Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Uncategorized

Sewing a pillbox hat for Barbie, using felt and Simplicity 7601 doll clothes patterns #amSewing #DollClothesPatterns

In a room with a turquoise blue, mottled wall and a white floor, we see a blond, curly-haired made-to-move Barbie modeling an outfit that is also pictured on the envelope of the Simplicity 7601 Barbie doll clothes pattern envelope, which the doll stands beside. The model doll's coat and pillbox hat are made of light purple felt. Her purse is made of deep purple sating. the outfit under her coat isn't entirely visible, but she's clearly wearing wide-leg pants of grey cotton or cotton polyester blend fabric and a pair of purple pumps. The ChellyWood.com logo appears under the Simplicity 7601 pattern envelope. On the envelope, the same pillbox hat and coat sets appear in a deep purple and a hot pink color, but these dolls' purses are clutch purses, whereas the doll who acts as a model, standing beside the envelope, carries a similar purse with a purple satin strap. Otherwise, the outfits pictured on the envelope are remarkably similar to the one the doll is wearing in the photo.
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

You may have heard of the pillbox hat, but maybe you weren’t aware of what one is. Well, I believe it’s called a pillbox hat because it’s shaped… (I’m sure you’ve guessed) like a pill box!

For my pillbox hat, I used Simplicity 7601 Barbie doll clothes pattern. This is one I often recommend to people when they’re searching for an easy-to-sew coat pattern for Barbie. As you can see in the images above and below, the coat itself is pretty easy to make.

On a top image, we can see that someone has lain a doll's coat pattern over purple fabric. On the bottom image, they have added straight pins to hold the pattern in place. Each straight pin penetrates the pattern plus the fabric, with its straight pin tip emerging on the other side of the pattern. The line of straight pins goes all along the edges of the pattern, holding the pattern onto the fabric.
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

I used plain old craft felt for both my coat and my hat, and although the little pillbox hat can be a little fiddley because it’s so small, it is truly one of the easiest Barbie hats to make.

You just cut out a circle for the top of the hat and a rectangle for the crown. There’s no brim at all. And if you’re using felt, you don’t even have to hem it.

Here we see the cut-out pieces for several Barbie doll clothes pieces: a jacket front, a jacket back, a hat top, and a hat's crown. The patterns lay over the top of the fabric, but they are held there by one straight pin each, with the straight pin inserted (in, then back out) once, in the center of the pattern, to hold the patterns to the garment pieces.
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

The rectangle is sewn directly to the top of the hat (the circle piece), and when the two short sides of the rectangle meet up, you sew them together.

That’s it. You’re done!

Here we see a close-up of a Mattel Barbie's face. She's wearing a pillbox hat, made of felt, which was sewn using the Simplicity 7601 doll clothes pattern. This lovely Barbie has pale pink lipstick, what might be considered an olive complexion or perhaps a Mediterranean complexion, light brown eyes, and blond, curly hair. The pillbox hat rests gently over her curls, and the felt the hat is made from is a pale purple, almost lilac color. The hat is tipped slightly over her right eye. The coat she wears is barely seen in the image, but it too, is made of the lilac felt. The Chelly Wood dot com logo appears in the lower left corner.
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

And frankly, I think the pillbox hat, simple though it is, gives Barbie a classy look that reminds me of Audrey Hepburn, Princess Grace, and Queen Elizabeth II.

For such a quick and easy hat, you can’t beat that!

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.

For my free doll clothes sewing tutorial videos, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel, ChellyWood1.

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.

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.

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