13-inch doll clothes patterns, Daily Patterns, My First Barbie 13 inch Doll, Tutorials: Sewing for Dolls, Whole Costumes for Dolls

Free bathing suit doll clothes pattern for 13 inch “My First Barbie” dolls! #BigDolls #CraftyMoms

On a bright purple cotton fabric background with tiny white polka dots, a thirteen-inch My First Barbie doll stands with her legs slightly crossed, modeling a handmade bathing suit /swim suit/swimsuit made of pale bluish green cotton fabric that's printed with tiny lavender colored flowers and pale green leaves. She stands with arms at her sides, so we can easily see the way the swimsuit fits her, and it's a bit big around the leg holes while the upper part of the swimsuit fits her almost perfectly. This wider-leg opening allows for more movement in the doll, when the swimsuit/bathing suit is sewn from cotton like a bodysuit. To access the free printable sewing patterns for making this swimsuit/bathing suit/body suit for you 13 inch fashion dolls like My First Barbie, please go to Chelly Wood dot com.
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

For your free patterns and tutorial videos, please scroll down to the second set of bullets.

Today’s tutorial video and free sewing pattern are for more advanced sewists. You can see that I’ve given the pattern four flowers on my difficulty scale (see below), because this swimsuit does have a lining. And frankly, one-piece bathing suits can be challenging to piece together.

To learn more about how the difficulty scale works, please click here.

The image shows a pattern for a fashion doll swimsuit and the text reads, "free pattern for 13 inch fashion doll swimsuit, body suit, or bathing suit." Each pattern piece is marked with the Creative Commons Attribution symbol and the ChellyWood.com logo. These patterns for making a bathing suit or swimsuit (or bodysuit) were originally designed to fit Remco's Judy Littlechap dolls, but they will also fit Lammily dolls, 13 inch My First Barbie dolls, and many Ken dolls. Visit ChellyWood.com to watch the sewing tutorial that shows you how to make the swimsuit for 13 inch fashion dolls.
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable PDF sewing patterns and tutorial videos for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

Before we go any deeper into today’s project, I need to make my disclaimer statement: as an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. You can learn more about my affiliate marketing program on my Privacy Policy page.

The pattern shown above is not printable. Be sure to scroll down for the easy-to-download PDF pattern. You can find it in the second set of bullets below.

Okay, moving right along…

On a turquoise blue woven fabric background, we see three dolls modeling the same 1960's style swimsuit or body suit. Left to right, they are Judy Littlechap, 13 inch My First Barbie, and Lammily. The text above these images reminds us that the website, ChellyWood.com offers a free tutorial video for making this pattern into a swimsuit, bathing suit, or body suit for these dolls. The ChellyWood.com logo appears in the lower left corner of the image.
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable PDF sewing patterns and tutorial videos for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

I do plan to make a few easier projects to fit 13 inch dolls like 13-inch My First Barbie and similar-sized dolls. This swimsuit was first designed to fit Judy Littlechap, and I was excited when I discovered that it will also fit the My First Barbie dolls as well as Lammily dolls too!

So if you’re not already signed up for my newsletter and/or you’re not subscribed to my YouTube channel, you might want to think about those options. That way you’ll know when I upload something new for dolls in this size range.

There’s a full list of all the dolls that will fit into today’s swimsuit in the first set of bullets (scroll down).

In a purple frame with tiny white polka dots, a thirteen-inch "My First Barbie" doll models a handmade one-piece bathing suit. She stands with her hands wide apart from her body, so we can see the details of the cotton swimming suit's stitching, including how the wide halter straps are sewn to the bodice after being slightly gathered, and then wrapped around the neck to seal behind the neck with a snap. The front of the swimsuit is sewn right down the middle. It has a tapered waist, to allow room for the doll's hips and bust. There are side darts at the bust. Visit ChellyWood.com for the free patterns and tutorial videos showing how to make this swimsuit for your 13 inch Barbie dolls.
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

I recommend using a cotton or jersey fabric for this project, and swimsuit fabric might work equally well, although it can be more difficult to work with.

Cotton is probably the easiest of these fabrics to work with, and that’s what I used for my swimsuit. But the texture of 100% cotton feels more like a bodysuit than a swimsuit.

My First Barbie (13 inches) is walking to an unknown destination to the left of the viewer. This allows us to see the side bust darts in the swimsuit she's modeling, plus the way the neck straps of her handmade swimsuit meet at the back of the neck. The bust is very pointed, in the typical style of the 1950's and early 1960's. Visit Chelly Wood dot com to find free patterns for making a swimming suit to fit your 13 inch Barbie.
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

So consider this: today’s swimsuit/bathing suit project can also double as a bodysuit. You can make a simple skirt for your 13 inch Barbie by using this pattern.

One of the trickiest parts of my swimsuit pattern is making the back closure. If you’re the kind of person who tends to just fly by the seat of your pants, rather than watching my sewing tutorial videos, I would advise you to really pay attention to the last half of today’s tutorial, to make sure you get the back closure section right.

Image shows a doll wearing a garment that is open at the back to expose sew-on snaps.

One more thing I mentioned in my video is the Fiskars precision scissors I use, when I’m clipping my seams. If you don’t already own a pair of Fiskars 5-inch stitchers’ scissors, I do recommend buying some. They really help you step up your doll clothes sewing game!

In today’s video I also mentioned Dritz size 2/0 snaps or Dritz size 3/0 snaps and a Dritz fabric pencil. Those links should help you locate each of those items, if you have an interest in buying them.

