Category: Vintage Skipper

The thumbnail, framed by a turquoise blue and purple quilt, shows the front of the envelope for Simplicity 5861, a vintage doll clothes pattern for Skipper, from 1964. The text in this thumbnail reads, "Vintage Skipper Simplicity 5861" and under this, we see the Chelly Wood dot com logo.
History and Research, Holiday Crafts, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Sewing and Fashion History, Stacie Patterns, Tips for Beginners, Vintage Skipper

Altering a shirt from Simplicity 5861 to make Mary McLeod Bethune’s students’ blouses #BlackHistoryMonth #SewWithMe

This month, as part of my celebration of Black History Month, I’ve been delving into the clothing worn by Mary McLeod Bethune and her students, in the photo at the top of today’s blog post. You can learn more about Mary McLeod Bethune by clicking on the links I’ve provided whenever her name appears in this post. Today’s blog post will discuss how I made … Continue reading Altering a shirt from Simplicity 5861 to make Mary McLeod Bethune’s students’ blouses #BlackHistoryMonth #SewWithMe

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A modern African American Skipper doll models a handmade pair of flannel short-shorts decorated with tiny pink and black hearts under a handmade white sleeveless shirt that has pink lace and a ribbon running down the front of the top. Under the doll, it says, "Free printable PDF sewing patterns at Chelly Wood dot com." This is part of the Valentine's Day and Black History Month celebrations in February at chellywood.com, a website that offers free printable PDF sewing patterns for dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.
10-inch doll clothes patterns, 8-inch doll clothes patterns, 9-inch Dolls, A4 Printer PDF Patterns, Daily Patterns, Holiday Crafts, Petite Barbie Patterns, Sewing and Fashion History, Skipper Patterns, Stacie Patterns, Tutorials: Sewing for Dolls, Vintage Skipper, Whole Costumes for Dolls

Valentine’s Day Pajama Shorts for Skipper and the Story of Charlotta Bass #ValentinesDay #BlackHistory

  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 … Continue reading Valentine’s Day Pajama Shorts for Skipper and the Story of Charlotta Bass #ValentinesDay #BlackHistory

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The DoApick thumbnail (do a pick thumbnail) is purple with a rainbow and cloud graphic behind a cell phone, featuring a photo from a vintage Mattel doll clothes catalog. Today’s photo features a vintage Skipper doll modeling a yellow dress with multicolored rickrack trim. Click on this thumbnail, and the link will take you to the “Do a Pick” game, which you can play by viewing (and listening to) the story scenario dealing with realistic activities children enjoyed with dolls, back in the early 1970’s. Leave a comment to play along.
Do a Pick! Game, Doll Play Videos, Vintage Barbie, Vintage Skipper

Let’s Do a Pick — Take Skipper to Church #DollLovers #DollCommunity

Today’s “Do a Pick” game features the following: Best Buy Skipper Fashion #8610 (yellow dress with rickrack trim) Best Buy Skipper Fashion #3373 (red floral skirt with white cotton top) Best Buy Skipper Fashion #8611 (traditional schoolgirl outfit) What’s the story behind this game? When I was a kid, whenever it was playtime with dolls, we would lay out all our dolls and their clothing … Continue reading Let’s Do a Pick — Take Skipper to Church #DollLovers #DollCommunity

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The thumbnail, framed by a turquoise blue and purple quilt, shows the front of the envelope for Simplicity 5861, a vintage doll clothes pattern for Skipper, from 1964. The text in this thumbnail reads, "Vintage Skipper Simplicity 5861" and under this, we see the Chelly Wood dot com logo.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics, Tutorials: Sewing for Dolls, Uncategorized, Vintage Skipper

