Crochet for Barbie by Nicky Epstein

Crochet for Barbie by Nicky Epstein

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Crochet Then and Now - We've Come A Long Way Baby!
If you were Barbie, which outfit would YOU rather wear? Whatwould Ken think? 
Scroll down to see more modern, fashionable Barbie clothes.

I found this black and white picture of Barbie wearing some hideous crochet outfits, in an old magazine, and was reminded of why some people in the past did not like crochet. I understand! I don't want to make fun of the person who designed this, and I'm sorry if it's you or your grandmother. But if the person had only used a small thread to make the clothes, wouldn't it have been much better? I just could not ever embarrass Barbie in this way. I can just hear her now saying "This dress makes me look so fat!" Or "I really don't want to be seen in public at the beach with this thick diaper on!" Poor Barbie, I'm afraid she's had to endure many unflattering garments over the years. She probably sobbingly said, "What were they thinking? Ken will never like me in this!" I believe, as you will too, that the standards of publishers and designers everywhere have skyrocketed since this old magazine was published. I found the aqua and white outfit in the customer gallery of  Creative Yarn Source. (formerly Crochet Style, Etc) The outfit was made with Hilos Omega # 2 nylon thread and # 10 cotton by Barbara.

I was never privileged to have a Barbie doll when I was growing up, but my daughter had several and I excitedly made clothes for her Barbies. After I started designing, I had thoughts of doing a Crochet Barbie book, but Nicki Epstein beat me to it! She did a fabulous job and nothing could ever top what she did! I have always been impressed by Nicki and her designs, (both knit and crochet), and have most of her books.

                           Modern Barbie Crochet

You'll love this book by Nicky Epstein!

 Nicki Epstein has been one of my favorite designers for a long time and she did such a superb job on her Crochet Barbie book. See some of my favorite Barbie outfits in her book. (scroll down) To buy her book, click on the small book cover below to be directed to Amazon where you can buy it. If you click from my blog, go to Amazon and buy something after being directed there from my website, I'll get a percentage, so thanks ahead of time if you do that!

This outfit is SO chic!

Designs from Nicky's book. Her sweater looks so much like the one I designed for Positively Crochet! This book came out before mine, but I didn't see this until 3 yrs after my book was published. I told you she's a "girl after my own heart". We have some of the same ideas. The granny square outfit is much like some I've seen on the runways for 2011. Sorry about the poor scan!

Design from Nicky's book. I found this on Ravelry.

Design from Nicky's book. I found this on Ravelry.

Design from Nicky's book. Love the modern Barbie outfits! This knitted top looks like it could easily be done in crochet with my Graduated Stitch Method in Crochet That Fits. (w/o having to use increases and decreases)