Collar Tip #4: Use Felt

Making a doll’s dress, shirt, coat, or jacket out of felt does double duty to make a doll’s collar easier to sew. First, you can avoid hemming everything, including the sleeves and the outer edges of the garment itself.

Second, you won’t have as much trouble getting that collar to lay like you want it to.

However, you may have to make some alterations to the collar pattern, because the seam allowances will be a little off, if the original pattern calls for a normal collar.

I used an adorable felt collar on this Crissy doll “sailor” dress:

You have to be careful using felt with smaller dolls, though, because it can look rather clown-like. You can see that “clown effect” in this old Skipper pattern:

Okay, it’s got to be said… The 1980’s were a time of fashion experiments gone wrong! View 3 in my Simplicity 7600 Skipper pattern set says it all. If that top doesn’t look corny, I don’t know what does!

So whether you’re adding lace or using felt (or just making the wild and wavy collar that the pattern originally comes with), it’s a good idea to avoid any collars that may end up looking too clownish.

When I first designed my “sailor top/sailor dress” for Crissy, I tried using a red collar. The idea seemed sound, but when I tried it on her with the bodice, I could see the “clown effect” taking shape. So I scrapped that collar and stuck with the white-on-white look.

Next week we’ll be wrapping up this series of blog posts on tips for sewing doll clothes collars, with my final tip, and my favorite alternative to traditional human-clothing-style square, starched collars.

But while we wait for that last tip, does anyone else have collar suggestions to add to the collection? Feel free to leave them in the comments.

And I’m guessing some of you may have already guessed what Tip #5 will be, especially if you’re one of my regular followers. In that case, you’re probably already familiar with how I make the vast majority of my doll clothes collars. Can you guess what it will be?

The image above shows my Vogue Craft 9964 Barbie and Skipper doll clothes pattern alongside my Simplicity 7600 Skipper pattern set.

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.

Another great way to help fund this website is to take my Creative Spark class, “How to Alter Doll Clothes Patterns” which is now live on the Creative Spark platform. You can sign up any time you want–there’s no rush!

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, once you’re signed up, you can take as long as you want to finish the class. You’re not under pressure or a time constraint to finish your lessons.

You can just take your time and learn at the pace that suits you.

If you enjoyed today’s sewing tip for making doll clothes collars, and you’d like to see what other helpful doll clothes sewing tips I have offered on this website, please visit the “Helpful Tips” page.

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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, 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.