The biggest problem with Barbie doll wedding dresses is making a veil that actually stays on the doll’s head!

Let’s have a good look at my “Sew-Easy Patterns by Advance” vintage Mattel, Inc. Toymakers Barbie doll clothes sewing pattern #2895. This is a prime example of how the patterns for Barbie wedding dresses (if they include a veil pattern at all) never seem to make a veil that’s easy for kids to play with.

On this pattern, we see a lovely puff-sleeve wedding dress with lace trim, but the veil appears to be just a silk flower attached to a circle of tulle. It’s an easy-to-sew pattern for a veil — I’ll give you that — but how is a child supposed to play with it?

The minute Barbie goes down the aisle, that veil is going to come flying off!

Now this pattern from my collection is truly vintage. So it’s missing some pieces, including (unfortunately) the directions for making the veil.

However, the back of the pattern calls it “Barbie’s crown” and suggests that the sewist purchase 1/4 yard of “novelty veiling.”

I don’t see any elastic mentioned in the notions. So how does this veil stay on the doll’s head? I guarantee you, it doesn’t.

I remember playing “wedding day” with my cousin, Virginia (my favorite childhood Barbie buddy), and we always complained about the veils that came with our wedding dresses. We would chuck them in the garbage and make our own, every time!

And our own veils either included chenille stems (AKA pipe cleaners) or rubber bands as a means of affixing the veil to the doll’s head somehow. We would sew a rubber band right on the veil or flip the veil around a chenille stem to try to create a layered look for the veil.

When I designed my wedding dress for Tall Barbie, I kept this in mind. Let’s have a look at that wedding dress project:

For my veil, I created a headband by wrapping a chenille stem with white ribbon, and then I simply attached a swatch of lace to the headband. This keeps the veil in place no matter how much fun the bride his having at her wedding party!

To see my patterns and tutorials for making this wedding dress and veil ensemble, click here.