I often get questions about where to buy tiny buttons, small-print fabrics, snaps, itty-bitty buckles, miniature zippers, and even sewing machines and their parts. So I’ve put together a “Buyer’s Guide” to help you with that.
This is primarily an affiliate marketing page. As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. However I am an affiliate marketer for other websites too.
To learn more about how affiliate marketing works on my website, please click here.
Please note: there is now a shopping page, which offers the same links you find below, but in a more organized format. Click “Chelly’s Store” in the main menu to locate my ChellyWood LLC Store and make a purchase.
But if you don’t want to buy anything through my affiliate marketing links, please consider donating to my website. You can choose the amount you wish to pay as a donation.
Also, purchasing items from my Etsy store or my Teachers-Pay-Teachers store will help me pay for this website’s upkeep as well. I have a little one-page sewing project planner, that I use myself, and you can learn more about it right here.
And, if you take one of my online courses, you’ll learn something new, and at the same time, the commission I earn from your one-time course fee is used to fund my library of free doll clothes patterns. The links to my paid courses through the Creative Spark Online Learning platform are found under the first heading below:
Online Courses — click to learn more
- “Design Your Own Doll Pants Patterns from Scratch” (very affordable at $19.99)
- “How to Alter Doll Clothes Patterns” (a more extensive course for $49.99, but you can pay in two installments)
- Instructor Bio Page
Fabrics
- cotton fabrics on Amazon
- cotton broadcloth fabrics on Etsy
- cotton small print fabrics on Etsy
- cotton fabric (both solids and prints) on Etsy
- cotton fat quarters (18 inches by 21 inches of fabric)
- cotton/polyester blend fabrics on Etsy
- craft felt on Amazon
- craft felt on Etsy
- craft felt on eBay
- flannel on Amazon
- flannel on Etsy
- jersey fabrics on Amazon
- jersey fabrics on Etsy
- lace fabric on Etsy
- lightweight denim fabric on Amazon (for jeans)
- lightweight stretch denim on Etsy (also useful for doll jeans)
- muslin fabric on Etsy
- polyester fabric on Etsy
- satin remnants on Etsy
- small-print holiday fabric on Etsy
- small-print striped jersey fabrics on Etsy
- swimsuit fabric remnants on Etsy
- tulle on Amazon
- tulle on Etsy
And…
- FabScrap is a fabric recycle and reuse service, where you can buy fabrics that would otherwise go into landfills! Watch my FabScrap unboxing video to see what kinds of fabrics they sent me!
Closures
- Dritz size 1/0 snaps
- Dritz size 2/0 snaps
- Dritz size 3/0 snaps
- Dritz size variety snaps
- Gondola Snaps on Etsy (various sizes)
- hook and eye closures on Etsy
- hook and eye closures on Amazon
- miniature belt buckles on Etsy
- miniature belt buckles on Amazon
- miniature overall buckles
- doll-sized zippers on Etsy
- doll-sized zippers on Amazon
- toggle clasps on Amazon
Small Buttons and Button Hole Tools
- teeny-tiny buttons on Etsy (for dolls 12 inches and smaller)
- small-ish buttons on Etsy (for 13-17 inch dolls)
- functional 5/8 inch (16 mm) buttons on Amazon for 18 inch dolls and larger
- small-ish buttons for 18 inch dolls to be used as embellishments (not as a closure)
- Clover button hole cutter
- Button hole sewing machine attachments for various sewing machines
- Seam ripper tool or un-picker tool
- Seed beads
Embellishments
- 1/8 inch ribbon on Etsy
- 1/8 inch ribbon on Amazon
- 1/4 inch ribbon on Etsy
- 1/4 inch ribbon on Amazon
- 1/2 inch ribbon on Etsy
- 1/2 inch ribbon on Amazon
- 3/8 inch ribbon on Etsy
- Velvet ribbon in a variety of sizes on Etsy
- lace trim on Etsy
- lace trim on Amazon
- scalloped edge trim
- rickrack trim
- embroidery floss on Etsy
- embroidery floss on Amazon
- 1/4 inch double fold bias tape on Amazon
- 1/4 inch double fold bias tape on Etsy
- 1/2 inch double fold bias tape on Etsy
- gold braid trim
Elastic and Velcro
- 1/8 inch elastic on Amazon
- 1/8 inch elastic on Etsy
- 1/4 inch elastic on Amazon
- 1/4 inch elastic on Etsy
- 1/2 inch elastic on Amazon
- 1/2 inch elastic on Etsy
- 3/4 inch sew-on Velcro on Amazon
- 1/2 inch (10 mm) sew-on Velcro on Etsy
(With Velcro, it’s almost impossible to find sew-on Velcro smaller than that, so if you need it smaller, just trim pieces to the sizes you need.)
Other Items
- Chelly’s sewing project planner
- chopsticks (for inverting doll clothes)
- craft feathers
- craft foam
- Dritz fabric pencil
- Dritz needle threader
- elastic cord (like you’d use for jewelry making)
- embroidered labels*
- fiber fill (AKA stuffing) for making plush toys and pincushions
- Fray Check
- Fiskars Stitchers mini snips (for clipping seams efficiently)
- Glue gun (Gorilla Brand)
- Gutermann sewing machine thread
- “Made in USA” fold over labels
- needles for hand stitching
- printed personalized labels
- seed beads
- size 10 quilters’ “Betweens” hand-stitching needles
- tiny ribbon roses
- toggle clasps on Amazon
Discover Something NEW!
Do you love to sew doll clothes? Would you like to discover a notion you didn’t even know existed? Click here to see what Etsy has to offer! There are artisans and product providers creating new items on Etsy every day. Come back to my site, to use that link, and discover something new every month or so!
A Tip for Designer Labels…
*In the past, I’ve bought embroidered personalized labels from Dutch Label Company, but the last time I ordered from them, they got my embroidery colors wrong and I was out a whopping $90 (because I buy a lot of them all at once).
Instead of my logo colors, the labels came out yellow. Ugh! I had never had this problem before, but I’d always purchased their template designs.
So if you’re going to buy from them, don’t use their personalization. Go with their ready-made templates.
This year, when my daughter re-designed my logo, I switched to MayDay Labels on Etsy. Theirs are ink printed on fabric, but Sara Boatright at MayDay was able to make my labels VERY tiny at my special request!
So I’ll definitely be going back to MayDay Labels for my next set of sew-on labels. Here’s an image of my new itty-bitty labels:
Be Good to the Earth!
In my own doll clothes sewing projects, I try to be conscientious about the products I buy. If I can buy my fabric in the form of second-hand clothing instead of buying brand new textiles, for example, I do so. It’s simply better for the environment.
To learn more about how textile manufacturing can hurt the earth, please read this article.
I also recycle my buttons, elastics, and other notions, whenever possible. If I don’t like how a handmade garment turned out, sometimes I’ll re-use the snaps, the fabric, and any other pieces I think might be re-usable, rather than throwing the whole thing away.
So when you click some of the links I’ve given you above, don’t be surprised if it sends you to “organic fabrics” or other eco-friendly resources. It’s the least I can do to help out our generous Mother Earth!
