
I’ve been an Ideal Crissy doll fan since my childhood, when these hair-growing dolls first became popular, so it may seem hard to believe that I’ve never owned a Crissy doll clothes pattern.
Until now!
My birthday was in March, and for my birthday, I splurged and purchased this lovely Simplicity 9138 doll clothes pattern for 17 and a half inch dolls.

Now you may not realize it, but Crissy dolls and Velvet dolls (that’s Crissy’s cousin) can swap clothes with few problems. Their inseams are a little different, since Velvet is shorter, but their upper bodies are almost identical.
So with my upcoming Creative Spark class (the topic will be “Designing Your Own Doll Pants from Scratch”), I really want to use my Ideal Velvet doll as one of my models — in part because her figure and dimensions are a lot like other 15 inch dolls, for example the Wellie Wishers.
I think a lot of people who enjoy sewing for Wellies will enjoy watching my Creative Spark tutorial videos, as I design pants to fit Velvet. The idea, of course, is to follow along and design a pattern for a pair of pants to fit your own 15 inch doll, while I show you the steps.
Now the vintage 1970 Simplicity 9138 pattern set that I bought did come with a pants pattern, but I won’t be using that to design my own pants for Velvet. Instead, I have a special technique that I use whenever I design clothes for a new doll. And I’ll be teaching this technique to the students who take my class.
But I do think it will be nice to have this pattern handy to compare my own patterns to, once I’m done making them.
Wellie Wishers have a slightly shorter inseam than Velvet does, so as you can see in these next two images, the pants I made for my Kendall doll (a Wellie Wisher) are slightly too short for Velvet. But they make okay ankle pants.
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.
In case you haven’t heard, my Creative Spark class, “How to Alter Doll Clothes Patterns” is now live on the Creative Spark platform. You can sign up any time you want!
And don’t panic if it seems like too much to take on right now — sometimes our lives get really busy. I get that. But for any class on Creative Spark, you don’t have to sign up any time soon. Just sign up when you’re ready.
If you’re interested in taking my paid course, you will pay a one-time fee, and there’s no specific time limit to access your course. You can just take your time and learn at the pace that suits you.
To read more about my free sewing patterns and tutorials, please visit the “Helpful Tips” page.
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*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.