11-inch doll clothes patterns, A4 Printer PDF Patterns, Barbie Patterns, Curvy Barbie, Daily Patterns, Vintage Barbie, Whole Costumes for Dolls

How to make a swirly skirt with a ruffle for Curvy Barbie #FallFashion #SewWithMe

Scroll down to the third set of bullets for the free PDF sewing patterns.

Ever since I designed this skirt, I’ve been calling it “Lisa’s skirt” because Lisa, the lady who ran the bookstore at the Chicago IANDS conference inspired today’s skirt project.

And along with today’s skirt pattern, I’m including the pattern and tutorial for making Lisa’s lovely animal-print top. Of course, you don’t have to use animal-print fabric. It looks just as nice in solid cream color, as you can see on my other Barbie — and yes, both the top and the skirt will fit a Curvy Barbie and a regular one (see image below).

Before I go on, 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!

Under an array of fall leaves, on the left is a traditional Barbie from the 1980s or 1990s modeling a cream colored shirt that has three-quarter length sleeves over a swirly Halloween skirt trimmed in cream colored lace. On the right is a Curvy Barbie with strawberry blond hair. She models an animal print shirt and a swirly brown skirt with matching brown ruffle. The logo at the bottom is for Chelly Wood dot com, where these doll clothes sewing patterns can be downloaded for free.
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.

For the Halloween skirt, which requires a little different ruffle, click here.

But today’s tutorial focuses on making the skirt with the same-fabric ruffle. And the tutorial video links and free patterns I offer in the third set of bullets will allow you to make Lisa’s animal print top plus her ruffled swirly skirt.

To make today’s Curvy Barbie skirt and top ensemble, you will likely need one or more of the following items:

This list comes from my “Buyer’s Guide” page, which is easily accessed from the home page.

"Lisa and Me" -- violet and turquoise lines frame the photo of the real Chelly Wood (the doll clothing designer) standing beside and offering a hug to a tall woman with curly red hair. The taller woman wears a dark animal-print top with a snug fit and three-quarter length sleeves over a beautiful, flowy, brown skirt with layers of ruffles. The two women stand in front of a tall sign that says "IANDS Bookstore." The real person Chelly Wood wears her IANDS nametag over a pink tee shirt and tan slacks. Her shoes are white loafers. Her white hair is drawn back from her face, exposing her smile.
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 like today’s animal print shirt and ruffle edged skirt, you have Lisa to thank. The real Lisa ran the bookstore at the IANDS conference.

Take a moment to go visit her online bookstore and perhaps buy a book about near-death experiences, so you can learn a little about this unique experience that I had, having died twice in my youth and once as an adult, only to be revived each time, after having been literally… dead! I’m truly grateful for bookstores like Lisa’s, where people can learn more about near-death experiences, so there’s less stigma attached to the concept.

And, obviously, Lisa inspired today’s outfit for my beautiful Curvy Barbie. And while she’s more of a tall, slender lady than a curvy lady, Lisa is a lady with true fashion sense!

"Fall into sewing" -- the image has a swirl (like wind) following the curl of autumn leaves. In the center of all this, we see two versions of the same Curvy Barbie modeling a brown swirly ruffled skirt and matching animal print shirt with three-quarter length sleeves. The dolls pose face forward and in profile, to offer variations in the angle at which we see the shirt and skirt ensemble. The Chelly Wood dot com logo appears in one corner of the image.
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.

I chose this Barbie to represent Lisa because of Lisa’s beautiful red hair. Granted, my Curvy Barbie is more of a strawberry blond, but she was the closest doll I could find to represent Lisa’s lovely complexion and natural beauty.

Lisa was not only lovely on the outside, but she was lovely on the inside as well. While I worked as a volunteer in her bookstore at the IANDS conference in Chicago, Lisa patiently answered questions, helping both authors and readers who wanted to learn more and participate in research about near-death experiences. Her bookstore provided an opportunity for attendees at the IANDS conference to purchase books written by and about near-death experiencers, like myself.

And as many of you know, I am currently writing my own NDE memoir, so Lisa’s role in helping to distribute this kind of information is profoundly important to me. I wish blessings and good things for Lisa and her bookstore in Chicago.

A beautiful Curvy Barbie models an animal print blouse or shirt with a brown swirly ruffled skirt. The shirt has three-quarter length sleeves and a simple scoop neckline. the doll's shoes are made of black plastic. The text says "free patterns" above the Chelly Wood dot com logo.
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.

*Today’s patterns will fit these dolls:

Here are your free, printable PDF sewing patterns and tutorial videos for making the outfit shown at the top of this page:

You may also find these tutorial videos helpful:

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

This image of a turquoise blue sewing needle pulling purple thread away from a line of cross-stitching is used as a divider between sections of a blog post.

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 C&T Publishing website. Here’s a link to my bio page on their site, where you can learn more about me and the classes I teach online.

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 the C&T Publishing site, you don’t have to follow a schedule. Just sign up when you’re ready.

It’s a one-time fee for each of my classes, 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 C&T Publishing, using this link.

As always, feel free to share my patterns and tutorials on social media. I only ask that you please let people know about my free doll clothes sewing pattern website, to help spread the word.

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, 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.

To honor the trademark rights of the doll companies mentioned in this blog post, I am including links to their websites here. Please feel free to visit their website and consider purchasing one or more of the dolls mentioned.

Queens of Africa dolls are products offered by the Slice by Cake company, which holds the trademark for them (™). They were designed by Taofick Okoya. Please visit the Queens of Africa website to learn more about their company and its trademarked toys, books, and fashions.

Momoko dolls are products offered by Petworks, which holds the trademark for them (™). Please visit the Momoko Dolls website to learn more about their company and its trademarked toys.

Barbie, MTM Barbie, Francie, Curvy Barbie and Vintage Barbie dolls are products offered by Mattel, which holds the registered trademark for them (™). Please visit the Mattel Toys website to learn more about their company and its trademarked toys.

Liv dolls were products designed and distributed by the Spin Master company, which still makes dolls and toys today (although the Liv dolls are no longer in production at the time of this blog post). The Spin Master company held the trademark for the Liv Dolls (™). Please visit the Spin Master Toys and Games website to learn more about their company and its trademarked toys and games. Please be aware that the Chelly Wood animated doll is a Spin Master Liv doll that has been re-painted and had its wig colored to appear to look like the real doll clothing designer, Chelly Wood. This was done as a creative project by Chelly’s daughters, and the Spin Master Toys and Games company was not involved in the doll’s makeover in any way.

Disney Princess dolls are products offered by the Disney corporation, which holds the trademark for them (™). Please visit the Disney Toys website to learn more about their company and its trademarked toys.

Sindy dolls were originally created by Pedigree Dolls & Toys, but they have been made by other manufacturers including Hasbro, Vivid Imaginations, and New Moon. Currently (at the time of this blog post) a limited number of the newest version of these dolls is being manufactured by Kid Kreations of Staffordshire, England. I haven’t tried my doll clothes on this newer version, but I do currently offer free doll clothes patterns to fit the Sindy dolls created by Pedigree Dolls & Toys. Please visit one of these toy companies’ websites to learn more about the toys they produce. The Sindy dolls are trademarked and as such, it should be noted that Chelly Wood and ChellyWood.com are not affiliated with either Pedigree or Kid Creations.  However Chelly has enjoyed designing doll clothes that will fit these dolls along with others in a similar size range…

Leave a Reply

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