What is a hook and eye closure, and how do you sew one? #SewingHacks #SewWithMe

Today I’m going to explain how to sew a hook and eye onto the back of a doll’s garment. Specifically, I’ll be working with the bodice for Dress View 6 in the Simplicity doll clothes wardrobe pattern 5861 for vintage Skipper dolls. Let’s stat with a quick explanation of the notion referred to as a “Hook and eye” or “Hook and loop.” The pink arrow … Continue reading What is a hook and eye closure, and how do you sew one? #SewingHacks #SewWithMe

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A Sausage Curl Skipper from 1972 is seen in close-up on a cell phone, wearing a Peter Pan collared shirt with tie under a vest-like over sweater and a floral mini skirt. Under her mini skirt, she wears white stockings and red flats. Her hair is done in sausage curl pigtails. Her shirt is white, her sweater vest red, and her skirt is black with tiny red, yellow, and white flowers. Her flats are made of red plastic. The text beside the cell phone displaying this vintage Skipper doll reads "do a pick: playground Skipper fun."
Do a Pick! Game, Doll Play Videos, Vintage Barbie, Vintage Skipper

Let’s Do a Pick — Which Skipper doll is the best one to take to school? — And do you remember when skateboards came out? #DoApick #retroBarbie #70s

Today’s “Do a Pick” game features the following: Malibu Skipper, wearing Best Buy Fashion #3373 Skipper’s friend Tiff, wearing Best Buy Fashion #3372 Sausage Curl Pigtail Skipper, wearing Best Buy Fashion #8611 Do you remember Skipper’s friend Tiff? According to various sources I’ve found, she’s Skipper’s “Tom boy friend” whose face looks a lot like the early Midge face (in my humble opinion), although experts … Continue reading Let’s Do a Pick — Which Skipper doll is the best one to take to school? — And do you remember when skateboards came out? #DoApick #retroBarbie #70s

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A Disney Moana doll models a pretty blue strapless dress within a purple frame, over which we read the words "free pattern" and the Chelly Wood dot com logo appears in one corner.
10-inch doll clothes patterns, 9-inch Dolls, Daily Patterns, Moana dolls, Tutorials: Sewing for Dolls, Vintage Skipper, Whole Costumes for Dolls

Sew a pretty sundress for 10 inch dolls with today’s free PDF sewing patterns @ ChellyWood.com #Hawaii #DollClothes

For your free patterns and tutorial videos, please scroll down to the second set of bullets. Today’s tutorial video will show you how to make a pretty sun dress for 10 inch dolls like Disney’s Moana fashion dolls, vintage 1980’s Skipper, and a number of other dolls with similar measurements. Scroll down to the first set of bullets to see all the dolls this pattern … Continue reading Sew a pretty sundress for 10 inch dolls with today’s free PDF sewing patterns @ ChellyWood.com #Hawaii #DollClothes

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The thumbnail, framed by a turquoise blue and purple quilt, shows the front of the envelope for Simplicity 5861, a vintage doll clothes pattern for Skipper, from 1964. The text in this thumbnail reads, "Vintage Skipper Simplicity 5861" and under this, we see the Chelly Wood dot com logo.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics, Tutorials: Sewing for Dolls, Uncategorized, Vintage Skipper

How to sew a hook and eye on doll clothes w/Simplicity 5861 #SewingTips #Crafting

Today I’m going to explain how to sew a hook and eye onto the back of a doll’s garment. Specifically, I’ll be working with the bodice for Dress View 6 in the Simplicity doll clothes wardrobe pattern 5861 for vintage Skipper dolls. Just in case you don’t know the vocabulary, the pink arrow in Figure 1 above points to the “hook” and the green arrow … Continue reading How to sew a hook and eye on doll clothes w/Simplicity 5861 #SewingTips #Crafting

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A vintage skipper from the 1970s is pictured wearing (on the left) a three quarter length sleeve bolero jacket or coat with matching pleated skirt and knee high socks along with plastic shoes; (on the right) a sleeveless cropped top with underpants and knee high socks, all made of yellow stretchy jersey fabric. The text reads "for sale" and sideways, "doll and shoes not included" over the top of the chellywood.com logo.
Crafts and Hobbies, Doll Collecting, For Sale in the Store, Vintage Skipper

