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Looking backward...To my first interest of this 11 1/2" fashion doll that is called "Barbie". My daughter, Teresa, recieved a 1962 Bubble Cut Barbie on her 6th birthday,January l, 1963. She was so happy that she finally had one of those little dolls. This was the beginning of my first hobby, Sewing for Barbie.
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Hobby of Collecting Barbie Dolls This is the place where I am suppose to write about the history of my hobby or hobbies. Since there are so much history already on the web about the Barbie Doll, I believe I will pass on that. I want to let you to know that this is one of the most interesting hobbies of my life. How much fun I have had talking to other barbie doll collectors online and in the stores, shops or wherever I go and the subject of barbies come up. And believe me, I get around to bringing it up.
Then, I want to mention some of the other hobbies that I love, such as flower gardening, our goldfish ponds, feeding and watching the birds in our yards. Having 3 parakeets at different times in the past 9 years. I suppose you could say my biggest hobby is Collecting, besides the Barbies, there are the Swans. I love swans and have quite a collection. Then there
is the Western Book Collection of Zane Grey and Louis
La'Mour. A collection of Bells, that my friends started for me. While traveling we would get bells, of the states and countries that we visited, for a keepsake. And as all collections do, it mulplied. So much for collecting. But!
As I have said before my first hobby was sewing for the barbie doll. I had such fun making clothes for her. I used Teresa's, my only daughter, 1992 Bubble Cut Barbie(her first and only Barbie doll) for a model. After all wasn't that what she was suppose to be, and I believe she liked to be the model for all the clothes that was made during the 60's, 70's and 80's. During those times,I did other things like trying my hand at painting ceramics, painting scenic pictures, tole painting shirt painting, and glass painting. You have heard the saying, Jack of all trades and master of none, well that was me. But I enjoyed trying these other hobbies and was pretty good at some of them. But my passion always was sewing for Barbie.
In 1995, I,again. returned to sewing for Barbie doll, this time instead of giving them away I sold them at Craft shows. Did this for 2 years, last show was at the craft fair at Greenwood, Arkansas in 1997. I retired from sewing because of my eyes. Just got to the point that I couldn't see the stitches or find that little hole in the needle. After all the garments are so little and the work is so close and tedious. After the surgery that I will need for cataracs, hopefully, I will be able to get back to my love of sewing for Ms. Barbie. Until then, I will enjoy looking at the past.
Below is a picture of the "first wedding gown" that I made in 1995. I had made some back in the 60's but not since then. I love this gown, and one of my friends bought it and I still get to see it occasionally.
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My Background -Updated
As of October the 19, I turned turned over a new year in my life, now I am a young woman of 69. I have a husband, had 3 children, one has passed, have 4 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. One granddaughter has her eye on my Barbie collection, which she and the great granddaughter(her daughter) will probably get when I am gone. But until that time I am going to enjoy my collection of dolls.
How did I get started collecting Barbie Dolls. Well the story goes this way: Few days after Christmas 1994, I found myself in the barbie doll aisle at Toys'R Us. Just looking at the beautiful barbie dolls that I had not seen since 1985 when I bought some for one of my granddaughters. I was having a ball noticing how much prettier they were since the last time I had seen them. Much prettier than the vintage barbies, which I had never cared a lot about, probably the reason that my daughter had only one. Anyway, there I was standing in the aisle with my mouth open and drooling over these beautiful dolls, when I noticed two young men(probably in their middle 20's)talking about which barbies they needed. Being a naturally nosey person, I ask them if they were Barbie Collectors, and to my surprise they said they were. Well, that day I walked out of TRU with 4 Barbie Dolls in hand. That was my beginning. In 1995, I began in earnest buying Barbies. I didn't want the playline then, just those beautifully dressed Barbie Dolls. And when I started a series of dolls,at first, I thought that I must get them all. But now I have learned to just pick the ones that you really like the most. Sometimes that might mean the complete series or just one or two of the series. I will put some of my special ones on these pages. So while here, I hope you will take notice of the ones posted. No way can I post all of them.
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