What’s the Best Book for Teaching a Child to Sew? — Sew in Style by Erin Hentzel! #CraftyMoms #CraftyKids

Full disclosure here… I’m actually acquainted with Erin Hentzel, the author of Avery Lane Design’s book, Sew in Style. She’s a member of one of the doll clothes sewing groups that I belong to on Facebook, and she’s a fellow instructor at the Creative Spark Online Learning platform. Furthermore, as an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. But I actually bought this book back … Continue reading What’s the Best Book for Teaching a Child to Sew? — Sew in Style by Erin Hentzel! #CraftyMoms #CraftyKids

The image shows a homeless man smiling while he holds a large quilt in front of a tent. The text reads, "Charity."

Do you quilt? My cousin’s story will warm your heart! ❤️ #Charity #Homelessness

When my cousin Anita Queen posted these pictures on Facebook, I called her up and asked if I could interview her about her charitable work as a quilter. Being a family relative and fellow seamstress, she gladly shared her story. Have you ever had a quilt that seems to grow dust? You’ve posted it on Etsy, taken it to craft fairs, and no matter what … Continue reading Do you quilt? My cousin’s story will warm your heart! ❤️ #Charity #Homelessness

What do you want to read about thumbnail image of Barbie laptop on a purple coffee table with a question mark

Tell me about your doll world… Who are you? What do you do with dolls? #DollCollector #QandA #DollChat

The rules have changed for bloggers. When I first started this website, back in 2014 (yep, it has been 10 years), I could learn a lot about my followers from the analytics provided by my web hosting service. I knew how old they were, what part of the world they lived in, and whether they were male or female. I could even see what search … Continue reading Tell me about your doll world… Who are you? What do you do with dolls? #DollCollector #QandA #DollChat

This is a Canva-made purple framed image of basic sewing tools, including scissors, thread, straight pins, safety pins, buttons, and some swatches of felt. The text reads "sewing basics" under the photo, with the Chelly Wood dot com logo below the photo.

Tips and Tricks for Beginners, Just Learning to Sew @ ChellyWood.com #LearningToSew #SewingTips

Are you new to sewing? Or are you thinking about teaching a child how to sew? If so, you might want to read my blog post about the top 10 sewing supplies you’ll need in a beginner’s sewing basket. I’ve got a playlist of tutorials for the beginning sewists on my YouTube channel as well. It includes video tutorials like: how to do a basic straight stitch when sewing by hand how … Continue reading Tips and Tricks for Beginners, Just Learning to Sew @ ChellyWood.com #LearningToSew #SewingTips

On a turquoise blue background, we read the words "Skates, boots, and high-tops." Below this and at a slight angle is a photo of the following (left to right): silver cowboy boots, black army boots, and white ice skates.

The Woes of Buying Doll Boots, Skates, and High-tops on eBay #DollCollector #DollClothesPatterns

Doll boots can be a lot of fun to dress your doll in, when you’re making winter raincoats and ponchos for them to wear in your fall dioramas. But if you’ve ever tried to buy vintage Barbie boots, you’ll probably already be familiar with this little problem: Some sellers on eBay are experts at hiding the flaws in their products. Then, when you buy it … Continue reading The Woes of Buying Doll Boots, Skates, and High-tops on eBay #DollCollector #DollClothesPatterns

This thumbnail image shows the Chelly Wood doll (a Spin Master Liv doll) holding up a spreadsheet of expenses and income for 2023. The text reads, "2023 income full disclosure" and beneath this text is a turquoise blue coin-shaped circle with a dollar symbol inside it.

How much money did ChellyWood LLC make in 2023? Full disclosure… #TaxTime #Charity

Many of you know that in my “day job,” I’m a full-time school librarian. I also teach art and library research classes for the middle school where I work. This has been a good paying job, helping me and my husband (who also works full time) to pay for our children’s college educations, and generally keeping the bills paid in our little manufactured home with … Continue reading How much money did ChellyWood LLC make in 2023? Full disclosure… #TaxTime #Charity

This thumbnail image shows the Chelly Wood doll (a Spin Master Liv doll) sitting at her computer, at her desk, in her office. The screen of her computer says, "YouTube" with the red and black YouTube logo (or something similar to it) on her little doll-sized computer screen. The text over Chelly's head says, "Favorite YouTube Channels! -- Please Share!"

