As we come to the end of March, it’s time to start sewing our summer projects. So today’s blog post answers the question, “What are the easiest Barbie doll summer clothes patterns for sewing?”

Today’s post will be about the vintage patterns that I own, but if you’re looking for more modern summer clothes patterns for your Barbie dolls, I plan to do a couple of re-posts this week about some of the easiest patterns I’ve designed. Those, of course, will be free Barbie doll clothes sewing patterns.

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Simplicity 7737 offers a tennis outfit (view 4) that fits Barbie, even though it’s pictured on a Kenner Dusty doll on the envelope. I remember making this set for Barbie when I was in high school, and although it uses darts for the bust, they are simple side darts. And the shorts are pretty easy to make as well.

If I were using my system of flowers to describe how hard this summer tennis set is, I’d probably give it three flowers (for average difficulty) because it uses snaps to close the shorts and shirt, and it has bust darts. In other words, there are easier vintage Barbie patterns, but this one isn’t bad if you have some sewing skills already.

What I like best about the Simplicity 7737 tennis outfit is the fact that it comes with a fuss-free, lightweight jacket. The jacket doesn’t have lapels and the sleeves are raglan-style sleeves, so it was easy to make.

For those who are new to sewing though, you might want to try the cute little yellow sundress from Simplicity 8281. This was, by far, my favorite dress to make when I was in high school! Why? Because once you’ve made it successfully, you can make a zillion of them without ever getting confused!

The most complicated part of the View 4 sundress is the ruffle. If you need help making ruffles, though, I have a tutorial all about that. Just click on my link to learn more about how ruffles work.

If I were to use my system of flowers to describe how hard the yellow View 4 sundress is, I’d say it’s going to get three flowers, due to the fact that it does have a ruffle, uses darts, and it snaps in the back. When you’re new to sewing, the straps on the dress can be tricky, but a person could replace the cotton straps with ribbon straps to simplify things.

The View 5 miniskirt from Simplicity 8466 is one of the easiest summer pieces you can make for a doll. You only need to know how to send elastic through a casing and how to sew a straight stitch, in order to make this easy little short skirt for Barbie.

The skirt itself is one of the easiest in my collection, so if I were using my system of flowers to describe how hard it is to make, I would give it only two flowers. However the turtleneck shirt that goes with it is significantly harder, earning a whopping four flowers, due to the difficulty collars pose.

So I would swap that short-sleeved turtleneck shirt out for the View 2 and 3 tank top that comes with Simplicity 8281 (shown below with an altered version of the wrap skirt from View 1 of Simplicity 8281).

That little tank top is so easy! When I was in high school, I made dozens of them because they were a wiz to sew on a sewing machine.

What makes the tank top in Simplicity 8281 so easy is the fact that you don’t have to sew darts. Now granted, it does use snaps in the back, so as long as you’ve got the sewing-snaps skill down, other than that, it’s pretty much a straight stitch all around, plus basic hemming. That’s all that’s required to make that summer top.

As I said with the View 4 sundress from that same Simplicity 8281 pattern, if you don’t want to make the straps out of cotton, you could always just use a ribbon for the straps. So I guess (because of the snaps), I’d have to give that View 2 and 3 summer top from Simplicity 8281 three flowers on my difficulty scale, but if you wanted to use Velcro instead of snaps, it would really only need two flowers for difficulty.

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.

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

If you would like to make a donation to this free doll clothes pattern website, please click here. There’s also a “Donate” button in the main menu.

For anyone who would like to expand their dolls’ wardrobes, you should really check out my “How to Alter Doll Clothes Patterns” course and my “Design Your Own Doll Pants Patterns from Scratch” classes on the Creative Spark online learning platform. Here’s my bio page on their website, where you can learn more.

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:

*Please note: when you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include Amazon, Etsy, and the eBay Partner Network. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. To learn more about how my website uses affiliate marketing, please visit the website’s 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.