Which of Chelly Wood’s free patterns will fit my plush doll? Here’s how you find out! #Sewing for #Dolls

Today’s video is an older one. In fact, I think I had a head cold when I recorded my voiceover for this one. (I sound sort of stuffy-headed.)

The reason I’m posting it here today is because one of my followers reached out with a wonderful question about patterns. She had bought one of those 18 inch plush dolls they have at Hobby Lobby, and she wanted to know which of my patterns would fit this doll.

So today I’m sharing my response to her very helpful question.

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!

Here we see the Chelly Wood doll (a repainted Spin Master Liv doll) holding a tape measure up to the well-articulated Creatable World doll's waist. She seems to be measuring from the waist to the foot, to get an accurate outseam for the doll, so she can make a pair of pants for Creatable World dolls. Behind these two figures in a Skipper doll. There's also a tomato-shaped pincushion on the desk beside the Creatable World doll, so they appear to be in a tiny 1:6 scale sewing room. The watermark tells where to find Free printable sewing patterns to fit the Creatable World dolls, Skipper dolls, and more: ChellyWood.com — Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

To start with, I pointed out that I have a blog feature that’s called “Tape Measure Tuesday.” That’s when I take measurements of a doll, and post those measurements so other people can compare their dolls to the ones that I have patterns for.

The way you find this information is as follows: from the home page, ChellyWood.com, scroll down to “Doll Measurements.” From there, look for a doll that you think may be close to your doll’s size.

For an 18 inch plush doll, I would recommend that you compare your doll’s body measurements to Ideal Crissy dolls, BFC Ink dolls, and the American Girl dolls.

The video at the top of today’s blog post shows how to take those measurements.

Once you determine which 18 inch doll is closest to yours in measurements, you may still need to do some alterations of the patterns. I recommend that you create a quick toile of the patterns you want to use.

Vintage Judy Littlechap doll models a handmade felt bodice that fits her very tight and is pinned in back with a straight pin. — 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.

A toile is a sew-up-quickly-and-see-if-it-fits project. I often use felt for my toiles (like the one you see above on my Judy Littlechap doll) because I have a large supply of felt in my craft corner. Also, if I find that it does, in fact, fit, I can add some snaps to the felt and make it into an actual garment that my neighbor girls can play with.

However sometimes I use junky fabric that people have given me as hand-me-downs for my toiles. These are fabrics that are too heavy to use as doll clothes, like old jeans or home decorating fabrics, or outdated prints that just aren’t in fashion anymore.

When you make a toile, you don’t bother sewing hems. You just cut it out, baste it together in all the necessary areas, and try it on the doll to see if it fits. This is a good way to check whether or not a pattern will need adjustments.

In the image below, you can see a pattern that I’m making adjustments to. I’ve lengthened the straps and extended the bodice to go further back, based on the toile you see on Judy Littlechap in the images above and below.

In Figure 1, we see an alteration to an original doll bodice pattern from vintage Barbie Advance 2896 taking place on a cutting mat. In Figure 2, the bodice, made of pale blue felt, is being fitted to the Judy Littlechap doll. — 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 discover that my free Crissy patterns will fit your doll, you may find that there are lots of vintage patterns for Crissy on eBay.

But you may need to make significant alterations. For anyone who doesn’t know how to alter their doll clothes sewing patterns, I do teach a class on that. Here’s a link to that class.

I’d like to thank my follower for reaching out with this interesting question. Hopefully my response to her question will help someone else who’s also struggling to find patterns to fit their plush dolls.

Here we see, side by side, Simplicity 9138 for Ideal Crissy dolls and Simplicity 5276 for Ideal Crissy dolls. On the cover of the pattern envelope for Simplicity 9138, it shows (View 1) a long green dress with ruffles, lace, and rickrack trims; (view 2) a short sleeved T-shirt like dress with a very short skirt in a multi-colored earth tone stripe; (view 3) a long red skirt and matching red bolero style vest -- both trimmed in gold braid -- with a white long-sleeved shirt that has ruffles at the collar and cuffs beneath the bolero vest; (view 4) a turquoise blue babydoll pajama with matching bloomers; (view 5) a long-sleeved black tunic trimmed in gold braid over a pair of matching black pants; (view 6) a pair of blue trousers with a poncho that is made of lace so you can sort of see a short sleeved shirt of some kind under it. Then, on the cover of Simplicity 5276, the following outfits are shown: (view 1) a captain-style black jacket with gold stripes at the cuff area and under this coat are a pair of gold trousers and a white turtleneck shirt; (view 2) a sailor's coat made of blue fabric to match the blue pants under it and at the neck of the blue jacket is a red ascot tied sailor style and a white collar with red trim that also reminds us of sailors; (view 3) green floral wrap pants and a yellow long-sleeved turtleneck; (view 4) a purple square-necked A-line style mini dress that has an empire waist; (view 5) a white tennis top with slits at the side so we can see shorts beneath, and it's sleeveless with red and black rickrack trim at the hem and neckline; (view 6) a floor-length red halter dress with tiny flower pattern, gathered at the waist and having a white lace trim at the bottom. — 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.

Here are 3 ways you can help support my website and YouTube channel:

Visit my eBay store to see if there’s anything you need there, and if so, make a bid
Purchase one of the fabrics I’ve designed — here’s a link to my Spoonflower store
Pray for this website to grow and prosper!

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.

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.