It’s fall, so we need to keep our little dolls warm. A coat is easy enough to make, but capes are usually even easier!
You’ll notice, that in the image of Simplicity 8466 above, there’s an adorable cape pattern for fashion dolls. It’s short (hip-length), made of bright blue fabric, and appears to have a red ribbon for its trim.
But if you’re looking for more of a floor-length medieval-style cape, I recommend vintage Simplicity 8281. Both of these capes are fine for beginners.
What I like about them both is the fact that they tie at the neck, using a ribbon. So simple!
Then we have the McCall’s 6420 cape (below), which has tiny slits for your fashion doll’s hands to poke through. That’s a little trickier to make, but I still say, even with that alteration, this cape is relatively easy to make.
Another cape that can be a bit challenging is the one below.
As you can see on the McCall’s Crafts 4400 doll clothes pattern, there’s a hood, but honestly, hoods aren’t that tricky to make. The tricky part is getting it to drape over the shoulder, as shown on the cover art. The smaller the doll is, the less the clothes will drape like that.
Of course it helps to use jersey fabric instead of heavy cotton, but it’s still difficult sometimes to find a jersey fabric that’s lightweight enough for your dolls.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention McCall’s 3429, which appears below:
As you can see, View F offers a short, Red Riding Hood-style cape. unfortunately, this cape pattern is missing in my pattern envelope, which I bought at a discounted price in a collection of bits-and-pieces patterns.
So I don’t have much to say about this particular pattern, except that it looks doggone cute!
Now of course I have a free cape pattern, here on ChellyWood.com, and you can find my hooded cape pattern and tutorial when you visit my historical costume and cosplay page. It looks like this:
A few of my older patterns have not yet been converted to PDFs; they’re still only available as JPG images that you can download and print that way.
But a while back I converted this cloak pattern to a PDF, for easier downloading and printing. It fits both Ken and Barbie, but I have not yet added it to the Ken cosplay costume gallery. Maybe I’ll get that done this week.
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.
To read more about my free sewing patterns and tutorials, please visit the “Helpful Tips” page.
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Maybe you already own some great commercial patterns, but you really wish you could alter them to look just a little different. If so, my Creative Spark class, “How to Alter Doll Clothes Patterns” may be just what you need to make your commercially designed patterns into the pattern you see in your imagination.
Are you worried that you won’t have time to take a course in doll clothes pattern alteration? You’ll be happy to learn that, for any class on Creative Spark, you don’t have to follow a schedule. Just sign up when you’re ready.
It’s a one-time fee for the course, and there’s no specific time limit to finish your course. You can just take your time and learn at the pace that suits you. So please go have a look at my paid courses on Creative Spark, using this link.
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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.
My favorite cloak pattern is one that I used to make from an old Coats and Clark booklet, that contains patterns for knitted, crocheted and sewn clothing for male and female fashion dolls. I don’t know what your rules are for providing links, (I guess I should read your Privacy Policy page), but I recently found a download version on Etsy. One thing to be careful of. The first one I sent for did not have the patterns for the sewn outfits. I checked with a second seller before ordering. These are great for anyone who needs to make clothes for the original body Barbies.
Is it this pattern that you’re referring to, BetteAnn? Thanks for the tip! What a neat pattern!
Yes, that is the pattern, although it was from a different shop and at a different price. My only caution is that to check with the seller first to make sure the sewing patterns are included. This is a nice pattern if you want your cape to have arm openings.