10-inch doll clothes patterns, 9-inch Dolls, Doll Measurements, Fan Mail, Favorite Books, Holiday Crafts, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Petite Barbie Patterns, Skipper Patterns, Stacie Patterns, Uncategorized, Vintage Skipper

Which dolls can wear Skipper patterns? #Sewing #SewVintage

Four dolls, all of which are considered "Skipper-sized," stand in a lineup. Doll A (far left) is a vintage Skipper. She has long brown hair with bangs. She wears a Christmas-themed outfit: a red and white vertically pinstriped shirt with a collar and a bright green pleated skirt. The doll labeled "B" is a modern Stacie doll with long strawberry-blond hair. She wears a black and white gingham dress with a circle skirt. Doll "C" is an ordinary Skipper doll from the 1980's, and she has platinum blond, overly-long hair with just a small tuft of bangs. She wears a purple sundress with a floral skirt and felt bodice. The doll on the far right is Doll "D," a modern Skipper. She has long, dark brown hair with a small purple streak running through her hair. She models a pair of jeans and a raglan-sleeved T-shirt, a timeless fashion.
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.

Note: As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Last week one of my followers, Lisa, contacted me with some questions about sewing for Skipper. We had a lively exchange over email about how Skipper has changed over the years, and I answered a few of her questions about who can wear various Skipper doll clothes sewing patterns.

Today’s blog post will share with you some of the details we discussed. Incidentally, if you would like to send me fan mail, feel free to use my contact form, or you can send me snail mail at the following PO box:

