Category: Crafts and Hobbies

Chelly’s favorite hobby is sewing for dolls, but sometimes she makes other stuff too. Keep watching for more tutorials and patterns for her other crafty projects.

On a turquoise blue square background, a photo of a Chelsea doll (from Mattel, Barbie's little sister) wearing a ghost Halloween costume and carrying a candy bucket shaped like a pumpkin with jack-o-lantern features appears under the text that reads "free pattern" and to the right of the Chelly Wood dot com logo.
5-inch doll clothes patterns, 6-inch doll clothes patterns, Chelsea, Holiday Crafts

Sew a ghost costume for Chelsea (Barbie’s little sister) with today’s free patterns!

Please scroll to the very bottom of this page for today’s free ghost costume pattern. Happy Halloween everyone! I’m afraid this is a repeat post, but this little ghost pattern gets a lot of downloads at Halloween time each year. So here you go! Last week on Friday, I gave you my free, printable PDF sewing pattern for making the little pumpkin Halloween candy basket, … Continue reading Sew a ghost costume for Chelsea (Barbie’s little sister) with today’s free patterns!

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Set in a purple cotton background with tiny white polka dots, the text "free pattern" overlaps a photo of a very tiny doll's hand holding the green ribbon strap for an orange jack-o-lantern shaped pumpkin candy bucket for carrying Halloween candy when a child goes trick or treating.
5-inch doll clothes patterns, 6-inch doll clothes patterns, Chelsea, Holiday Crafts

Sew a miniature pumpkin (jack-o’-lantern) trick-or-treat Halloween candy bucket with today’s free patterns!

Please scroll to the very bottom of this page for today’s free pumpkin candy bucket pattern. Imagine my surprise when I went to print this pattern recently and discovered that (at least in the 5 inch doll area of the website), the pumpkin jack o’lantern part of the pattern was still in JPG form! I had not yet converted it to a PDF! So today’s … Continue reading Sew a miniature pumpkin (jack-o’-lantern) trick-or-treat Halloween candy bucket with today’s free patterns!

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On a turquoise blue cotton background, we read the words "how to use a needle threader" and beneath these are images of a needle and a traditional tin threader. In the lower left corner is the ChellyWood.com logo.
Crafts and Hobbies, For Sale in the Store, Tips for Beginners

Unlock the Magic: a Guide to Mastering the Needle Threader!

  Last Wednesday, I talked about hand-stitching with sewing needles. These unbelievably important items for your sewing kit came in at #1 on my list of “must-have” tools for beginners who are just learning to sew. While reading last Wednesday’s blog post, you may have been thinking, “But I hate threading needles! It’s hard!” Don’t worry; I’ve gotcha covered with my second necessity for those … Continue reading Unlock the Magic: a Guide to Mastering the Needle Threader!

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A woman with curly red hair sits cross-legged and holding a doll in her right hand, a sewing needle in her right hand, and there's a green thread dangling mid-air between the doll and the sewing needle. The woman appears to be happily sewing the doll's dress with a basket of fabric sitting beside her. This image is superimposed upon a purple gingham background with the Chelly Wood dot com logo in one corner.
Crafts and Hobbies, Tips for Beginners

What type of hand-stitching sewing needles do you use? Please leave a comment!

I often get this question: “I’m new to sewing. What do I need?” So in the coming weeks, I’m going to offer up some simple items that I think are essential in a first-timer’s sewing kit. Today we’re going to start with sewing needles. When I buy hand-stitching sewing needles, I typically purchase a set that includes multiple sizes. But the bigger ones in these … Continue reading What type of hand-stitching sewing needles do you use? Please leave a comment!

Chelly Wood2 Comments
A photo of colorful fabrics in prints and solids, all folded in a pile, appears at the bottom of a blue frame. At the top, we read the words "Big Fabric Haul!" followed by, "and how to deal with other people's scrap fabric."
Crafts and Hobbies, Plushies/Stuffed Animals, Tips for Beginners

BIG FABRIC HAUL! — and How to Deal With Other People’s Scrap Fabrics #Fabric #FabricHaul

Recently I discovered an enormous plastic bag filled with scrap fabrics at my local Goodwill second hand store. What a find! It was almost all cotton fabrics, with just a few flannels, felt, and lightweight denims thrown in. All but one of the printed fabrics were small-prints in a variety of colors. There were Christmas fabrics, itty bitty polka dots, and ginghams. Woo-hoo! I was … Continue reading BIG FABRIC HAUL! — and How to Deal With Other People’s Scrap Fabrics #Fabric #FabricHaul

