A Christine Doll on A Budget

The lovely Wishing Gown costume

The 'Wishing Gown' Project

The original costume design

This was probably the very first item of Barbie clothing I ever tried to make when I was around 14. I’d fallen in love with the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical and the beautiful costume designs by Maria Bjornsen – and it was the first costume collection that I really wanted to replicate on my dolls. I wasn’t aware of the lovely FAO Schwartz 1998 Phantom and Christine Barbie set – but paying around two hundred pounds for them was well beyond my price range at fourteen. Besides, lovely as the wedding gown was, my favourite costume was the divine blue bustle dress worn during the musical number ‘Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again.’ It uses a gorgeous floral blue striped silk fabric, with blue velvet and trimmings galore that make a beautiful ensemble when put together – although from looking at how busy the fabric is, you’d think it could end up a little like a walking sofa! But this was the costume I really wanted.

So with very little knowledge, and mad enthusiasm, I  tried to make this costume at the time . I’m sad I didn’t take any photos of it, just to prove what a bad idea ‘guessing’ how a bustle is constructed is. "Patterns, what are those things for?”I used electric blue nylon lace and scraps of blue stretchy viscose cotton fabric – probably the worst materials ever. 

Also my attitude to sewing at fourteen!

Needless to say, it didn’t look much like anything. But I’ve always wanted to do the actual costume justice – and since I’ve learnt much more about sewing since I was fourteen, I thought I’d finally give this a go and make my very own “Christine on a Budget”.

                           1: Casting my “Christine”

Now, my favourite, most beloved Barbie doll as a child was Midge. She came as an In-Line Skate Midge way back, when all the 'hip' Nineties kids' toys had crimped hair and multi-coloured beads and shorts - but she was a brunette, and I thought she was the most beautiful toy I'd ever seen. I always thought she looked a bit like Jo from Little Women - certainly a romantic heroine! She has a lovely face, and she still stands on my bookshelf - now minus the multi-coloured shorts, awaiting a suitable costume. And she was always Christine in games when I was younger.
 And she would have been again, if it weren't for just one thing...
Midge is a poseable flat-foot Barbie. *Sighs* Man, the trouble you have to go to for shoes for those poor dolls! Mattel doesn't seem to have made many shoes for them, on the whole, and the ones that are out there are expensive - so after painstakingly searching the internet, sadly the only shoes I could get for her were these rather punk-style boots:

"Hey, what are these? Doc Martens?!"

Because of her awkward flat feet, there are very few Victorian boots that will fit Midge.There's a few princess ballet flats out there, but they're very few and far between. So with great regret, I had to put Midge on one side for a future project.

Luckily, I have two young cousins who send their unwanted dolls over to my grandmother's house when they get tired of them - and I managed to find this lovely abandoned Belle over there!

She has a nice face and expression, and part of me loves the idea of making Belle from Beauty and the Beast a Christine - so this was a great find for my project.

Her hair needs restyling - above you can see the dilapidated remains of my first attempt at ringlets for her. After months of sewing and being tossed this way and that as I fit clothes on her, Belle's gone a little crazy. I'll re-style her hair once her gown is finished.

Next Post - Hairstyling and Undergarments!