Hello! Great to see you at Comic Con Dublin 2025
Thank you for your interest in the Museum of Childhood Ireland’s Barbie Project!
Imagine, craft, document, display…Inspired by the Dorothy Hanley collection
The doll that is now in your custody is waiting for you to craft her an outfit/s so that she can be the outlet for your creativity, and we can’t wait to see what you come up with! Use whatever skills you have at your disposal, whether it be sewing, knitting, crochet or painting. There are no hard and fast rules (except keep it PG please, this project is for all ages to participate in and enjoy)
1. First, you’ll need to sign up with us at info@museumofchildhood.ie and provide your name/address/email
2. We ask that you document what you are making for your loaned, undressed doll on an ongoing basis, and tag us on our socials. We are looking forward to seeing your progress!
3.Stay in touch and when you’ve finished, send us the doll and outfit/s by Feb 15th 2026 with a brief description to be in with a chance of being in the 2026 exhibition.
If you didn’t make it in to Comic Con on time to receive a loaned doll, don’t worry, you can still take part. Borrow a doll and create your outfit/s, or create your outfit/s and then we’ll have a doll model your work! Contact us on info@museumofchildhood.ie
The Exhibition of the project is for Spring Comic Con next year, so you’ve plenty of time to work on it! And if you want to make your creative, sustainable, reuse project a collaborative project with friends and intergenerational family members, even better!
Find inspiration on the Museum of Childhood Ireland’s website where we have begun the documentation of some of the fantastic range of Barbies in our collections:
Barbie Dolls in the Hanley Collection – The Museum of Childhood Ireland
Maya Sunario’s Fashion Dolls – The Museum of Childhood Ireland
Avril O’Reilly’s Barbies – The Museum of Childhood Ireland
Raffle!
We have a fantastic condition Barbie Dreamhome ( unfurnished, similar to the one below) for upcycling/makeover to raffle. All you have to do is donate at the link below ( make sure you use your full name!) and we will pick a winner at random from the donors on Tuesday and announce it here!
Then contact us at info@museumofchildhood.ie to arrange to collect your win!
The Museum of Childhood Ireland, Músaem Óigena hÉireann is an all-volunteer charity organisation, exploring childhood – historic to contemporary, islandwide and diaspora. We rely on you for support:
Support Us – The Museum of Childhood Ireland
To get you started on your creative project we have provided links to doll clothing patterns you can download and print for free, sized to Barbie, Sindy and Skipper proportions.
http://www.molendrix.com/strihy1.html
https://chellywood.com/category/barbie-patterns
Happy crafting!
Read all about us here: https://museumofchildhood.