Are you old enough to remember the original Holly Hobby? Today’s vintage pattern on the discussion table is a Holly Hobby doll and clothes (Simplicity #6006) pattern which is marked with a copyright from 1973. In the comments, feel free to write your memories of Holly Hobby.
Or, if you’re a fan of the new Holly Hobby show on Hulu, leave a comment on that topic as well.
I owned this pattern way back when Holly Hobby was the hot new toy for girls, and I actually sewed all of the projects pictured on the pattern, including the doll herself. I used similar fabrics, too!
If you were a little girl growing up in the 1970’s, you probably don’t remember all the hippie-stuff that younger generations associate with that era, but I bet you remember Holly Hobby. I sure do!
My recently designed and released pioneer dress pattern, which fits Wellie Wishers and similar-sized dolls, was inspired by this Simplicity Holly Hobby pattern.
But what do I mean by that? Before I design a new pattern, a lot of times I’ll go look at the pattern shapes used to make similar garments. Take a look at the image of the back of this pattern, below, noting the area I’ve circled in green:
This little pink grid shows the pattern shapes for making the shoe, the bonnet, and even the bloomers. When I design my own patterns, I am often inspired by these pattern pieces to help me come up with a “starting shape” for my own designs.
In a few months, I’ll be offering a class with Creative Spark, in which I’ll be demonstrating how I design my own patterns, step by step. If you’re interested in taking my up-coming class, you’ll hear about it if you subscribe to my channel on YouTube, sign up for ChellyWood.com’s newsletters (look for the words “email subscription”), or subscribe to Creative Spark’s newsletter.
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Chelly Wood and the ChellyWood.com website are not affiliated with the pattern company or companies mentioned in this blog post, but Chelly finds inspiration in the doll clothes designed by these pattern companies. To purchase patterns from Simplicity, McCall’s, Butterick, or other pattern companies shown and discussed in this blog post, please click on the links provided here. These links below the “Disclaimer” section do not help raise money for this free pattern website; they are only offered to give credit to the company that made these patterns.
My grandma made this doll for me, I still have her. I was in high school when the pattern came out. My mom bought me a copy of it to make a doll for my niece. Thanks for bringing back those memories!
Oh my pleasure! I have happy memories of this doll too! 🙂
I have two holly hobby doll originals. Thank you for sharing.
Oooh! You have two? Lucky ducky!
I had that original pattern way back when. Made a doll and clothes for my sister. It was a nice looking doll and easy to make. Memories.
It really is an easy one to make, isn’t it? I remember that too.