*Please note: when you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include Amazon, JoAnn Fabric, Etsy, and the eBay Partner Network. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. To learn more about how my website uses affiliate marketing, please visit the website’s Privacy Policy page.

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Nobody likes to see a naked doll laying around, but did you know that leaving your doll dressed in her clothes can actually stain her body over time?

You’ll see this kind of thing on eBay when buying vintage dolls. The doll will have red stains around her feet because someone left her in her red plastic boots for a number of years. The dyes in fabric can also seep into the dolls’ “skin” and leave stains over time too.

I recently bought a Topper Dawn doll on eBay. Someone had clearly left her in knee-high boots that were a dark color because her knees were stained blue.

Not only that, but certain dolls like Kenner’s Dusty doll, have been known to expel melted chemicals onto their clothes as the plastic ages. The chemicals can then leave an oily-looking stain on the doll’s clothing, especially where joints come together on the doll’s body.

You can clearly see this problem in a video by Terrific TV Toys, entitled, “Dusty Doll By Kenner.”

So it’s a good idea to keep your doll nude when she’s not on display or being played with. I keep my dolls nude in a plastic tub. If I’m worried that the doll’s joints may expel chemicals, I also wrap her in plastic to prevent this from damaging other dolls which share her storage container.

 

My Remco I Dream of Jeannie doll, which I also bought very recently seems to have the gooey leg joint problem. I could wrap her in plastic and keep her with the other 6 inch dolls, but I fear she may already be too damaged to keep.

If you live in the US, though, and you would like to have her, let me know. If the shipping isn’t too much, I can mail her to you, but we’ll have to wait until the weather cools down so she doesn’t arrive in a puddle of chemical goo, like the Wicked Witch of the West or something.

Leave a comment at the bottom of this blog post if you’d like to own her. Whoever comments first gets first dibs. I’ll look at the timestamp for each comment to decide who gets her if there are multiple people interested.

Here’s a picture of her:

I’ve had people ask me whether or not they can wash a doll’s clothes in a washing machine, and the answer to this question varies.

Cotton clothes can shrink when washed, as can wool and some other fabrics. An experienced sewist knows to pre-wash fabrics before making doll clothes, to avoid this problem. But before you wash any doll clothes, always identify the fabric it’s made from and do a little homework on whether or not the fabric will be damaged when washed.

Doll clothes made with felt, silk, satin, beads, or sequins can be especially fragile and may need to be hand washed or even dry cleaned.

Once you’ve determined that the fabric is washable, I recommend washing all doll clothes in a lingerie bag before throwing them in a washing machine with other items. This will avoid the problem we often see with missing socks. My aunt used to say that a lost sock went to “Sock Heaven” in the washer and dryer.

You don’t want your doll clothes to end up in “Sock Heaven!”

Velcro closures can make tiny doll clothes get stuck to the inside of a sweater or other fuzzy garments, for example, and you may not be able to find it in your laundry basket after washing it, if you don’t use a lingerie bag to separate the doll clothes from the “people clothes.”

Lastly, when making doll clothes, we tend to press them rather than ironing. If you want to know what the difference is, I actually have a tutorial on that. Click here for my “How to Iron Doll Clothes” tutorial.

A lot of people don’t realize that you can actually buy doll-sized irons online to help you press and iron tiny doll clothes. I actually use my mini ironing board to help me iron tight corners from time to time, with a tiny iron like the ones I’ve listed here:

• The Tulip mini iron (pictured in many of my videos)
• The Dritz Petite Press (I LOVE mine!)
• The Sunbeam Travel Iron (an Amazon Bestseller)

When buying a mini iron, be aware that it may not get as hot as a regular iron, and it most likely won’t offer a steam option. But you can always use a squirt bottle if you need to use moisture. Avoid using moisture on certain fabrics, though, as it can cause the fabric to look wavy or discolored.

The key, here, is to KNOW what fabric the doll clothing is made from, and understand the nuances of that fabric’s individual care.

Also, children who are using an iron need direct adult supervision. Keep the iron setting low for children, and always warn them that they shouldn’t touch the part of the iron that gets hot.

Today’s blog post was an updated re-post of older content from this website.

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If you enjoyed this blog post, and you’d like to see my videos, you might want to navigate over to my YouTube channel, ChellyWood1 to look through my playlists.

For anyone who would like to expand their dolls’ wardrobes, you should really check out my “How to Alter Doll Clothes Patterns” course and my “Design Your Own Doll Pants Patterns from Scratch” classes on the Creative Spark online learning platform. Here’s my bio page on their website, where you can learn more.

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 go check out my paid courses on Creative Spark, using this link.

As always, feel free to pin, like, or tweet about my free patterns and tutorials.

To read more about my free sewing patterns and tutorials, please visit the “Helpful Tips” page.

Disclaimer/Credit/Affiliate Marketing Link:

*Please note: when you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include Amazon, JoAnn Fabric, Etsy, and the eBay Partner Network. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. To learn more about how my website uses affiliate marketing, please visit the website’s Privacy Policy page.

Chelly Wood and the ChellyWood.com website are not affiliated with any of the doll or toy companies mentioned in this blog post, but Chelly enjoys designing her doll clothes to fit a variety of dolls. To learn more about the doll companies mentioned in today’s post, please visit the doll or toy company’s website.