What’s your favorite doll-collecting or sewing-related YouTube channel? Please share! #FridayFollow

  Want to be entertained while you sew? Want to laugh out loud at funny memes, but also “Ooh” and “Ahh” at someone’s vast collection of cool vintage sewing patterns? If so, then Stephanie Canada is a sewist worth following! I’m starting off today’s blog post with one of Stephanie’s latest videos: “I made a Holiday Barbie dress out of TRASH!” The Holiday Barbie video … Continue reading What’s your favorite doll-collecting or sewing-related YouTube channel? Please share! #FridayFollow

Use the link provided in the caption to get you to the free patterns and tutorial videos for this embroidery sampler that looks like a windmill.

History Inspires Us — a little story from Chelly’s life experiences #StoryTime #History

Here’s a little-known fact about me: I’m a member of the DAR — the Daughters of the American Revolution. That means I have an ancestor who fought in the American Revolutionary War. And today I’m sharing a little story I wrote for my local DAR chapter’s newsletter. At the very end of this tale, you’ll see how it connects to sewing, so be patient as … Continue reading History Inspires Us — a little story from Chelly’s life experiences #StoryTime #History

The image shows a close-up of the digital sewing planner page that was designed by Chelly Wood for setting sewing goals. The top of the image says "Editable PDF" and the edge of the planner is decorated with purple stitching on a white background with lace edging. The heading on the planner itself says "My Sewing Goals" in purple, but you can also see where someone has typed in "Date: January 1, 2023" and in one of the flag-shaped, stitching-edge bars where you are meant to type your goals, someone has typed in "Clean Sewing Room." This shows an example of how this digital planner is editable.

Set sewing goals for 2024 with my 99 cent digital, editable sewing planner @ ChellyWood.com #SewingGoals #NewYearsResolution

The purchase of this item in my Etsy store will help me pay the bills for running my free doll clothes pattern website! As the end of 2023 rolls around, I’ll be reviewing last year’s goals and updating my New Year’s Resolution planner.  Each year, I use this one-sheet planner to set goals, and I’m always surprised at the end of a year, by how … Continue reading Set sewing goals for 2024 with my 99 cent digital, editable sewing planner @ ChellyWood.com #SewingGoals #NewYearsResolution

Two women share a sewing table, as seen from above, with the words "Who shares your sewing passion?" above the photo. This thumbnail image is framed in purple fabric with tiny white polka dots, and the Chelly Wood dot com logo appears at the bottom of the thumbnail.

A sister-in-law who shares your passion is a treasure indeed!

For your free patterns and tutorial videos, please scroll down to the second set of bullets. Look at this pretty freckle-faced beauty! She’s modeling a lovely pleather jacket that my sister-in-law made from black pleather and (I believe cotton) cheetah print fabric. My sister-in-law used my Ken jacket pattern and made some alterations to the jacket, so it would basically fit a Barbie doll. I … Continue reading A sister-in-law who shares your passion is a treasure indeed!

On a purple cotton background with a turquoise blue ribbon title that states in white words, "five types of trim to use when sewing doll clothes" we see a photo of a woman's well-manicured hands poised a top pink fabric, as she applies a wavy lace trim with the sewing machine's presser foot's needle in the center of the photograph.

5 commonly used trims for sewing doll clothes #Sewing #DollClothes

Yesterday I posted a whole article on the ten ways you can use ribbon trims. (Click that link to go back and read it.) So today I’m going to skip over ribbon as one of the five commonly used trims for embellishing doll clothes. Ribbon is probably the most common form of trim that doll clothing sewing enthusiasts tend to use. It’s inexpensive, it comes … Continue reading 5 commonly used trims for sewing doll clothes #Sewing #DollClothes

On a purple background, we see the word "Closures" poised above three photos: one of a woman's hand holding a strip of blue Velcro, another showing a lineup of four different colors of 3 inch zippers, and a third image of tiny buttons in bright colors, resting in the palm of a woman's hand.

New in the Chelly Wood Store: Clasps, Buttons, Velcro, and More!

In my store (found under the “Shop” button in the main menu on my website), you can now purchase clasps, buttons, Velcro, and more. Today’s blog post details each of these items. Let’s start with clasps. I bought the overalls clasps shown in the palm of my hand above, from a store called I Sew for Doll on Etsy. They have quite a few tiny … Continue reading New in the Chelly Wood Store: Clasps, Buttons, Velcro, and More!