Do you have fond memories of playing with Barbie dolls or Hot Wheels cars when you were growing up? Are your children, grandchildren, nieces, or nephews playing with Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels today? Both have become iconic toys for children around the world.

Barbara Millicent Roberts (a.k.a. Barbie) was born on March 9, 1959. She was the first mass-produced toy doll in the U.S. with adult features and was based on a German comic-strip character named Lilli. Barbie was the brainchild of Ruth Handler–the co-founder of the toy company Mattel. Ruth intended Barbie to reflect glamorous actresses like Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor who were popular at the time. Barbie's has long and storied history dates all the way back back to 1959. During her 63 year career, Barbie has been employed in more than 200 different professions including CEO, surgeon, video game developer, and astronaut. In fact, Barbie walked on the moon four years earlier than Neil Armstrong! 

Hot Wheels cars came onto the toy market a little later than Barbie. The Custom Camaro was the first Hot Wheels car offered–on May 18, 1968. Fifteen other cars followed in short order. These “Sweet Sixteen” are among the most valuable collectible toy cars ever made. Hot Wheels were developed when Elliot Handler–the other founder of Mattel–challenged the design team to create a better toy car than those currently available. The team–which included a General Motors car designer and a rocket scientist–developed a patented independent suspension for the cars, a speedy wheel design, and signed deals with the Big Three auto manufacturers to die-cast their muscle cars at 1:64 scale. Mattel also designed race tracks on which the cars could run and perform stunts. As of its 50th birthday, almost 17 Hot Wheels were sold every second. Even MotorTrend magazine thinks that Hot Wheels are hot!

If you want to make Barbie or Hot Wheels decor or apparel for a fan from the newest generation, Missouri Star carries licensed Mattel fabrics.

We have Barbie fabric panels, precuts, and yardage from a couple of collections–one for Barbie and one for Malibu Barbie. Within each collection, you will find novelty fabrics that are perfectly coordinated. It will be easy to use these fabrics to make a quilt, pillowcases or throw pillows, a wall hanging, a tote bag or backpack, or anything your Barbie fan desires.

Missouri Star also carries Hot Wheels fabric for fans of these scale model cars–whether they race them or collect them. We offer novelty fabric from the Hot Wheels collection and from the Hot Wheels Classic collection. Both of these include Mattel fabric by the yard, Mattel fabric panels, and precut bundles.

If you are lucky enough to still be playing Barbie and Hot Wheels with a child, you can celebrate that fact with Barbie and Hot Wheels kids’ fabric from Missouri Star. Get your hands on some Mattel Hot Wheels fabric, Hot Wheels fabric panels, cute Barbie fabric prints, and Barbie fabric by the yard to sew something special for the littles in your life, or stitch it up for your inner child.