Today’s blog post answers the question, “Are there any ‘ugly Christmas sweater’ patterns for Barbie?” And, yes, in fact, there are.
See the image above? In the upper left-hand corner and the upper right-hand corner, you can see examples of cotton fabrics that imitate sweater fabric. So for starters, you could us ANY of my free Barbie shirt patterns that recommend cotton fabric, and just make your ugly Christmas sweater out of sweater-look-alike Cotton fabric. That’s one option.
But I’ll also give you some ideas about vintage patterns you can use that are actually designed for making Barbie-sized sweaters, using sweater fabric or an old sock. So please read on!
Before I go on, I need to make my required disclaimer statement: As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. To learn more about how affiliate marketing works on my website, please go to the Privacy Policy page. Thank you!
If you try to buy McCall’s 6420 online — well, first of all, good luck because it isn’t an easy pattern to find in tact — but what you’ll discover is that while the front of the pattern looks like this (see image above), this is only half of the pattern.
This is an amazing pattern because there’s another six patterns shown on the back! (See image below.)
As you can see in the image above, the View H pattern is for a sweater with a turtle neck or cowl neck collar.
One would think, as this is a typical-looking sewing pattern, that inside the envelope, one would find pattern pieces for making Sweater H. But alas, that is not the case.
Instead, McCall’s 6420 comes with knitting instructions for making the View H sweater. So for people who know how to knit, this pattern is very helpful, assuming your pattern comes with a readable instruction sheet. (It’s a vintage 1962 pattern, so readable instruction pages can be problematic.)
However, for those of us who bought the pattern hoping to sew Barbie an ugly Christmas sweater out of a pair of old Christmas socks, this is definitely NOT the pattern you want.
McCall’s 8531, on the other hand, does offer a sweater DRESS for Francie, that might be worth making.
The image below shows the steps I took to create Dress E from McCall’s 8531.
One of the issues I had was that the rainbow pattern on these socks was directional, so it didn’t work to lay out the entire pattern (see middle image) on the sock. Had it been cut out that way, some of the rainbows would have been upside down.
And, as you can see, the heel was in the way, so of course I did a little pattern alteration.
But this turned out to be quite an extensive project, so I think I’ll postpone more on my Dress E project from McCall’s 8531 for another day. For now, I want to go back to the idea of making a Barbie “ugly Christmas sweater” from a commercial pattern.
I absolutely LOVED making the View 2 button-front sweater from Simplicity 4510. You can read more about it here.
But we have two problems with making this sweater into a traditional “ugly Christmas sweater.” First, it buttons down the front. Second, the sleeves aren’t long enough.
Still, if you wanted to make some alterations…
I know, I know. I’m always talking about alterations. But honestly, this Simplicity 4510 View 2 sweater has raglan sleeves. Do you know how easy it would be to just lengthen them and flip the shirt around so the back becomes the front? Not too hard at all, I think.
Okay, so I’ve given you some ideas about which commercial patterns you could use to make your Barbie an ugly Christmas sweater.
But in my humble opinion, your easiest bet is to just use my free turtleneck sweater pattern with some sweater fabric.
If any of you have already tried this, please let us know how it turned out in the comments.
Questions: Have you ever made a sweater for a doll? If so, which doll did you make it for, and what pattern and/or tutorial did you use? (For example, there are lots of DIY projects on YouTube showing how to make a “super simple” sweater from a sock.) How did your sweater turn out? What were some of the issues/complications? Let us know in the comments, please.
Here are 3 ways you can help support my website and YouTube channel:
- Buy something from my online store on ChellyWood.com (including fabric, buttons, snaps, zippers, etc.)
- Buy something you need or want from my Etsy store
- For teachers or librarians, purchase something from my Teachers Pay Teachers store
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 the ChellyWood.com 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.