I love my Simplicity 8466 Barbie doll clothes sewing pattern from 1969, but of course the outfits offered in this set of patterns (while vintage-adorable) are a little outdated for today’s children.
But pants are pants, right? Wrong.
The pair of pants in View 7 are sort of short with a bell bottom feature, that just doesn’t appeal to todays kids… UNLESS…
Unless you add a side pocket and make them into cargo pants.
“But how is that done?” you may ask.
Here, let me show you:
It should be noted that in the photo I’ve labeled “A” above, I’ve made a slight alteration to the original pants pattern for Simplicity 8466. Look closely. I’ve cut the waistline taller than the pattern itself.
When I make a casing, I prefer to create a double-fold, to prevent fray. If you’re not sure what I mean by this, you might want to watch my casing video:
In image B, I’m looking to see how big the casing needs to be, and if you take a look back at image A, you’ll see that I’ve extended the waistline to include a deeper casing. This is what I mean by “a slight alteration.”
And if you want to know more about altering doll clothes patterns, I do have a class about that. Go to my creator’s page on the C&T Publishing website to learn more. I’ve got some additional information at the bottom of today’s blog post as well.
Okay, but let’s go on to see how I created a cargo-pants-style pocket for these jeans…
Now comes the attachment to the pants themselves.
It’s funny because the instruction booklet for Simplicity 8466 assumes you’re pretty familiar with sewing pants, and their first instruction shows all the pant legs already sewn together. Hmmm…
Yeah, I never assume that. So here’s how you put the pants together…
For Figure I, you want to make sure you’re laying a pants FRONT over the top of the pants BACK. For figure J, sew these two together along the outseam (the seam that’s going to run from the waist, over the hip, down the leg, to the ankle).
Then you press the seam open before marking your pocket alignment with a fabric pencil. I marked mine at 12 cm, but if you’re using a different Barbie pants pattern, or a pattern for a different doll, I recommend aligning the top of the pocket just a hair below the crotch seam (see figure M).
The last phase is pretty straightforward…
All that’s left to do is turn them right-side-out, and voilà! You have converted a regular pair of doll pants into cargo pants!
Now if you need further instructions, you might take a look at this video, which I posted on my YouTube channel for Halloween in 2023:
Now the pants in the video above are made from a single panel, but the basic idea is the same.
Hopefully this helps you expand your way of thinking about pants.
Also, if you’re looking for an easy pattern for a fashion-doll-sized pocket, this free pattern from my Barbie Gallery of free patterns may help. I just cut mine out of small scraps that I had, though, so your pockets may come out looking a little smaller than mine did.
If you need a pocket pattern for bigger (13 to 16 inch) dolls, try this free pocket pattern.
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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.
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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.