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

As you know, February is Black History Month, so in addition to today’s free sewing pattern for a pair of Valentine’s Day shorts to fit Barbie’s little sisters, Skipper and Stacie (and a number of other 8 inch to 10 inch dolls), I’m going to celebrate the life of Charlotta Bass in today’s blog post.

Of course we all know Kamala Harris was the first African American woman to serve as Vice President of the United States, but guess what Charlotta Bass’s “claim to fame” is… Read on to find out!

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!

The image above comes from the National Park Service website and is in the Public Domain. It’s one of very few photos I was able to find that honor the memory of Charlotta Bass without copyrights. But today’s post offers plenty of links, so you can find more images of her yourself and read more about her.

One of the reasons why I chose Charlotta Bass as a research topic for today’s blog is because of her birthday. According to Sky History UK, Charlotta Bass is one of three “iconic Black civil rights activists born on Valentine’s Day.” And today I’m posting free patterns for making Valentine’s Day shorts, so that seemed like a perfect tie-in! But how is Charlotta Bass connected to Kamala Harris? What’s Ms. Bass most famous for?

Well, not only was Charlotta Bass “the first African-American woman to own and operate a newspaper in the U.S.” (Natural History Museum), but she was also the first Black woman to be nominated as a Vice Presidential candidate. It’s Charlotta Bass who paved the way for Kamala Harris.

According to the National Park Service website, “Charlotta was a staunch [advocate] for civil liberties, women’s rights, and immigration. She championed local, black owned businesses. Because of her civil rights work, her life was threatened numerous times.”

What blew my mind was a story in which the KKK tried to accost her at the office of her newspaper, and she held them at gunpoint until they backed down. “Eight Klan members… descended on the Eagle office one night while Bass was alone – but they quickly retreated after she confronted them with a pistol” (National Women’s History Museum). How awesome is that? Charlotta Bass was a woman who knew how to stand up for herself!

There’s a lot more to this lady’s amazing story, and I wish I had more time to cover it all. To read more about her and see some lovely photos of her, please navigate over to one of these websites:

• National Women’s History Museum
• National Park Service
• Natural History Museum
• Sky History UK

As you can see in the image above (and as you will hear in the video) there are two different lengths of shorts that you can make with today’s free doll clothes pattern. On the left, Stacie models the denim Bermuda shorts. You’ll want to use the View B pattern for these.

On the right, Skipper models the pink flannel Valentine’s Day pajama shorts. Use the View A pattern for the shorter shorts.

And in case you’re wondering, the shirts will hopefully be made available this month as well. The filming for those videos is already complete. I just need to put those videos together digitally and upload them to YouTube.

To make today’s doll clothing, you will likely need one of the following items:

• cotton fabric (both solids and prints) on Etsy
• flannel on Amazon
• Gondola Snaps on Etsy (various sizes)
• 1/8 inch ribbon on Etsy
• 1/4 inch ribbon on Amazon
• lace trim on Etsy
• rickrack trim
• 1/8 inch elastic on Amazon
• 3/4 inch sew-on Velcro on Amazon
• chopsticks (for inverting doll clothes)
• Dritz fabric pencil
• Fiskars Stitchers mini snips (for clipping seams efficiently)
• Gutermann sewing machine thread

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

And if you’re interested in using earth-friendly fabrics, please consider buying your fabric from FabScrap. FabScrap is a fabric recycle and reuse service, where you can buy fabrics that would otherwise go into landfills! Watch my FabScrap unboxing video to see what kinds of fabrics they sent me!

To learn more about FabScrap, this page on their website will tell you what a wonderful resource they offer!

Today’s patterns will fit these dolls*:

• Creatable World dolls
• DC Superhero Girls*
• Disney fairy 9 inch dolls (like the little Tinkerbell dolls)
• Disney Princess 10 inch dolls
• Disney’s 10 inch Moana dolls
• Ideal’s vintage Pepper dolls
• Kuu Kuu Harajuku dolls
• Petite Barbie dolls
• Project MC Squared dolls
• Skipper dolls
• Vintage 1960’s to 1970’s Skipper dolls
• Vintage 1980’s Skipper dolls
• Vintage Francie dolls
• vintage Sunshine Family adult female dolls
• Bratz dolls (8 inches)
• Breyer Rider dolls (8 inches)
• Ginny Weasley dolls (9.75 inches or 25 cm)
• Lottie dolls (7 inches)
• Mego female action figures (8 inches)
• Pepper, vintage sister of Tammy (8 inches)
• SnapStar Dolls (9.5 inches)
• Stacie dolls from Mattel (9 inches)
• World of Love vintage dolls from Hasbro (9 inches)

*This list is for the shorts only. I’ll update the list for the shirts later, when I have those other tutorial videos ready.

Here are your free, printable PDF sewing patterns and tutorial videos for making the shorts shown above:

• Free American printable PDF sewing pattern for a 9 or 10 inch fashion doll’s shorts
• Free A4 (international) PDF sewing pattern for a 9 or 10 inch fashion doll’s shorts (I’ll be uploading these patterns later today… please be patient)
• Tutorial video showing how to make the shorts is found at the top of the page

You may also find these tutorial videos helpful:

• • How to do a whipstitch
  • How to sew snaps on fabric
  • How to do a backstitch
  • How to pull elastic through a casing
  • How to use a needle threader
  • How to do a basic straight stitch
  • How to choose fabric
  • How to tie a knot using a needle and thread
  • How to press seams open, using a hot iron
  • How to sew rickrack
  • How to use selvage 
  • How to attach ribbon to doll clothes
  • Tips on sewing with lace

 

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

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1. Leave a comment on any blog post on my site (it helps other people find my website)
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To read more about my free sewing patterns and tutorials, please visit the “Helpful Tips” page.

References:

Brandman, Mariana. “Charlotta Spears Bass (1880 – 1969).” National Women’s History Museum. 2022. Web. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/charlotta-spears-bass

National Park Service. “Charlotta Bass.” National Park Service, US Department of the Interior. n.d. Web. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026. https://www.nps.gov/people/charlottabass.htm

Portner, Jessica. “The Pioneering Charlotta Bass.” Natural History Museum. 26 Aug. 2021. Web. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026. https://nhm.org/stories/pioneering-charlotta-bass

Rowan, Jo. “3 Iconic Black Civil Rights Activists Born on Valentine’s Day.” Sky History UK. n.d. Web. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026. https://www.history.co.uk/articles/black-civil-rights-activists-born-on-valentines-day

Disclaimer/Credit/Affiliate Marketing Links:

When you click 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.

Skipper, Stacie, Petite Barbie dolls, Creatable World, Kuu Kuu Harajuku dolls, and vintage Sunshine Family 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.

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.

Disney Princess, Moana, and Disney fairy 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.

Project MC Squared dolls and Rainbow High dolls are products offered by MGA Entertainment, which holds the trademark for them (™). Please visit the Project MC Squared website or the Rainbow High website to learn more about their company and its trademarked toys.

According to Wikipedia, “Ideal Toy Company was an American toy company founded by Morris Michtom and his wife, Rose. During the post–World War II baby boom era, Ideal became the largest doll-making company in the United States.” They produced the Tammy family line of dolls, including Ideal Pepper dolls, but eventually the Tammy line of dolls went out of production (with the exception of the Sindy doll — the UK version — which has had a recent revival). There have been a complicated series of sales of rights for Ideal toys since then, and you can read about it on Wikipedia, if you’re interested. But at the time of this blog post, the trademark name “Tammy” for these dolls was abandoned and has remained “dead” (according to the US Trademark database) since 2004.