The image shows Mattel's Best Fashion Friend Barbie doll (28-inch Barbies) holding up a sign that tells how a person could write to the doll clothes designer Chelly Wood. The overlay says, "Chelly Wood Fan Mail" and offers the URL ChellyWood.com.
Please visit ChellyWood.com for FREE printable sewing patterns and tutorials for doll clothes that fit dolls of many shapes and sizes.
At the top of today’s blog post, you’ll find a photo of my three Skipper dolls with a modern Stacie doll; this photo shows the variations that have happened to Barbie’s various family members over the years. Figure A shows an early vintage Skipper, and she stands 9 and 1/4 inches tall. Beside her, shown as Figure B, is my Stacey doll, who also stands 9 and 1/4 inches tall.
Here’s what vintage Skipper from the 1960’s and 1970’s looks like:
A vintage Skipper doll models a handmade circle skirt dress with sleeveless bodice. She wears a pair of red shoes, while the dress is made of black and white gingham checks. The doll appears to have her hair pulled back in a pony tail, and the dress's skirt flares as she walks. She side glances to the left of the viewer but appears to be walking toward the right of the viewer.
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.
You’ll notice she’s wearing the same black and white gingham dress that modern Stacie (Figure B) wears in the photo at the top of the page. That’s because these two dolls can quite often exchange clothes.
And this means that my Simplicity 5861 pattern from the early 1960’s will fit a modern Stacie doll.
Simplicity 5861 vintage doll clothes patterns for 9 inch Skipper from the 1960's is shown along with some of the patterns contained inside the pattern envelope.
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.
In fact, last summer my cousin Illy, who runs the YouTube channel, ASMR Tingle and Taps, got together with me at the time of her daughter’s birthday. I gave her daughter a modern Stacie doll for her birthday.
And to fit her daughter’s Stacie, I made the following outfit, making slight alterations from Simplicity 5861‘s View 2 dress and bolero:
A vintage Skipper doll models a handmade pink felt bolero jacket with green rickrack trim over a green and pink floral dress that's long enough to be called calf-length.
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.
If you’d like to learn more about alterations like this, I teach a class on this very topic. It might be something to ask your family about this holiday season, especially if they never know what to buy you for Christmas and you’re tired of getting more stuff you don’t really have a use for!
Click here to read more about the class on doll clothes alterations that I teach on the Creative Spark online learning platform.
The doll in Figure C at the top of this page is my Skipper doll from the 1980‘s. During the ’80’s Skipper‘s height changed to 10 and 1/4 inches at that time, and her body shape changed quite a bit.
Skipper glides across a white floor, wearing her handmade purple, blue, and white strappy sundress. This is a vintage Skipper from the 1980's with very long blond hair and bangs. Her purple dress's bodice is made of felt while the skirt is made of a cotton blend, printed with tiny multicolored flowers on a purple background.
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.
During this era in Barbie history, there was quite a focus on dolls’ hair. Both Barbie and Skipper started to come with significant hair styling tools, and you could buy Barbies and Skippers with really long hair, like you see on my 1980’s Skipper photo above.
The doll in Figure D at the top of this page is what I would refer to as a “modern” Skipper. This is also the body type used for the Babysitters Inc. Skipper dolls. It’s my understanding that a modern Skipper (including those in the Babysitter’s Inc line) stand at almost 10 and 1/2 inches tall, but not quite.
In this photo, Skipper faces to her right (our left), modeling a t-shirt and jeans. She stands in front of a mottled purple background. The logo reminds us to go to ChellyWood.com for the free printable PDF sewing patterns for making this T-shirt and jeans to fit your 10 inch fashion dolls like Skipper.
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.
This Skipper often comes with a purple streak in her long brown hair.
It should be noted that there’s a difference between the Babysitter’s Club dolls and the Babysitters’ Inc. dolls.
The “Babysitters’ Club” dolls are related to the books by Ann M. Martin, and they have several incarnations, none of which were produced by Mattel in the Skipper line of dolls (to my knowledge) — followers who know better are welcome to correct me in the comments section below — but Mattel does have a series of Babysitters Inc. Skippers, and all of these use the modern Skipper mold or a variation on the modern Skipper mold.
The outside of a Skipper Babbysitters INC plastic package says, "Barbie" with a registered trademark symbol, follwed by the word "Skipper" and under "Skipper," we read "Babysitters INC" on the plastic packaging. To the left of the INC is a cell phone with a baby face on it. At the very bottom of the package is a warning that this toy can cause a choking hazard, so it should only be given to children ages three and up.
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.
On a side note, if you’re looking for books to buy for your daughter or granddaughter (ages, say, 9 to 13), the Ann M. Martin graphic novels are everyone’s favorite books at the middle school library where I work as a school librarian in my “day job.” And although these are different characters from the Mattel dolls, a little girl could certainly play out these stories with her Skipper dolls and have a whole lot of fun with them!
So as far as I can tell, all Babysitters Inc Skipper dolls can wear clothing that’s designed to fit Mattel’s modern Skipper (the one that usually has a purple streak in her hair), shown in View D at the top of this page.
Here’s an example of an African American version of the Babysitters Inc dolls:
An African American Skipper Babysitters Inc doll is shown in the Mattel company packaging. She wears a rainbow T-shirt and a blue "faux denim" stretchy jumper (in the sense of a skirt with overalls bib -- the American meaning of "jumper"). She holds a little yellow plastic cell phone. One of her arms is straight. The other is bent at a 90 degree angle. Her hair is very curly, and she wears a reddish-colored headband.
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 website doesn’t offer any sewing patterns for making doll clothes for any of the Babysitters’ Club dolls, although the 18 inch versions of the Babysitter’s Club dolls would likely be able to swap clothes with American Girl dolls, I’m guessing, just based on the photos I’ve seen online.
You may wonder about the two bigger Skipper dolls — the platinum blond one from the 1980’s (View C from my photo at the top) and the one that’s similar in size to the Babysitters Inc dolls. “Can these two swap clothes?” you may ask.
In this photo, a 1980's Skipper doll stands back to back with a more modern Skipper doll from the 2020s. Although there's 40 years' difference in age between the two dolls, they are nearly the same size. The modern Skipper's shoulder is slightly higher than the 1980's Skipper doll. Also, the vintage Skipper's hair is much fuller, giving the false impression that they are exactly the same height, when in fact, the top of the head of the older Skipper doll is millimeters shorter than the modern Skipper doll. With careful inspection, we see that because her shoulder is a bit higher, the newer Skipper doll has a little bit longer arm than the older, vintage Skipper. The vintage Skipper wears a yellow sundress, whereas the new Skipper doll wears a striped T-shirt with jeans. Free doll clothes patterns for both doll clothes outfits for Skipper dolls can be found at ChellyWood.com along with sewing instruction in the form of tutorial videos.
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.
The 1980’s Skipper can swap some clothes with modern Skipper, but not all. That’s largely due to the fact that they have slightly different body types.
Compare the alignment of the shoulders of the two dolls in the photo above. The Skipper from the 1980‘s (the one in the yellow dress on the left) has a slightly lower shoulder than the modern Skipper (the one on the right in jeans and a tee shirt). The 1980’s Skipper’s neck is elongated, which really changes the body measurements significantly for that doll.
The photo shows the Chelly Wood doll (a Spin Master Liv doll that has been altered to look like the real doll clothing designer, Chelly Wood) holding up Simplicity Skipper doll clothes pattern number 7600. This pattern shows a Skipper sized doll from the 1980's wearing a swimsuit, a cheerleader costume, a shirt with ruffle collar matching a skirt with ruffle, a criss-cross tank top with capris, a formal gown, a Flashdance style tee with a circle skirt and short leggings or bike shorts, and a hoodie with capri pants. The logo on this photo reminds us that this image comes from Chelly Wood dot com.
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.

The commercial pattern Simplicity 7600 was designed for the 1980’s doll, and because of this, I would be very wary of using this pattern to supply a modern Skipper with a whole wardrobe of doll clothes, especially if you don’t have a modern Skipper yourself, to try the clothes on.

