Creative Spark Online Learning, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection

How do you stop obsessively thinking about your sewing projects? #SewingProjects #DollClothesPatterns

 

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.

My brain has been stuck on the idea that I need to sew the red and white striped T-shirt from my Simplicity 8281 vintage doll clothes pattern for months now.

Of course I have other, more important projects underway.

For Christmas, I was busy sewing doll clothes for a family I know, and after talking to the mother for this family of children, we decided to go with purples and pinks for their doll wardrobe. The red and white striped shirt would not have gone with the set.

This outfit was part of their ensemble:

A black Barbie with pink lips, a dark chocolate complexion, and straight black hair, models a pink tunic made of jersey fabric over a pair of wide-leg grey cotton trousers or pants. A tiny pink shoe peeks out from under her grey pants. The tunic she wears has multicolored large circles on it, but it's more like decorative spots than true polka dots. The tunic has a boat neck and the sleeves gather at the wrists. The ChellyWood.com logo appears in the lower left corner.
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.

What I wanted to sew was that cute little red and white striped number from Simplicity vintage doll clothes pattern #8281.

And my niece requested some additional doll clothes for her stuffed toy which she calls “Kitty.” She wanted polka dots, not stripes, and Kitty is much bigger than a Barbie doll anyway. So my plans to sew the red and white striped shirt got put on hold yet again.

For Emily’s requested “Kitty” doll clothes, I used the McCall’s 9449 (view A) jumper pattern to sew Kitty a little dress and bloomers.

The Chelly Wood doll holds up a vintage McCall's 9449 doll wardrobe pattern, which says near the top of the envelope, "Wardrobe for chubby baby and toddler dolls" and is also noted as being for the smaller size of dolls, which is indicated to be 12 inches to 16 inches tall. The patterns shown are as follows: view A = a red long-sleeved dress with cuffs overlaid by an orange jumper (in the American understanding of this word) with a V-shaped yoke; View B = a dress with long sleeves that end in ruffle cuffs and have a ruffle cuff neckline along with a squared yoke bodice; View C = a white pinafore over blue long-sleeved dress with ruffle collar and ruffle cuffs (identical to the long-sleeved dress shown in view B; View D = a long bathrobe with ribbon tie; View E = a sleeveless nightgown that is floor-length, shown in white with red trim to match the red check bathrobe; View F = a beret and matching blue coat that has pockets in front; view G = a long-sleeved red dress with a white collar trimmed in lace (also having the ruffle sleeves but these ruffle cuffs are also trimmed in white lace).
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

I showed you that project last week, on Monday. Click here if you want to read more about it.

I mean, yeah, it was fun to make. And it turned out really cute.

But I wake up every morning, dreaming of red and white striped jersey fabric. That Simplicity 8281 pattern is calling to me!

The Chelly Wood doll stands in her sewing room with a dress form behind her and her sewing machine beside her. A giant though bubble hovers over her head, and inside the thought bubble is a swatch of red and white striped jersey fabric. The Chelly Wood doll is actually a Spin Master Liv doll that has been re-painted and given a grey wig, so it looks a lot like the real doll clothing designer, Chelly Wood.
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

But I’m also finishing up the filmography for my next class, for the Creative Spark online learning platform. This one will teach you how to design your own doll pants, leggings, and overalls from scratch.

I’ve been having a lot of fun creating this class, and I look forward to its release. But dang! I wish I had more time…

On a white table, we see all kinds of tools one would find in a sewing room: thread, scissors, a tape measure, and doll clothes patterns. Beside these and in the lower left corner is a blue alarm clock. The implication is that there's not enough time in the day for all the sewing projects!
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

The projects I’ve been creating for the Creative Spark online learning platform have been a top priority for months now. Years, if you consider the class I’ve already made: “How to Alter Doll Clothes Patterns.”

 

That vintage 8281 Simplicity Barbie doll clothes pattern is sitting in a plastic tub in my sewing room, but I can’t seem to get the image of a red and white jersey fabric long-sleeved Barbie T-shirt out of my brain. It keeps haunting me!

Do you guys ever have this happen? Do you ever obsess about a pattern you really want to sew but just don’t have time to get the sewing done? And if so, what do you do about it?

Feel free to leave a comment.

To read more about my free sewing patterns and tutorials, 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.

4 thoughts on “How do you stop obsessively thinking about your sewing projects? #SewingProjects #DollClothesPatterns”

  1. I have done that many times and I have the fabric (but not the finished products) to prove it. LOL Occasionally, I’ll just make the piece and it always eventually finds a home. I think that red striped top would make a great piece to use to display those overalls your are planning for your video. (The rest of the red striped fabric would make great leggings for a Christmas outfit.) I’m not helping, am I? 😀 By the way, I have that pattern, too, and a friend whose daughter has a Barbie that always needs clothes. If you have a source for that jersey fabric with narrow stipes, please let us know. I’ll be doing some obsessing myself now.

    Reply

    1. With regards to a source for that red striped fabric, I’ve already got some in my stash. However, if you need some, there are plenty of sellers on Etsy with small print striped jersey or regular cotton fabric. Just click this link to find some.

      And remember, I have an Etsy store too! Here’s my store’s link, so you can follow me and see what I post, whenever something new gets posted.

      Reply

  2. Since it would take me, at most, two hours for that T-shirt, I’d just make it. And maybe a fringed mini skirt to go with it. Thats only like a thirty minute project. So for 2-2 1/2 hours work, I can stop thinking about it and move on. It’s worth it because I’m expending a lot more than that in mental energy thinking about it

    Reply

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