Chelly Wood3 Comments
The image shows examples of doll clothes using bias tape, rickrack trim, and a braided trim, but the text above these images says, "Trims: ribbons, rick rack, and more." This store item includes affiliate marketing links to ribbon, braided trim, fringe, embroidered trim, lace trim, eyelet ruffle trim, rickrack trim, and others will be added over time.
Crafts and Hobbies, For Sale in the Store

New product in the Chelly Wood store: Trims… including ribbon, rickrack, and more!

This  past week, I’ve had a lot of fun writing blog posts on “10 Ways to Use Ribbons” and “5 Commonly Used Trims” for your doll clothes sewing projects. Now I’m going to make a quick announcement that such items as rickrack trim, ribbons, bias tape, and braided fringe — those items can now be found in the “Trims” section of my online store. This … Continue reading New product in the Chelly Wood store: Trims… including ribbon, rickrack, and more!

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An LOL Surprise! OMG Royal Bee Fashion Doll (9 inches tall) models a pair of handmade Halloween print cotton cargo pants with bright orange big pockets on the sides of the pants, and with these elastic-waist pants, she wears a simple tee shirt. The text over the image says "free pattern" and the Chelly Wood dot com logo appears in the lower left corner of the image which is superimposed on a turquoise blue linen background.
10-inch doll clothes patterns, 9-inch Dolls, Bratz Dolls, Daily Patterns, Disney Princess Dolls, Holiday Crafts, Moana dolls, Pepper Dolls (Vintage), Stacie Patterns, Sunshine Family Dolls, Tutorials: Sewing for Dolls, Vintage Skipper, World of Love Doll Patterns

Sew a pair of Halloween cargo pants for 9 inch dolls with today’s free patterns!

It’s almost Halloween, so I decided to revisit an old pattern of mine, and turn it into a pair of Halloween pants (or Halloween cargo pants) for 9 inch dolls. This was originally designed to be a pair of capris for Skipper and other 10 inch dolls, but when I discovered that they fit Moana and Ideal Pepper as regular-length pants, it got me thinking… … Continue reading Sew a pair of Halloween cargo pants for 9 inch dolls with today’s free patterns!

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On a purple cotton background with a turquoise blue ribbon title that states in white words, "five types of trim to use when sewing doll clothes" we see a photo of a woman's well-manicured hands poised a top pink fabric, as she applies a wavy lace trim with the sewing machine's presser foot's needle in the center of the photograph.
Crafts and Hobbies, Interviews With Crafters, Tips for Beginners, Yarn and Embroidery

5 commonly used trims for sewing doll clothes #Sewing #DollClothes

Yesterday I posted a whole article on the ten ways you can use ribbon trims. (Click that link to go back and read it.) So today I’m going to skip over ribbon as one of the five commonly used trims for embellishing doll clothes. Ribbon is probably the most common form of trim that doll clothing sewing enthusiasts tend to use. It’s inexpensive, it comes … Continue reading 5 commonly used trims for sewing doll clothes #Sewing #DollClothes

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The text at the top of this image says "10 ways to use ribbons with doll clothes" and under the text, is an image of a variety of ribbon spools in a number of different sizes and colors.
Crafts and Hobbies, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

Here are 10 ways to use ribbons when sewing doll clothes…

When I did a recent search for photos of doll clothes with ribbons, here on my website, I discovered that I have uploaded 240 images in the website’s archives, showing the many ways you can apply ribbons to doll clothes. Holy smokes! I’ve sifted through those archived photos and done a quick study of them. And here, in some semblance of order, are the top … Continue reading Here are 10 ways to use ribbons when sewing doll clothes…

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The image shows a turquoise blue cotton fabric with the words "inspirational jazz for sewing doll clothes" across the top, followed by three circular photos showing a vintage Skipper doll modeling handmade doll clothes. Below these three circular photos is a larger rectangle, highlighting each outfit Skipper wears in the music video: pants with a 3/4 length sleeve shirt; a 50's style dress with bolero, and a pair of plaid shorts with a matching top. Musical notes dance across the lower right corner of the thumbnail.
Crafts and Hobbies, Doll Collecting, Doll Play Videos, Links, Music Videos for Crafters, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Vintage Skipper

New music video to inspire your crafts… With Skipper Simplicity patterns 5861!

