Saturday, November 16, 2013

Long Sleeve Barbie Sweater Pattern-Knit in One Piece

This Long Sleeve Barbie Sweater is a fun easy project that can be completed in a few hours. It's knit in one piece with a hole in the middle for her head to fit through, then you just sew up the sides. While I used a nice thin yarn I purposely made this a bulky, oversized sweater. Kind of a cozy, cuddly weekend sweater:@) I also think it would be a cute tunic, just make the body longer.
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There's room to adjust here folks, you can easily reduce it by 2 to 4 stitches in both width and sleeve length. And if you have the patience for poking those pointy little fingers through you can make the sleeves a little tighter too. The contrasting stitch work around the waist was, honestly, just me not paying attention to what I was doing and then trying to make it work instead of ripping it out...
I suggest sticking to yarns that are one color or have a very short, tight variegation for small garments like this. This yarn has extremely long color blocks and the other side of the sweater ended up a cream color.
My best advice is to have a doll handy. All yarns and knitters are different, cast on and after a couple rows hold it up to her and see how it will fit. Add or subtract as needed. Stitch until it reaches under her arms, then cast on for the sleeves (long or short sleeve, your choice). Bind off 8 for neck, you might be able to do 6 but I haven't tried it.

Basic Guideline Instructions: Adapted from an ornament by justcraftyenough
Needles size 8, thin baby weight yarn, whole sweater is worked in stockinette stitch.
  • Cast on 18
  • Stockinette stitch (knit one row, purl the next, repeat) until it reaches under her arms (approx 14-16 rows).
  • Cast on 16 stitches (arm).
  • At end of next row cast on 16 more stitches (second arm)
  • Work another 4-6 rows for half of sleeve, when it's just about wide enough:
  • 21 stitches, bind off 8, finish row.
  • 21 stitches, cast on 8, finish row.
  • Add another 4-6 rows for other half of sleeve. 
  • Note: one sleeve will have one extra row, that's the one you'll want to bind off first.
  • When sleeves are wide enough bind off 16 from the wider sleeve and stitch across.
  • Bind off 16 from second sleeve and stitch across.
  • Finish the body of the sweater, bind off, cut yarn and knot.
  • With right sides touching, sew sides together. Sew in tails and turn right side out.
How about adding a cute shirt extender by using a little ruffle under the sweater-cute! My ruffle was approximately 2 1/4" wide, and I only needed about 4" in length. The back can be secured with a tab of velcro, a snap, or simply use a little tape that will get covered by the shirt. And of course you could sew any fabric you'd like into a 'slip' with elastic at the waist. These extenders can be cut to size for standard or curvy Barbie, simply wrap around the doll's waist for fit.

The white cotton ruffle is more solid,
the black one is lacier and lighter.

These shirt extenders work well with less bulky pants, 
luckily there seems to be no shortage of yoga pants or leggins for Barbie these days...

Make something just for fun and have a happy day:@)

16 comments:

  1. Barbie could be a runway model in this pretty sweater. Great job Lynn.
    Sam

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  2. Love the yarn Lynn! I'd like a bigger version for me :)

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  3. I love the yarn, too, and wish I had a big person's sweater like that! xo

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  4. I was just going to say what Sheila said about wanting a sweater for MYSELF like that. Then, I realized that I do not have Barbie's body and would not look like that in Barbie's sweater.

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  5. Hi Lynnie! Oh, this is just darling! I didn't know you could knit! You did a beautiful job and I'm sure Barbie is so proud of her new sweater. You're the bestest!
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia :)

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  6. What a beautiful sweater--I want to wear it!

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  7. I wish I looked as skinny and cute in a sweater as SHE does....:)
    Knitting, too..?? Boy, you are just FULL of talent, girlfriend.

    Thought you might like to see this :
    http://thelazyhobbyhopper.blogspot.com/2013/11/spear-edged-crochet-ornament-free.html#comment-form
    xo bj

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  8. how cute! your barbie has much better (and more stylish) clothes than i do!

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  9. Your Barbie clothes are adorable. My niece is a designer for Barbie and works for Mattel. I'm shooting your sweet sweater her way!

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  10. Hi Lynn, Is there anything you can't do? Smiling here at your sweater creation in such a small Barbie size. Awesome. Anything you say about knitting is Greek to me. Good job.
    xo, Jeanne

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  11. I could go for a nice sweater like that. I don't know how you do it so quickly. I sewed a bunch of Barbie clothes for my oldest daughter one year and I was harder than if I had sewed them for her.

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  12. I was thinking the same thing as MIchaele...I'd love one of these cozy sweaters in adult size :)

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  13. I haven't knitted in years, but I'm sure I could manage this... so much easier than sewing fiddly clothes for Barbies. The added bling is a fabulous idea!!! Thanks for sharing the tutorial.

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  14. Hmmm, I'm thinking I'd like one of those in my size, Lynn. That sweater is so cute. I'm loving the little sparkly bits in it, too.

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  15. Lynn, thank you for the great yarn idea and pattern. You saved me from running out in the mall looking for a Barbie pattern sewing or kniting pattern and it is -10 degrees in MN. so you may have saved my fingers! I think I will add a tube skirt to the mix.
    Deb, in frozen southern MN.

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  16. My mom made clothes like this for me many years ago. She taught us to cover Barbie's hands in a small piece of aluminum foil to keep fingers from getting stuck in a sweater!

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