Holiday Crafts, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection

Make a doll’s wrap skirt into a kilt for St. Patrick’s Day @ ChellyWood.com #FreeDollClothesPatterns #StPatricksDay

In this image, we see the Chelly Wood doll (actually a Spin Master Liv doll wearing a grey dyed wig, blue glasses, a long-sleeved white shirt with black printed flowers, and a pair of black pants with white Mary Jane shoes) holding up the Simplicity 8281 fashion doll sewing pattern, which was published in 1977.
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable PDF sewing patterns and tutorial videos for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

The image above shows the Simplicity 8281 vintage sewing pattern from 1977, and I have to admit that I’ve been sort of obsessed with the skirt in View 5 of this pattern for quite some time.

So last night I decided to make a St. Patrick’s Day green plaid kilt, using this wrap-around skirt pattern. Here’s how it turned out, and I must say I’m very pleased:

Standing on a hardwood floor with a mottled turquoise backdrop behind her, an African American or African Made to Move Barbie with pale pink lipstick and chocolate complexion models a handmade white tee shirt and a handmade wrap around skirt. The skirt is made of Irish-style plaid with shades of green and white. The darkest of these greens is almost black. The skirt makes a nice A-line and the plaid stripes run at a slight angle in front but seem to be perfectly vertical/perpendicular in the back. The doll's hair, pulled up into a pony tail, is straight and light brown. Her shoes are white plastic flats, to match the white tee shirt. The logo in the corner is the ChellyWood.com symbol.
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable PDF sewing patterns and tutorial videos for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

The tee shirt is not the same pattern as the one in Simplicity 8281, but instead, I used a tee shirt I already had on hand for this photo. It’s my own tee shirt from this blog post, so that tee is available here, on ChellyWood.com as a free printable PDF sewing pattern.

Here’s a close-up of View 5 of this Simplicity pattern 8281, a pattern that I loved dearly when I was growing up:

In this photo, we see a close-up of the wrap-around or "wrap skirt" that's offered on the Simplicity 8281 sewing pattern for Barbie dolls and similar sized fashion dolls. The doll wears a green floral wrap skirt that is dotted with pink flowers. Her pink raglan-sleeved shirt has short sleeves and side darts. The doll wearing the outfit appears to be a brunette Quick Curl Barbie doll because her hair is shorter than usual with a roll of curled hair near the doll's jawline. A purple arrow points at the A-line style wrap around skirt.
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable PDF sewing patterns and tutorial videos for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

Maybe you can’t tell by the picture, but this is a wrap-around skirt. I did a blog post a few weeks ago, with instructions for making a basic wrap-around skirt for most dolls. Click here to see that older blog post.

But a lot of people don’t realize how changing the fabric you use to make a garment can significantly change the look of the garment.
Take another look at Simplicity pattern 8281, paying special attention to the garment styles in View 3:
The photo shows a close-up of the cover of a Simplicity 8281 fashion doll clothes pattern. The following outfits are pictured in the artwork shown here: View 1 is a wedding dress with ruffle and veil; view 2 shows a floor-length cape with lace trim; view 2 also shows a tank top with layered long skirt; view 3 shows the same tank top with a pair of pants; view 4 shows a cottage core style dress with a ruffle and short, strappy bodice; view 5 shows a wrap-around skirt with a raglan-sleeved dressy shirt that has side darts; view 7 shows sweat (athletic) pants and an athletic jacket with collar; and view 6 shows a long-sleeved T-shirt with a vest and gaucho pants (referred to on the pattern as "culottes").
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable PDF sewing patterns and tutorial videos for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

If you made that pants and tank top set out of flannel, it would look like a pair of pajamas!

But if you made it out of cotton or polyester, it would look like regular daytime clothes.

This creative way of thinking about patterns is something I talk about in my Creative Spark class, called “How to Alter Doll Clothes Patterns.” Click on that link to learn more about my class.

Now let’s wrap things up regarding Simplicity pattern 8281 and how you can get your hands on one of these vintage patterns, if you’re interested.

Most of the commercial patterns I display and talk about here on ChellyWood.com are also available for sale on eBay. However, if you’ve never purchased a pattern on eBay before, it’s a good idea to read the article I wrote called, “Tips for Buying Used Doll Clothes Patterns on eBay.” It will save you time, money, and will likely prevent buyer’s remorse.

And by the way, if you use the links I’ve provided to make your eBay purchase, this website will receive a small commission, which helps fund the ChellyWood.com website, so I can continue to provide you with all the free patterns and tutorial videos offered here.

Disclaimer/Credit/Affiliate Marketing Link:

*ChellyWood.com earns money by linking to JoAnn Fabrics, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and other online affiliate programs. Links provided above may be affiliate links. For a full list of my affiliate programs, and to understand how cookies are used to help this website earn money, please see my “Privacy Policy” page.

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, Vogue, 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.

2 thoughts on “Make a doll’s wrap skirt into a kilt for St. Patrick’s Day @ ChellyWood.com #FreeDollClothesPatterns #StPatricksDay”

  1. Why not take it to the next level, ising that wrap skirt pattern,and from the waist down measure 1″ down, and make a yoke.for the skirt… next cut a piece of rectangular fabric (need the measure the length to the knees of the doll) and make.pleats and attach the pleated skirt.to the yoke.. trim the overlap with some.small.frindge or fray the fabric before attaching the skirt to the yoke. To hold the overlap in place, use a small gold safety pin 🧷.

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