
Last week I showed you how to make a beautiful pioneer costume for your 8″ dolls. This week I’m going to show you how to make a modern western outfit, including elastic-waist jeans (easy for little hands to take off and put back on) and a collared long-sleeved shirt. These free patterns and tutorials will help you make a full outfit for an 8-inch doll.
It’s ironic that one of my followers recently requested this very thing using my “Submit a Question” form. Sometimes when fans and followers make a request, they may have to wait as much as six months or a year before I get a chance to work on their request. But this time I had already designed these western clothes for Breyer® rider dolls during the Christmas holiday, so all I needed to do was put together the tutorials and voilà!
For anyone who hasn’t been following my last few posts, there’s also a Breyer horse blanket giveaway going on. Check out this link to sign up to win some model horse blankets. And for anyone who isn’t already aware, my teenage daughter, Emily Teapot, makes the lovely saddles and bridles that you can buy on our Etsy store. Click those links if you’re interested.
If you make Breyer-sized doll clothes and would like to connect with a potential buyer, Jennifer at De Bruin Saddlery wants to purchase some Breyer doll clothes right now. She emailed me over the weekend hoping to connect with someone who sews doll clothes for these adorable little dolls. You can contact Jennifer through her Facebook page (see links). She has some pretty amazing tack on display there too, so go take a look!
Would you like to learn how my daughter, Emily, makes her creations? I have a playlist of her tutorials on my YouTube channel, ChellyWood1. Here’s an example of the tack Emily makes:

Do you ever wonder why I make patterns and videos without charging a fee? To find out, 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.
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If you’re searching for a specific pattern, have a look at 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 that are designed to help you make the outfit pictured there.
Most of my designs use a 1/4 inch seam (standard for fashion doll sewing projects), but for smaller doll clothes projects like this one, I recommend using a 1/8 inch seam, if you can pull that off. This ensemble isn’t for brand-new sewists (it can be tricky to make), so if you’re looking for easier projects, please read the information below…
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!
Need help printing my patterns? This link will take you to a tutorial showing you how to download my free, printable patterns. It’s important to 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.
In case you haven’t heard, I’ve 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.