The pattern you see my Chelly doll holding up in the image above was the first doll clothes pattern I can remember sewing.
It’s a pattern for a vintage Tammy doll, but at the time, I didn’t own one. So I actually had to alter the pattern to fit my Barbie dolls. Thus began my long love of pattern making and alterations for doll clothes!
What was your first doll clothes pattern? And what do you remember about first learning to sew your own doll clothes?
Today’s blog post is asking everyone to join the discussion! Please leave a comment and share your memories about learning to sew.
My mother wasn’t keen on me sewing on my own, but I remember designing doll and baby doll clothes out of Handi-wipes and Terry cloth eleatic coasters. The stretchy coasters were like strapless minis on my Barbies. I would pull strips from the Handi-wipes to use as belts to hold the nonsewn clothes on. I was also not allowed scissors until I was much older.
Same! I used to make Barbie clothes out of scraps of fabric, and I’d cut a long strip to use as a belt to hold the whole “origami” doll clothes together!
Thanks for sharing your story, Melissa. I love it!
Hand sewing a wardrobe for my family of trolls. Still have one troll.
Oh cute! Thanks for adding your story to the comments, Gloria. I need to design some troll clothes, don’t I?
I was doing a sewing badge at Brownies And I made a T-shirt and trousers I was 8.
Thank you so much for your free patterns they will be so helpful for me as a grandma to two granddaughters. Thank you again
Oh, you’re quite welcome, Tracy. Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. 🙂
In 1971 my mother was sewing halter dresses and caftans out of Indian bedspreads for my sisters. I took a scrap and winged a halter dress and a drawstring bag for my Malibu Barbie. I then made a halter top for skipper out of some red fabric. I learned that my mom was very nice to let me sew on her machine. I got a toy sewing machine that Christmas, but it was kind of awful to sew with.
I had one of those toy sewing machines back then, too, and they were not very user-friendly. I never used mine because the bobbin was always too loose and it was kind of a nightmare to work with on the whole. I’d venture to guess that children’s machines have come a long way since then, and parents today can buy pretty decent sewing machines for their kids to learn on.