Now that I’m retired from my job as a school librarian, I have a lot more time on my hands! I have more time for crafting, sewing, and learning.
So I thought I’d ask all of you — my followers and friends — “What YouTube channels, what websites, and what resources do you use in your doll collecting and doll crafting?” Below, I’ll list five of my own favorite resources, but in the comments, I’d love it if you would add to this list with your own recommendations!
Before we dive into this opportunity to share, I need to make my required disclaimer statement: As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. To learn more about how affiliate marketing works on my website, please go to the Privacy Policy page. Thank you!
#1: Doll Reference
If I’ve found a used doll at the Goodwill, and I don’t know anything about her, I’ll access Doll Reference for facts. It’s a wonderful online resource for identifying unknown dolls.
The site has a forum, where you can post photos of your doll to see if other people can help identify it, but the tool I use most is just the search tool.
If I need a little background knowledge about a common doll, like Ideal Tammy, Mattel’s Barbie, or highly collectible dolls like Kewpie dolls, the site has at least one (and often more than one) well-researched article on each of these, along with variations on those dolls that have been produced over the years, like Tammy’s sister Pepper and her UK counterpart, Patch, for example.
#2: BackroomFinds.com AKA Stephanie Canada
If you enjoy sewing with unique, hard-to-find vintage fabrics, you’ve got to check out Backroom Finds! It’s Stephanie Canada’s business website, where she sells the unique (and sometimes antique), hard-to-find fabrics and patterns she has collected and acquired. She has rickrack and other vintage notions for sale as well, often at a super reasonable price!
Now I know that “sewing vintage” is trendy on YouTube, but Stephanie’s YouTube channel is a cut above the rest because she has a background in theater and costume design. So when you watch her videos, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll long for more of her fun and lively videos!
When my sister-in-law (who also sews) came over for a sewing a craft day not too long ago, we spent the day just watching Stephanie Canada’s YouTube channel and talking about all the vintage patterns she was unboxing in her videos. Stephanie truly has a gift for entertaining!
Are you making a fairy garden? Pinterest will have helpful ideas, illustrations, and tutorials.
Do you need to buy Edwardian-era boots for a rare and unusual doll? Somebody on Pinterest probably has some for sale.
Want to learn how to sculpt a doll’s face? How to make a doll’s wig? Or how to build extra storage for your dolls? Pinterest is the place to go!
If you can’t find it on Pinterest, it probably doesn’t exist!
#4: ShopGoodwill.com
Be wary… This is one of those websites that will easily suck you in. An hour will go by, and you’re still enjoying the fun of shopping for used goodies on this site!
If you just type into the search bar, “Doll,” you’ll be surprised at the many, highly collectible dolls that are being sold on this site. I believe these are items that Goodwill store owners know are worth more than they can get for them in the store, so they sell them on ShopGoodwill.com for a little more than what Goodwill stores typically ask.
Most dolls, for example, sell for $2.00 each in the brick-and-mortar store, but on ShopGoodwill.com, they can sell a lot of vintage Barbies with a starting price of, say, $30.00 for the lot. It’s an auction, though, like Ebay, so the price may go up from the starting amount when people start bidding.
They sell sewing supplies as well, including vintage sewing machines, lot groupings of fabric, and vintage patterns.
#5: Sue’s Barbie Love on YouTube
Sue’s Barbie Love is a YouTube channel all about collecting Barbies! Sue must live in a part of the United States where there are an abundance of thrift stores, antique stores, swap meets, and yard sales because she’s ALWAYS finding the BEST deals on collectible Barbie dolls and their accessories.
Then she does a fun unboxing, showing her followers her “find.” It’s kind of addictive to watch her!
But I always wonder, “How in the heck did she find that?”
Sometimes Sue will find a duplicate of a collectible item she already owns. In those cases, she will put the extra on sale in her eBay store.
One of my favorite features on her YouTube channel is her occasional “fashion show,” using the vintage Barbie clothes she has collected, and as Sue displays her dolls in their finest fashion show attire, she’ll share with you all the facts she knows about that particular doll and that particular outfit.
On the Sue’s Barbie Love YouTube channel, Sue never pretends to know her facts. If she doesn’t know what year a vintage outfit came out, she doesn’t make up a random guess. She just tells you that she doesn’t know. Sue is as honest as a good ol’ southern girl can be!
But now it’s your turn, friends and followers. When you’re looking for entertainment, gathering facts about doll collecting, planning a doll-related craft project, or searching for sewing supplies, what are your favorite websites, YouTube channels, social media outlets, and resources?
Please leave a comment so everyone can benefit from your input!
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.
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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.
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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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*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, 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.
Dear Chelly, congratulations on your retirement from being a school librarian so you can concentrate full time on running your website and designing doll clothes for a living.
I’m 59 years old and I consider myself voluntarily retired because my only income is getting Social Security disability checks once a month. My previous jobs were in customer service. If I decided to go back to work, my benefits will be deducted. I rely on Doll Reference and Pinterest also as well as Katti’s Dolls if I want to look up dolls that I can’t identify. I sew doll clothes as a hobby as well as doing some creative writing.
Thanks for your very educational blog,
Trisha
Thanks for thei list I will have to check some of these out. One of my favourite YouTube channels for doll collectors is 1,000 Splendid Dolls. While not a sewing site it great for tips of cleaning and fixing pre-loved dolls as well as identification. The two sisters who own the channel, Shelley and Colleen also have a Flickr page which is great for doll ID’s too.
Good to hear from you, Taswegian! Your website is a good one to visit as well! Here’s a link for anyone who’s curious.
The site offers tips for doll collectors, a paper doll page, info on action figures, and a page on doll houses and miniatures!
I am familiar with 1000 Splendid Dolls, and I’ve learned important lessons from them about what types of doll hair can and cannot be boil-washed. I was thinking about that just yesterday, as I restored a doll I found at a second-hand store. Thank you for reminding everyone about the 1000 Splendid Dolls YouTube channel!
Well, I already knew Pinterest, of course, but I’m sure gonna check your new suggestions. Last time, you recommended My Froggy Stuff’s YouTube channel, and I got addicted. Toya’s a doll craft genius! Thanks for that suggestion!
I love Toya too. She faithfully answers fan mail. She’s a good person!