  Sometimes I make doll clothes using other people’s patterns. I take lots of pictures, but what can I do with those pictures, since it’s not my pattern to offer up for free on this website? Today I decided to make another “Sewing Inspiration” video, using Simplicity’s 5861 doll clothes patterns for vintage Skipper, which I’m really enjoying making! As a fan of jazz, I … Continue reading New music video to inspire your crafts… With Skipper Simplicity patterns 5861!

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On a purple background, we see the word "Closures" poised above three photos: one of a woman's hand holding a strip of blue Velcro, another showing a lineup of four different colors of 3 inch zippers, and a third image of tiny buttons in bright colors, resting in the palm of a woman's hand.
Crafts and Hobbies, For Sale in the Store, Interviews With Crafters, Links, Tips for Beginners

New in the Chelly Wood Store: Clasps, Buttons, Velcro, and More!

In my store (found under the “Shop” button in the main menu on my website), you can now purchase clasps, buttons, Velcro, and more. Today’s blog post details each of these items. Let’s start with clasps. I bought the overalls clasps shown in the palm of my hand above, from a store called I Sew for Doll on Etsy. They have quite a few tiny … Continue reading New in the Chelly Wood Store: Clasps, Buttons, Velcro, and More!

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The image shows the size of these teeny-tiny miniature overalls clasps, as compared to a woman's hand. Each piece is so tiny, it's like the head of a straight pin!
Crafts and Hobbies, For Sale in the Store, Interviews With Crafters, Tips for Beginners

Where do tiny clasps for dolls’ overalls come from? We should all be aware…

Recently I added a new item to my “Shop” page: closures. One of the items I’m linking to are clasps for Barbie-sized (or smaller) dolls’ overalls, and I’m doing this blog post because I like to be open and honest about where these notions are coming from. I buy my overall clasps (shown at the top of this page) from an Etsy store called simply … Continue reading Where do tiny clasps for dolls’ overalls come from? We should all be aware…

Chelly Wood5 Comments
Please excuse the mess while my website, ChellyWood.com, is under construction. The image shows a jumble of electrical cords attached to a computer screen that offers some sort of paper pattern like the paper doll clothes patterns that followers of ChellyWood.com can print and download for sewing projects.
Crafts and Hobbies, Interviews With Crafters, Links

Please Recommend a Website for Doll Crafters

Today I’d like to look at some of the creators and websites that inspire my doll clothes and doll craft designs. I’d also like to hear from you… Which doll collectors and doll crafters’ websites do you frequent online? Let us know in the comments! If you’re looking for inspiration, Pinterest has a plethora of doll craft ideas (and some free patterns) that can fill your … Continue reading Please Recommend a Website for Doll Crafters

Chelly Wood2 Comments
A woman stares off into space with a dreamy look on her face. The "thought bubble" above her head shows three doll face silhouettes and just above this, we read the words, "dream dolls."
Crafts and Hobbies, Doll Collecting, Fan Mail, Interviews With Crafters

Which “Dream Dolls” you would like to add to your collection? — Please add your comments!

Since I don’t actually own any of my “dream dolls,” there won’t be any official pictures of them. Instead, I’ll use these little silhouetted images to represent them and give you a link to them on a website, just in case you want to see what they look like or buy one for yourselves. But today’s blog post isn’t just about me. I want to … Continue reading Which “Dream Dolls” you would like to add to your collection? — Please add your comments!

Chelly Wood18 Comments
Within a turquoise blue frame, we see the hand of a Momoko doll (dressed as Juliet) resting on a tiny dollhouse table. The text reads, "Doll table DIY" and the Chelly Wood dot com logo appears in one corner.
Crafts and Hobbies, Doll Furniture, Props and Dioramas, Romeo & Juliet

Make a super simple DIY dollhouse table for Barbie and similar-sized dolls

  Today it’s time to create a lovely, circular table for your 1:6 scale doll dioramas. Just follow along, and this easy-peasy tutorial will show you exactly how it’s done. This tutorial video goes back to 2016, though, so I didn’t have the software to make a voiceover for my videos back then. You’ll have to just read the text and follow along as photos … Continue reading Make a super simple DIY dollhouse table for Barbie and similar-sized dolls

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