Finally, the Fashion Show

Well, for those of you who have been waiting patiently for the Barbie fashion show, here it is.  Nikki (left) and her friend Nancy (right) were available for the modeling gig this afternoon and I finally got all the velcro closures, hooks, and snaps sewn on the clothes just five minutes before the photographer arrived.  I have to say I am tickled pink with the results.  As I was making the garments, I tried each one on Nikki but today was the first time I put the pieces together to make whole outfits.  There are a few gaps in the wardrobe, like a long sleeve blouse, a long cotton skirt, and a dress, but I think a three year old will overlook those deficiencies.

Here is a summer ensemble.  Nikki is wearing the halter top, which came out much better than I had hoped (I decided to stitch the neck straps closed, like the bikini Nikki was assigned at the factory) and a hand stitched cotton skirt.  Nancy is wearing the vest/beach cover-up/mini-dress.  The beach bag is the only item I didn't make - it was a potpourri bag I found in my sock drawer, and the color was just too perfect to not re-purpose it.

And here's Nancy in the dress above, reversed front to back.  Nikki's wearing the Kidsilk Haze cardigan with the black sleeveless blouse and the skirt I made at the beginning of the challenge.

My favorite outfit is the skirt of Shepherd's fiber, the little jacket and the halter top that Nikki's got on.  Nancy's in the first sweater I knit for this challenge.

And here are the girls in their reversible sweaters.

And last, but not least, here's the Noro coat and the Habu jacket.

I'm laughing as I scroll through the photos.  I haven't played with dolls in years and boy, did I have fun with this project.  All that remains is to dress the girls in their factory-assigned clothes, box up the clothes I made, and find some suitable birthday wrapping paper for the present.  Nancy needs to be returned to her owner, too.

I'm sorry I'm finishing the January challenge a bit behind schedule, but I'm glad I enjoyed this project so much.  If I had a do-over, I'd use snaps on the clothes instead of velcro - the velcro makes a thick closure that deforms the fit of the garment; I'd plan out the ensembles better - I made what I wanted to make and didn't think about coordinated outfits until about halfway through January; and I'd have made sure the fashion show occurred at work as planned.  I'd also have mapped out my time better so that I finished the assignment on time.  But I've always been a procrastinator so it's not surprising that I'm late with this, just disappointing.

From the January challenge, I learned that if you "show up" for a project, somehow it gets done and the results are better than expected.  I learned to trust my instincts more when knitting.  Patterns are good guides, but I didn't use a pattern for any of the garments I knit for Nikki.  That said, I couldn't have made the fabric garments without the patterns from that wonderful woman in New Zealand.  I guess it's okay to let go and do as long as you know your limitations.  And I learned that if you ask friends for help with a fun project, they will laugh with you, ask every day how the project is going, send you fabulous fun fibers in the color palette you need, and read your blog even though they most likely have much better things to do.

Onward to February.