With that said, the hoodie in View 4 of Simplicity 7600 was the inspiration for my own hoodie pattern, which as you can see below, I’ve designed to fit a modern Skipper (and it fits her quite well, in my humble opinion):

This is a photograph of a Mattel Skipper doll wearing a handmade hooded sweatshirt with handmade leggings. The sweatshirt's hood has a lining. She stands before a mottled purple background. Her sweats outfit (the hoodie plus the leggings) is made of a pale powder blue color which softly contrasts the purple background she's standing in front of. She wears blue sneakers that look sort of like Vans in a style that reminds us of loafers. The logo for ChellyWood.com is in the lower left corner of the photo.
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.

Patterns for modern Skipper are notoriously difficult to find. I think that might be because she actually fits into Barbie’s clothes pretty well.

In fact, she and Petite Barbie can swap clothes. Here’s Petite Barbie in a Christmas dress that I designed for modern Skipper, for example:

Please visit ChellyWood.com for free, printable sewing patterns for dolls of many shapes and sizes. Image shows a petite Barbie from the Fashionista line dressed in a hand-made Christmas dress and elf hat. She stands before a tiny train filled with gifts and toys. She leans against Santa's sleigh, which is filled with little wrapped gifts. Behind her is a snow-covered hill with many wintery pine trees.
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free, printable sewing patterns for dolls of many shapes and sizes.

And here’s a modern Skipper in the exact same Christmas dress:

A Mattel Skipper doll models a handmade holiday dress with an elf hat and elf boots. The dress has a green felt bodice, lace sleeves, a green print cotton skirt that flares with white eyelet lace trim, and a Santa ribbon belt.

As with modern Skipper dolls, it’s hard to find patterns to fit Petite Barbie! Of course, you can find sewing patterns for all of these dolls right here on ChellyWood.com, and if you’re not sure how to find patterns, this tutorial video from the home page can help you understand how best to find the patterns you’re looking for.

Now to wrap things up, I’d like to mention a book that offers patterns for Barbie, Skipper, Petite Barbie, and even Curvy Barbie (another doll that’s super hard to find patterns for). In my conversation with Lisa over email, she mentioned this book to me — which to no one’s surprise, I already owned! 😉

Sewing Clothes for Barbie: 24 Stylish Outfits for Fashion Dolls by Annabel Benilan is yet another great gift to ask for, this year, for Christmas, as it is truly one of the best sewing-for-Barbie books on the market today.

The image shows the Chelly Wood doll holding an envelope. Beside her is a sewing machine and behind her is a dess form modeling a handmade doll dress. The watermark says, "Chelly Wood dot com : free patterns and tutorials."
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns to make doll clothes for dolls of many shapes and sizes.

I will wrap up by saying “Thank you” to Lisa for sending me photos of her dolls and for inspiring this blog post. Hopefully something written here will help others in their wonderful sewing adventures for Skipper.

And if you’d like to read more on the topic of sewing for Skipper in general, this blog post may be helpful as well.

In this image, we see two patterns for Skipper doll clothes. The pattern on the right is Simplicity doll clothes pattern number 7600. The pattern on the right is a Skipper/Barbie combination pattern from Vogue, number 9964. Over the top of these two pattern photos, we see the words, "Beyer beware" and beneath them is the logo for ChellyWood.com, a website for free printable PDF sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.
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.

____________

*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.

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.

For more of my free tutorials, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel, ChellyWood1.

If you would like to make a donation to this free doll clothes pattern website, please click here. There’s also a “Donate” button in the main menu.

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.

This image shows four rows of artist's renderings of doll clothing items. The top row shows four different styles of pants. The second row shows four different styles of shirts. The third row shows four different styles of skirts. The fourth row shows four different styles of dresses, with skirts in long, short, and mid-length styles. The text reads at the top, "Classes in Doll Clothing Design" followed by this paragraph: "Have you ever wished you could create patterns of your own? Click on the links to Chelly's online courses below, to learn more about her paid courses in doll clothing pattern design techniques."

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 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.

3 thoughts on “Which dolls can wear Skipper patterns? #Sewing #SewVintage”

  1. Hi, Chelly. I’m wondering if clothes made with the only Francie Doll pattern (McCalls 8531) I know of would fit the modern day Skipper. Francie was a little taller, but had a very slim body. I have the pattern, but no modern Skipper to try on the clothes. Maybe one of your followers knows. Love your patterns and blogs! I hope you always find time to do them.

    Reply

    1. I recently got my hands on a McCall’s 8531. Sewing those patterns has been on my to-do list. When I get around to it, I’ll definitely have to try them on modern Skipper!

      Thank you for the idea…

      Reply

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.