In general, most of the patterns for Barbie from the 1980s
require us to add half an inch in bodice width and an inch in skirt length for
Bionic Woman. The Mego Farrah and Cher are narrower through the bust than Kenner dolls.Also, the patterns seem meant for dolls who
are passive and interested in fashion, as opposed to dolls that are active,
such as Bionic Woman and Dusty.
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| International Velvet wears the first tiered skirt, too narrow for Bionic. Skirt 2 is successful. Skirt 3 is too short & fluffy. |
Gathered tiered
skirts would allow Bionic Woman to run. I couldn't find them in patterns for fashion dolls,so I made one.
I added ease to the hip measurement and came up with 6 1/2
to 7 inches for the first tier. Most tiered skirts add 1/3 to the previous tier,
so 6 1/2, 11, 17 should work. It did, but seems skimpy on Bionic Woman.
International Velvet got it. Bionic
Woman prefers 7, 13, 20 inches. My tiers
are 2 inches wide. I fold the top tier
down over 4 1/2 inches of standard elastic that is more than 1/4 inch wide and less than 1/2, and stitch.
Fabric choice makes a difference. The 2 inch width was fine for a woven plaid,
but the woven stripe would have looked better with strips 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 inches wide.
I tried to use a
peasant blouse pattern from a Simplicity Barbie pattern of the 80s, but it is just too small and too short
from armhole to neck for Bionic Woman. Adding an inch ought to fix it. Because
I didn't have any more of that particular fabric, I added a band to run the gathering thread through instead.
Simplicity 9194 has pieces in both 11 1/2 and 12 1/2 sizes, and everything does work...except that I cannot imagine the Bionic Woman being willing to wear a skirt she cannot run in. On the other hand, I love the patterns because they are so simple that I can use fancy stitching to enliven plain solids. The individual designs will look great on Cher and Farrah dolls. The jacket is fine.The pants are tolerable.
Bionic has flat feet with movable ankles, and making shoes from foam sheets is not only possible but easy. Draw around her foot on thin cardboard. Draw 4 full soles and 4 half soles. Sandwich the half soles between the full soles using any glue you like. I used hot glue not because I like it but because it gave me fast results. I used a thinner foam fora strap across the front of her foot. Using an emery board, I smoothed the sides to make the shoe look more finished. It's not elegant, but it will do.
Sewing for Bionic Woman dolls made me address some of the issues that annoy me about the doll. By the time I rescued them, their heads and feet wanted to face backward, and she has no shoes. I can deal with the frizzy hair by sticking it in a bun but those backward heads --yuck. The little rubberbands meant for bracelet crafting by kids helped. One twist makes two loops, and the head is more stable. The ankles took 3 loops.
