A while back, one of my followers wrote to me with the following suggestion: “Tell me about Breyer® dolls, please… Before coming to the site I had never heard of them, but now I’m curious.”
So in response to this faithful fan, I thought I’d do a quick blog post, explaining a little about the Breyer® company and their charming doll collection.
Breyer® is most well known for making model horses. The dolls they make are specifically designed for flexibility, so they can easily be positioned on collectible model horses. My daughter owns several model horses and Breyer® dolls; one of her dolls is 8 inches high (approximately 20 cm), and another is not quite 7 inches high (17 cm).
These dolls are very sturdy, highly articulated, and attractive (although older models are a bit less attractive, in my humble opinion). They fit nicely in some doll houses. According to the official Breyer® website, the “Classic” dolls and their corresponding horses fit 1:12 scale; the “Traditional” dolls and horses are molded to a 1:9 scale.
My daughter makes beautiful miniature saddles, blankets, halters, and lead ropes for her Breyer® horses, and although she’s only 16 years old, she has her own Etsy store in my name. I think a lot of young girls who collect Breyer® horses enjoy saddling them and creating blankets and tack for them, so my daughter is hoping to raise a little college money by selling her handmade saddles and tack to this niche group of model horse collectors.
I’ve designed a few patterns for her Breyer® dolls. These patterns also fit the World of Love® dolls (vintage dolls made by Hasbro), the 8″ Disney® dolls, and to some extent, the Monster High® and Ever After High® dolls (because their torsos are so tiny). In the coming weeks, I’m planning to post a few additional patterns for doll clothes that fit these dolls, so be sure to watch for them.
If you’re searching for a pattern for one of my doll clothes designs, please navigate over to the Gallery Page. That’s the easiest way to search through all of my patterns to find what you want. Each image on the Gallery Page takes you to links for patterns and tutorials.
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Need help printing my patterns? This link will take you to a tutorial showing you how to download my free, printable patterns.
Please note: you must enlarge my patterns to fit a full-sized piece of American computer paper (8.5 x 11 inches or 216 x 279 mm) without margins, before printing. My designs use a 1/4 inch seam (standard for fashion doll sewing projects).
If you’re wondering why I make patterns and videos without charging a fee, please visit the “Chelly’s Books” page, and that should explain my general motivations. It’s always friendly and kind to show your appreciation for my free patterns and tutorials by liking them on Facebook, pinning them on Pinterest, and/or tweeting about them (yes, you have my permission). You’re also welcome to add any of my YouTube channel’s videos to your playlists. Please visit those links for easy access to my patterns, tutorials, and blog posts.
In case you haven’t heard, I have designed commercial patterns for Lammily LLC. They have some new dolls in their line, including a new male doll, so you might want to visit the Lammily website to see what they’ve got going on.
I also have a series of tutorials for the beginning sewists on my YouTube channel. It includes video tutorials showing you how to do a basic straight stitch when sewing by hand, how to gather fabric, how to use the whipstitch to hem a garment, how to sew on snaps, and even how to design your own doll clothes patterns, just like I do!