Still for sale in my online store: handmade doll clothes for Stacie or vintage Skipper #DollClothes #Handmade

The entire ensemble pictured above has been for sale in my online shop for a while now, but I only recently realized that I’d only advertised it as an outfit that will fit Mattel’s Stacie dolls, when in fact, it was originally designed to fit vintage Skipper. So I thought I’d re-post it with at least a couple of images showing it on my vintage … Continue reading Still for sale in my online store: handmade doll clothes for Stacie or vintage Skipper #DollClothes #Handmade

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On the left a real vintage Skipper from the 1960's models a handmade ball gown floor length dress decorated with red ribbons and bows on the red bodice and white skirt of the dress. On the right, a similar drawn figure of Skipper wears an identical ribbon and bow-embellished ball gown in red and white. The text reads "tricky tricky ribbons and bows! Simplicity 5861" -- between the real photo of a Skipper and the drawn Skipper in a fancy dress, we see a curly ribbon dangling from above and at the bottom, a big red bow.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Uncategorized, Vintage Skipper

How to Make Ribbon Bows Simple with Simplicity 5861 for Skipper #Ribbons #Bows

In this lengthy series of blog posts, I’m sharing what I’ve learned by sewing all of the outfits offered in Simplicity 5861, a very extensive and well-designed pattern for vintage Skipper dolls. Today’s blog post explains how I made the bows that you see on my Skipper doll’s evening dress in the images above and below. I followed the instructions for making this dress — … Continue reading How to Make Ribbon Bows Simple with Simplicity 5861 for Skipper #Ribbons #Bows

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On the far left, we see the drawing from the cover of the envelope for vintage Skipper sewing pattern Simplicity 5861; in the center, a modern Mattel Stacie doll models a handmade version of the swing coat from view 5 of this vintage Skipper pattern, along with a scarf that looks slightly different from the one on the package / envelope drawing. In the far right photo, a vintage Skipper doll wears the exact same scarf and swing coat as we see pictured on the envelope for Simplicity 5861's vintage Skipper patterns. The text reads simply, "Simplicity 5861."
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Stacie Patterns, Tips for Beginners, Uncategorized, Vintage Skipper

Scarf sewing secrets from Simplicity 5861 vintage Skipper doll clothes patterns! #SewingTips #Dolls

As my regular followers know, I’ve recently created all the doll clothes in Simplicity 5861 vintage doll clothes sewing patterns for vintage Skipper dolls. And I like to tell you what I’ve learned, once I’ve finished making a classic pattern like this one. Today I’ll give you a few simple pointers for making the scarf that goes with the View 5 pattern in the Simplicity … Continue reading Scarf sewing secrets from Simplicity 5861 vintage Skipper doll clothes patterns! #SewingTips #Dolls

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We see side-by-side images of vintage Simplicity 5861 sewing patterns. One has the original images of a blond vintage Skipper doll wearing each outfit in the ensemble. The other image shows a modern Stacie doll wearing the exact same outfits -- even the fabrics match! -- on the cover of the Simplicity 5861 original pattern envelope. This Stacie doll is Black with an African American natural hair look. She even wears the exact same socks and shoes and headbands/hair ribbons that Skipper wears on the original cover art for this Simplicity Skipper pattern ensemble! At the top of this pair of patterns, it says, "Who knew?"
Links, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Stacie Patterns, Tips for Beginners, Vintage Skipper

Who knew modern Stacie dolls and vintage Skipper dolls were an exact match? #SewVintage #Barbie

Check this out! Can you believe it? I made the whole ensemble of doll clothes with my Simplicity 5861 pattern for vintage Skipper, and every single item in the ensemble fits not only vintage Skipper, but also modern Stacie dolls! I loved sewing this set. It was pure joy! Of course there were challenges along the way. I started with the View 2 gingham dress … Continue reading Who knew modern Stacie dolls and vintage Skipper dolls were an exact match? #SewVintage #Barbie

