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!
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.
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 These are fabrics that are too heavy to use as doll clothes, like old jeans or home decorating fabrics, or outdated prints that just aren’t in fashion anymore.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.
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 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.