I’m Just Ken

“Shredding waves is much more dangerous than people realize.”~Ken (from the Barbie Movie)

Growing up, Barbie was my favorite toy! I loved all of her clothes and accessories. I must admit that I am still a huge Barbie fan! Last year when the Barbie Movie came out, of course I went to see it. It got me thinking about Ken, and how he is just #2 behind Barbie. During all of the media hype for the Barbie Movie, this went around on social media, but I also saw interviews with Ryan Gosling (Ken) saying the same thing.

Off I went one morning for a walk. It was winter time, and it was very cold. It was early in the morning so I was wearing very mismatched clothing to keep warm while on my walk. I like to walk along the main canal bank in town. In the winter time, there isn’t much water in the canal. There are just puddles in spots, and very sticky mud where there isn’t water. I know from childhood, that sometimes that mud looks stable, but if stepped on, you will sink deep!

While walking along I found lots of different things. You see, this particular canal used to be the main source of drinking water when my town was founded. The canal has been here for a really long time. Every winter when the water goes low, you can find all kinds of things. I usually find antique bottles, and this day was no different. I had found a few bottles that I had to grab ahold of with a stick.

Then, on the opposite side of the canal, on the side of the bank, I saw something. It looked like Ken. I walked down a ways and went across a bridge to get to the other side. Sure enough, there was Ken, face down in the mud! I thought of Ryan Gosling’s Ken post, and knew I had to try to save Ken. During my walk I was talking to Dana and Elizabeth. When Dana, who lives in the same town, heard of my canal adventure, she jumped in her car and drove to where I was. She wanted to make sure I didn’t fall in the canal while trying to save Ken!

Well I didn’t fall in the canal, and I was able to recover Ken! Dana was able to get this picture! As you can see I look very mismatched, but excited at my bottle/Ken find! Poor Ken was in worse shape than me. He had his chest painted red, and his feet and hands chewed. The chest paint looked like someone had tried to paint a shirt on him. As for the chewing, it was either toddler or puppy, only Ken knew for sure, and he wasn’t talking!

I got Ken home and cleaned him as best as I could. I soaked and bleached him. I used paint remover and a scrubber to try to get the paint off of his chest. Then he sat in my sewing room, waiting for some clothes.

The problem was, I didn’t have any Ken patterns. Of course I had Barbie, and I knew from the various pattern groups I follow on social media that they existed. I didn’t own any, but really wanted to come across some!

Then my Aunt Tamy called. She asked if I could meet her halfway between her house and mine. She lives a couple of hours away. She said she had some patterns for me. So of course, off I went!

It seems that my Grandpa Bert’s cousin, Hila, had some old patterns and asked Aunt Tamy if I would be interested in them. She knew I would be, so she got them from Hila. I felt honored that Hila would offer them to me.

I feel like it is only proper to give an introduction, so with no further ado, meet Hila!

Hila’s father is Charles Henry Young, and brother to my Great Grandmother Sophrona. Here he is looking very dapper!

Here is a family photo of the Young family. Sophrona and her parents, siblings, spouses, and her nieces and nephews at that time are all pictured. I know that Sophrona was close to her family. Even after moving away, and out of state, she corresponded with her mother. Many of her original letters survive to this day.

The family togetherness lasted. Here is a picture of Grandma and Grandpa with Hila and her husband Dirk. They remained close all of their lives.

The family love and thoughtfulness continues through Hila’s generosity in thinking of me to give her patterns to!

I am incredibly grateful to Hila for all of the patterns that she gave me! They are in beautiful condition, and are very vintage and fun. Then there it was, a pattern for Ken from 1962! This wasn’t even the only one! There were a few!

So Ken’s time had come! I decided to sew View F.

I decided on the fabric scraps I had leftover from a beachy outfit that I had made for David. To see how that look turned out click the link below!

Out There Having Fun, In The Warm California Sun

When I pulled the pieces out of the pattern envelope, I always get a little worried that there will be missing pieces.

When I opened the instructions this is what I discovered! Someone had drafted a piece for Ken!

All of the pattern pieces were there! They were neatly pinned together by pattern view, and they were written on, noting which were for Ken and which were for Barbie.

View F, the one I wanted to make, had never been made. It was still intact. Of course I hate to cut uncut patterns, BUT patterns were made to be sewn!

I laid Ken’s Shirt pieces out and pinned them.

I then laid out the shorts pattern on the contrasting fabric.

Sewing doll clothes is almost exactly like sewing regular sized clothing, just very small seam allowances! The pattern called for a piece of elastic for Ken’s shorts. I had to find thinner elastic than this one!

Pinning the shirt together at the shoulders.

I cut the collar and pocket out of the same fabric as the shorts. This collar and pocket were tiny! The squares on my cutting mat are 1 inch squares. So you judge by that how small that pocket is! I still had to iron the edges under and sew the top of it!

Got the collar attached.

Time for tiny sleeves. I ironed under and sewed the sleeve hem before attaching them to the shirt.

Gotta fuss with this pocket! Wish me luck!

Once the sleeves were attached it was time to sew up the sides.

What was in my head the entire time I sewed this outfit, you guessed it, “I’m Just Ken”, from the Barbie Movie. So enjoy, so it can be stuck in your head too!

Then after much sewing and song, Ken’s new outfit was complete! I took him back to the canal that I pulled him out of. He’s standing on a bridge that Grandpa Bert built, but that’s a story for another time!

I was relieved that the little collar and pocket turned out well.

Ken, reflecting on how far he’s come! HA!

Here’s a side by side of Ken matching the outfit that I made for David! Being dapper runs in the family!

I had so much fun with this sew! Of course I was excited to have a Ken pattern, but I was more excited to be the recipient of Hila’s beautiful patterns.

Thank you Hila for thinking of me, and keeping that streak of family togetherness going. What those family members created long ago, still lasts today! I’m humbled.

As for me, onto the next!