Last week’s blog post was called, “Can vintage Sindy dolls fit in clothes made for vintage Tammy? (Part 1).” We saw, last week, that Pedigree Sindy dolls are able to fit in Dress View 1 from my Simplicity 4883 sewing pattern, but the bust seemed a little roomy for her. To read that whole blog post, please click here.

Today’s blog post revisits the question, “Can vintage Sindy dolls fit in clothes made for vintage Tammy?” but this time, I’ve made the wrap skirt, scarf, and red checkered shirt from View 3…

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In the image above, you’ll see my vintage Pedigree Sindy doll modeling the little denim wrap skirt with suspenders from View 3 of Simplicity doll clothes pattern 4883. Of course this pattern was designed to fit Ideal Tammy, but in a sense, Pedigree Sindy is Tammy’s cousin from across the pond!

If you’d like to learn more about the history of these dolls, you’ll find a bulleted list of helpful resources as we get to the end of today’s blog post.** At the earliest stages of their production, Sindy and Tammy had identical looks, but as you’ll see in the image below, Pedigree Sindy from the 1970’s and Ideal Tammy from the 1960’s have slightly different bodies.

The View 3 wrap skirt that I made required the use of suspenders, so I was a little concerned that the suspenders wouldn’t fit Pedigree Sindy, because her torso appears to be smaller than Tammy’s. Although my Simplicity 4883 Tammy doll wardrobe pattern’s instructions suggested that we “Sew [the suspenders’] ends in place securely by hand,”*** I chose to use snaps to attach the suspenders in both the front and the back.

The pattern does suggest making the skirt with a lining, but I wanted my skirt to be entirely reversible, and I thought, if I make the blue suspenders removable, then I can have the red and white check lining become a wrap skirt without the blue suspenders, when you switch it around to the “lining” side.

So here we see my 1970’s Pedigree Sindy wearing the flip side of the wrap skirt from Simplicity 4883 Ideal Tammy doll clothes pattern set, but you’ll notice she doesn’t have the suspenders.

Although Sindy is cute in anything — heck, she’d look cute in a potato sack — I sort of wish I’d used a solid red or white fabric for the lining instead of more gingham. It’s a bit much with all these red checks, in my humble opinion.

To demonstrate contrast, here’s Tammy in the ensemble:

In a previous blog post, I mentioned that the original Simplicity 4883 Tammy doll clothes pattern was the doll clothes pattern I learned to sew with, as a child.

I remember struggling to make the hair bandana look presentable on my Barbie dolls. It always stuck up at a strange angle, and as you can see in the image below, that problem can still exist (but there is a solution):

What will make the bandana lay more naturally against the doll’s hair? Use pins! It also helps to pull the triangular tippy-top end of the bandana down, exposing Sindy or Tammy’s forehead/bangs/fringes a bit.

A straight pin isn’t ideal for young children who are dressing their dolls, and when I make one of these bandana hair ties for young children, I usually affix snaps to the tips of the bandana. But snaps will make it difficult to wear the bandana as a neck tie. (Look back at the image of Tammy beside the skirt pattern to see how the bandana can be tied around the doll’s neck.)

If you choose to avoid adding snaps so it can be worn as a shawl or neck tie, you can also secure the tip of the bandana to the hair itself with a straight pin, which is what I did in the image below. This Stacie doll has a natural Afro, which makes the bandana stick straight up without the straight pin at the back.

That’s modern Stacie wearing doll clothes from vintage Simplicity 5861 for the old 1960’s Skipper dolls (Yes, modern Stacie dolls can wear the vintage Skipper patterns!) and you’ll see that I made her a bandana from scrap fabric that happened to be triangular.

I didn’t own an Ideal Tammy back in the 1970’s, when this Simplicity 4883 Tammy doll clothes wardrobe was my only doll clothes pattern, so the Simplicity 4883 required a lot of alterations. It was a great introduction to sewing for me as a little girl!

The little red check shirt has easy-to-sew sleeves too. They don’t require you to sew them on, as they’re cut out as part of the bodice, in sort of a droopy T-shape. I believe this is considered a variation on the kimono sleeve, but leave a comment to correct me if I’m wrong about that.

The instructions suggested that I make the shirt from a single layer of fabric, and just clip seams along the neckline and such. As is my usual routine, I disregarded the single-layer method for making this shirt and gave it a lining.

In the image above, I altered the back closure by trimming away just a thin slice of fabric, because I knew that the original pattern allowed for a pretty deep hem at the back closure area. And since I was going to give it a lining instead, I didn’t think I would need such a thick seamline at the closure.

Now that I’ve re-made this shirt again for the first time in 40 years, though, I believe trimming away the excess fabric at the back was probably a mistake.

Furthermore, I’m noticing that the bodice’s sleeves get sort of lumpy in the underarm area, almost like a dolman sleeve. So if I was to re-design Pedigree Sindy’s or Ideal Tammy‘s gingham check shirt, I would have used a set-in sleeve today. It would just look more attractive, I think.

I might also skip the back darts and widen this blouse along the hemline near the hips. The shirt has a bit of a snug fit, as you can see in the images above, and I really think this might help make it more flexible.

Both Sindy and Tammy can wear the shirt as it is, but I think Sindy, in particular, would look better in this shirt with a little more give in the back. I suspect that’s because she has a waist that swivels.

When Tammy goes to sit down, she doesn’t swivel at all; in fact, her legs spread out in a V-shape when she sits, so even on Tammy, I think it would be wise to make alterations to allow for more give in the hip area too.

Before I go, I have one more thing to add about this project…

Simplicity 4883 sewing pattern‘s View 3 wrap skirt for vintage Ideal Tammy dolls certainly does fit Sindy, but I want to point out that I also used Velcro in the back, to seal up the wrap skirt. This gave me lots of leeway to make the skirt fit snugly or loosely, as need be.

The pattern directions, as you can read for yourself above, do suggest using snaps to close the skirt, which was the norm, back in the 1960’s, when this pattern was available for purchase at your local fabric stores.

But I’m glad I used Velcro. It’s easy for small hands to use, and as I’ve said, it will be easier still to adjust the fit of the skirt for different dolls.

As I mentioned before, I’m planning to make even more of the outfits in the Simplicity 4883 pattern set, and I’ll keep you posted about how well Sindy fits in the other outfits, in future blog posts!

**If you’d like to learn more about Pedigree Sindy and her connections with Ideal Tammy dolls — or to just learn about Sindy in general — I recommend visiting one of these websites:

• The Toybox Philosopher
• The Little Sindy Museum
• Pedigree Toys and Brands Ltd
• Our Sindy Museum
• Doll Reference

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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.

***Quote and images taken from Simplicity 4883, Simplicity PRIMER: “Guide for Cutting–Sewing–Detailed Dressmaking,” 1st SHEET, no copyright date provided. Printed in USA.