In a room with a blue backdrop that's mottled like swimming pool water, stands a thirteen inch "My First Barbie" fashion doll, modeling a handmade 50's or 60's style swimsuit (one piece bathing suit) made of pale blue cotton dotted with tiny purple flowers and light green leaves. She appears to be walking toward the viewer. This image comes from Chelly Wood dot com, a website for free printable PDF sewing patterns for making doll clothes like this one-piece swimsuit/bathing suit.
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

Today’s swimsuit/bathing suit/body suit pattern will fit these dolls:

Note: this swimsuit pattern also fits Ken, including Gay Ken (the one with the earring and pigtail), modern Ken (but not Broad Ken), and 1980’s Ken (the one with the muscular body). It would be the perfect swimsuit for making a cross-dressing Ken outfit, if you’re inclined to make one!

Here are your free, printable PDF sewing patterns and tutorial videos for making the swimwear shown at the top of this page and in the video:

For more of my free tutorials, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel, ChellyWood1.

This image of a turquoise blue sewing needle pulling purple thread away from a line of cross-stitching is used as a divider between sections of a blog post.

Do you wish you could make today’s swimsuit pattern for your vintage Mattel Barbie doll?

If so, my “How to Alter Doll Clothes Patterns” course on the Creative Spark online learning platform will teach you how to re-size doll clothes patterns, just like the ad that I’ve placed at the end of today’s tutorial.

If you haven’t looked into it yet, you can click here to learn more about my “How to Alter Doll Clothes Patterns” course on the Creative Spark website.

This informational image shows a woman who is working at a craft table, altering doll clothes pants patterns. The text above her head says, "How to alter doll clothes patterns" followed by the words "online course" and the following bulleted bits of information about the Creative Spark online course the Chelly Wood will be teaching: bullet point 1: 40 plus videos; bullet point 2: work at your own pace; bullet point 3: one fee (no subscription); bullet point 4: learn how to enlarge or reduce your patterns. Next is a textbox encouraging you to "register now" and under this it says, "Go to Creative Spark dot CT pub dot com" and "search for Chelly Wood."
Link to Chelly’s courses: https://creativespark.ctpub.com/pages/chelly-wood-instructor-page

I also have a new course on the Creative Spark Online Learning platform which teaches you how to design your own doll pants patterns from scratch, including leggings, overalls, and fly-front jeans. Click here to check out that new course, which is only $19.99!

The image shows an 18 inch doll next to an 8 inch doll, to demonstrate that Chelly's "How to Design Doll Pants Patterns" course is for dolls of any shape or size. In one photo, both dolls wear a tee shirt with leggings. In the other image, both dolls wear a T-shirt under a pair of green polka dot overalls (green with tiny white polka dots). The text says, "How to Design Your Own Doll Pants Course Only nineteen dollars and ninety-nine cents! There are two bonuses mentioned on the advertisement as well: Chelly's re-sizing formula and a complementary pattern for 18 inch doll overalls.
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable PDF sewing patterns and tutorial videos for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

For any class on Creative Spark, you don’t have to follow a schedule. Just sign up when you’re ready.

It’s a one-time fee for the course, and there’s no specific time limit to finish your course. You can just take your time and learn at the pace that suits you. So go check out my paid courses on Creative Spark, using this link.

As always, feel free to pin, like, or tweet about my free patterns and tutorials.

To read more about my free sewing patterns and tutorials, please visit the “Helpful Tips” page.

Disclaimer/Credit/Affiliate Marketing Link:

*ChellyWood.com earns money by linking to Amazon, eBay, Michaels, 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.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

To honor the trademark rights of the doll companies mentioned in this blog post, I am including links to their websites here. Please feel free to visit their website and consider purchasing one or more of the dolls mentioned.

Barbie, MTM Barbie, My First Barbie, and Vintage Barbie dolls are products offered by Mattel, which holds the registered trademark for them (™). Please visit the Mattel Toys website to learn more about their company and its trademarked toys.

The 13-inch Judy Littlechap dolls were only produced by Remco for one year, and by the end of 1963, the whole family of Remco Littlechap dolls were discontinued. Today, Remco still produces toys, but the Littlechap family of dolls, which included Doctor John Littlechap, his wife Lisa Littlechap, teenage daughter Judy Littlechap, and younger sister, Libby Littlechap, are no longer available in stores. You can, however, find and collect all of them at very reasonable prices, on eBay. Visit the Remco website to see what toys and games they offer today.

Dreamtopia Endless Hair Kingdom 17-inch Barbie dolls and My First Barbie 13 inch dolls are products offered by Mattel, which holds the registered trademark for them (™). Please visit the Mattel Toys website to learn more about their company and its trademarked toys.

Lammily dolls were created by Nickolay Lamm, the CEO of Lammily LLC, which holds the trademark rights to these dolls (™). Chelly Wood andChellyWood.com are not affiliated with the Lammily LLC company or the Lammily brand of dolls, but in 2014 Chelly contracted with them to design the “Winter Wonderland” and “Cozy Wear” sewing patterns for their dolls. Because of her contract agreement with Lammily LLC, Chelly does not specifically design doll clothes patterns to fit the Lammily brand of dolls to post on the ChellyWood.com free pattern website. Instead, if some of her patterns which were designed to fit similar-sized dolls happen to also fit the Lammily dolls, she adds a link to that pattern to her Lammily gallery of free doll clothes patterns. This agreement is designed to encourage people to purchase patterns from the Lammily doll company so their remarkable doll business will thrive. To learn more about Lammily dolls and the positive impact they have on children’s body images, please click here. To purchase one of the many sewing patterns offered by Lammily LLC, please click here. To shop for a Lammily doll, please click here.

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