Friday 8 March 2013

New Barbie Knitting Pattern

This pattern has been kicking around for awhile but I haven't been in the mood to go trailing around with my Barbies in tow, taking pictures in public. I have to admit, it's pretty embarrassing to be a grown woman taking photos of her Barbie doll.



Although, really the worst thing anyone has said to me was "nice Barbie", and he may, or may not have meant it sarcastically. I mean, it IS a nice Barbie. Actually, now it's two nice Barbies. In all of my pictures so far, it may have seemed obvious to you, as it did to my little cousin Rose, that my Barbie has really no hair to speak of. I first found her in a bin at Goodwill and bought her for a dollar, not realising how lucky I was to get a vintage 1960's era TNT Barbie. Sure her hair was a write-off but I've compensated for that with hats, and her sweet face more than made up for it. I recently treated myself to a "new" doll of a similar vintage, that has a great head of hair.



And I have made an attempt at a new wig for the old doll. I used the tresses of another doll - Value Village this time - to cobble this together. A little watered down Elmer's was helpful as a hair gel.

 

I don't have a clever name for this sweater yet, but I think the pattern is pretty much finalized, and just has to be made pretty. I'll be listing it probably this weekend on Etsy and Ravelry. It will be available for download on both sites.

My ETSY Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/KellyMullanDesigns

My RAVELRY Shop: http://www.ravelry.com/designers/kelly-mullan

Is there anyone interested in an ebook of a collection of these patterns? I'm really having no sales at all, but lots of downloads of the free patterns, and I'm honestly wondering if I'm waisting my time trying to market them. Am I?

2 comments:

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  2. As to putting together a book of patterns for sale (versus free patterns), it is more a personal act of necessity/love, to "get your creativity out" so to speak. By the time the majority knitter/crocheter gets to making stuff for dolls (now this is my opinion, of course) they already are fairly good at doing either craft, and deciphering by looking at the items. Much of it, especially in knitting, is easy to duplicate. So either you have to create something spectacular to add to the mix of the "usual/regular" and that one or two items may make the book too hard to resist. There is so much free technique available, and again, with knitting, I find it very easy to duplicate what is straightforward. A little different with crochet, however--there are some twists and turns and some of patterns (for instance the Annies Attic very fussy patterns) that are harder to figure out. HOWEVER, once a person buys one of those fiddly patterns, they can use their own imaginations and develop alternate designs of their own.

    Paid for patterns are generally bought by 2 types of people -- someone looking for a challenging pattern (but knows how to craft well for dolls) or a novice who is just thinking of getting into it, but then again, for the novice, they might prefer the abundant freebies to see if they like it and want to continue.

    But, if you NEED to get it out of you...put the book together. If you're self-publishing you have nothing to lose, and you will have accomplished your goal. If people buy it, all the better.

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