this adorable ensemble for a little girl who lives in my area:

See those Bermuda shorts in the foreground? They came from my Simplicity 7928 pattern, from my collection of old doll clothes patterns.
Over the years, I’ve found that I can learn a lot by sewing other people’s patterns, so when I decided to put together this gift wardrobe for Barbie, I wanted to mix and match some of my own patterns with some of the cute patterns I already owned.
The Bermuda shorts come from Simplicity 7928, but they didn’t actually come with a pocket. That’s something I added later, and I’ll tell you a little more about how I added a pocket in tomorrow’s blog post.
But you’ll probably recognize the tank top as one of my own patterns, when you look at the image below:

Yep, it’s my reversible tank top pattern for modern Barbie dolls. Click here for a link to the page that offers that free, printable PDF sewing pattern, as shown below:

As I’ve said in previous posts, a lot of my vintage patterns were designed to fit vintage Barbies. As you’ll see below, the Bermuda shorts from Simplicity 7928 fit my vintage Barbie just fine:

Unfortunately, she doesn’t fit as well in my reversible tank top. At least, not if you use Velcro for a closure anyway, like I did with my burgundy tank top.
But as you can see below, if you use size 4/0 snaps, the tank top pattern that’s free on my website will even fit a Vintage Barbie too:
Now, if you wanted to lengthen my polka dot shorts to fit more like a pair of Bermuda shorts, that’s actually something I teach my students, during my Creative Spark class, on the topic of doll clothes pattern alterations.
But I’ll dive more into pattern alterations with tomorrow’s post on adding a pocket!
Meanwhile, here’s a closer look at what vintage Simplicity Barbie doll clothes pattern 7928 has to offer:

Most of the commercial patterns I display and talk about here on ChellyWood.com are also available for sale on eBay. However, if you’ve never purchased a pattern on eBay before, it’s a good idea to read the article I wrote called, “Tips for Buying Used Doll Clothes Patterns on eBay.” It will save you time, money, and will likely prevent buyer’s remorse.
And by the way, if you use the links I’ve provided to make your eBay purchase, this website will receive a small commission, which helps fund the ChellyWood.com website, so I can continue to provide you with all the free patterns and tutorial videos offered here.
To read more about my free sewing patterns and tutorials, please visit the “Helpful Tips” page.
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*ChellyWood.com earns money by linking to JoAnn Fabrics, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and other online affiliate programs. Links provided above may be affiliate links. For a full list of my affiliate programs, and to understand how cookies are used to help this website earn money, please see my “Privacy Policy” page.
Chelly Wood and the ChellyWood.com website are not affiliated with the pattern company or companies mentioned in this blog post, but Chelly finds inspiration in the doll clothes designed by these pattern companies. To purchase patterns from Simplicity, McCall’s, Butterick, Vogue, or other pattern companies shown and discussed in this blog post, please click on the links provided here. These links below the “Disclaimer” section do not help raise money for this free pattern website; they are only offered to give credit to the company that made these patterns.