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Thumbnail shows a woman's hand preparing a swatch of fabric for making knife pleats. The two dolls shown are the modern Stacie in African American rendition of the doll, plus the drawing on the front of the Simplicity 5861 pattern envelope, showing a vintage Skipper doll modeling the handmade skirt.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Stacie Patterns, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics, Tutorials: Sewing for Dolls, Vintage Skipper

Making Pleats for a Skipper Skirt with Simplicity 5861 #VintageToys #Sewing

Do you see the folds in that little green skirt, in View 3 of my Simplicity 5861 doll clothes sewing pattern for Skipper dolls? Those are called pleats. Sometimes they’re referred to as “knife pleats.” And for a doll that’s tiny, like vintage Skipper and modern Stacie (shown below), it can be especially tricky to get the pleats just right. Yes, as the text says … Continue reading Making Pleats for a Skipper Skirt with Simplicity 5861 #VintageToys #Sewing

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The words "free pattern" point to a pair of yellow knee-high socks worn under a miniature houndstooth pleated skirt. The doll modeling the socks also wears red mary jane shoes.
8-inch doll clothes patterns, 9-inch Dolls, Stacie Patterns, Tutorials: Sewing for Dolls, Vintage Skipper

Sew a pair of knee-high socks for Stacie with today’s free sock pattern @ ChellyWood.com #EasyDIY #QuickCrafts

Please scroll down to the second set of bullets for the free printable PDF sewing patterns and links to any additional relevant tutorial videos. A while back, I did a blog post in which I mentioned that I was working on a pattern for little tiny doll socks. Well, I got the pattern done, tested it, made a video, and… here you go! The tutorial … Continue reading Sew a pair of knee-high socks for Stacie with today’s free sock pattern @ ChellyWood.com #EasyDIY #QuickCrafts

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A vintage Skipper wears a handmade yellow shirt and green pleated skirt with matching green knee-high socks and little black ballet flats. The skipper doll is dressed exactly like the image in view 3 on the envelope for Simplicity 5861, a wardrobe designed and published in the 1960's for a vintage Skipper doll. There's also a close-up of her hand-stitched green knee-high socks. This thumbnail's text reads "vintage Simplicity 5861" and it's framed by turquoise blue and purple quilted fabrics.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Uncategorized, Vintage Skipper

Nancy Drew, the mystery girl, makes a magical appearance with my Simplicity Skipper pattern 5861 #NancyDrew #SewVintage

Last summer I got my hands on an uncut version of this wonderful Skipper doll clothes pattern, vintage Simplicity 5861, an original pattern from 1964. Holy hand-stitching, Batman! I have REALLY enjoyed sewing this whole ensemble! My goal, last summer, was to make each item in the wardrobe to match the image on the envelope cover exactly. And guess what… I’ve gotten the whole thing … Continue reading Nancy Drew, the mystery girl, makes a magical appearance with my Simplicity Skipper pattern 5861 #NancyDrew #SewVintage

Chelly Wood2 Comments
A vintage skipper doll models a red cotton bolero over a black and white gingham sleeveless dress with a circle skirt that's knee-height. Beside this doll, a vintage Skipper models a pink felt bolero with green rickrack trim over a similar dress, but this dress is made of green cotton with tiny white and pink roses, and it's a calf-length circle skirt. The text for this thumbnail says "same pattern -- two looks!"
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Vintage Skipper

Stitching up a retro-style dress for Skipper that’s versatile enough for two amazing looks! #SewingAlterations #SewingInspiration

*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, JoAnn Fabric, 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 … Continue reading Stitching up a retro-style dress for Skipper that’s versatile enough for two amazing looks! #SewingAlterations #SewingInspiration

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