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Glossary of Sewing Terms with Pictures: What are bell bottoms? #SewingChat #SewingVocabulary

The term "bell bottoms" is defined as follows: A pair of pants or jeans that flare from the knee to the hem, like a bell shape. Images include a graphic of a pair of jeans with brackets showing the flare area between the knee and the hem (the hem is shown at the very bottom of a pant leg). A doll models bell bottoms standing and seated. When seated, the flare of the bottom half of her pink pant leg is pronounced, due to her seated position, flaring from the narrow knee to the wide bottom of the pant leg. A pair of Christmas bells are shown nearby, to illustrated the similar shape that these pants make from the knee down. This image comes from Chelly Wood dot com, where there are hundreds of free, printable PDF sewing patterns for making doll clothes for 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.

DEFINITION: 

A pair of pants or jeans that flare from the knee to the hem, like a bell shape.

This is my own definition. Of course you can google this term to find other definitions as well.

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The image shows a vintage Velvet doll from Ideal, modeling a pair of handmade overalls with bell bottoms. The doll's retractable hair has been wound up, and it's only showing her hair as a shoulder-length bob. She stands in a room with a speckled purple and blue wall and a white floor. The doll stands with her feet together but her hands are spread out a bit, so you can see that the bellbottom overalls are well fitted to her figure. The fabric the overalls are made of look like a starry night sky, with different shades of deep blue and royal blue speckled with teeny-tiny white dots that remind us of stars in a night sky. Her blouse is a short-sleeved cotton blouse with a floral print, and its flowers are in different colors including two different shades of blue, red, pink, and yellow. The flowers' style of artistic design on this blouse is reminiscent of fabrics from a bygone era. The ChellyWood.com logo appears in one corner, reminding the viewer to go to Chelly Wood dot com for all the free, printable PDF sewing patterns for making these overalls and many other doll clothes items to fit vintage Velvet and a bunch of other dolls.
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

The term “bell bottoms” refers to the shape of the pant leg from the knee down, primarily, so even the overalls that my little Velvet doll is wearing in the image above could be considered bell bottoms because her overalls flare out from the knee to the hem.

Another term that has been used for bell bottoms is “boot cut.” I think this term has been around for a while, but I first encountered it when shopping for jeans at an Old Navy store in the early 2000’s. After reading the “boot cut” sign, I said to the sales person, “What are boot cut jeans?”

She took down a pair of jeans that were clearly bell bottoms to show me what they looked like, and I said, “Oh. So they’re bell bottoms?” She wasn’t impressed for some reason…

In this photograph, we see the Chelly Wood doll (a repainted Spin Master Liv doll that looks like the real doll clothing designer Chelly Wood) holding up vintage Simplicity doll clothes pattern number 8466, which was published in 1969. The pattern offers the following outfits to fit Barbie sized fashion dolls of the time: View 1: a sleeveless dress with high lace collar and a ruffle; view 2: a sleeveless dress with fringe at the bottom in imitation of a Native American style mini skirt; view 3: a bell sleeved mini skirt dress; view 4: a ball gown with empire waist and straps; view 5 a short sleeved turtle neck shirt with mini skirt and vest; view 6: the same mini skirt and short sleeved turtle neck are shown with a blue cape over the top; view 7: bell bottom pants with an elastic waist and a sleeveless shirt that has a buckle style open back.
Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

Sewing patterns from the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, like my Simplicity 8466 sewing pattern for Barbie shows in View 7. And yet this style of pants/jeans came back into fashion during the 1990’s and early 2000’s as well.

So sometimes we even see that bell-shaped characteristic in cargo pants and yoga pants.

A pair of Barbie doll sized cargo pants with an elastic waist and side pockets lays on a pristine white surface. The pants have a bell bottom and elastic waist, but the side pockets, which have been hand stitched, seem to sit just below the crotch of these handmade denim-look cotton pants. The Chelly Wood dot com logo appears at the bottom of the image. Visit ChellyWood.com to learn more.
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.

DISCUSSION QUESTION: 

Did you ever have a pair of bell bottoms that you particularly loved? And if so, what do you remember about them?

Come back to this blog post at the end of the week, so you can see what comments other people left!

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*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.

2 thoughts on “Glossary of Sewing Terms with Pictures: What are bell bottoms? #SewingChat #SewingVocabulary”

  1. Yes, I had a favorite pair of bell bottoms. I hand-embroidered them and they are packed away in my garage. I could probably get a pretty penny for them. I should sell them.

    Reply

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