The image shows a doll being fitted for a pair of denim shorts. Beside her lies a pair of sewing scissors, a rotund holder for straight pins, some blue thread, and a pair of jeans with some fabric cut out. The text reads, "Earth Day Challenge!" Click here to learn more about the Earth Day Challenge for sewing doll clothes during the week of April 20th through the 27th in 2024, for Earth Day.

Challenge! Let’s use recycled fabric to make doll clothes this coming week! #EarthDay #Sustainability #TextileWaste

Please read the article below to learn more about FabScrap, and the good things they’re doing to help our planet, as well as Chelly Wood’s sewing challenge for Earth Day 2024! I’m not sure where I first heard about FabScrap. It could have been from my sister, who is super conscientious about being good to our beautiful planet earth. In any case, I wasn’t sure … Continue reading Challenge! Let’s use recycled fabric to make doll clothes this coming week! #EarthDay #Sustainability #TextileWaste

The text reads "sewing room for dolls (DIY)" and the image shows a glue gun poised over the top of an open diorama room box that contains a miniature dress form mannequin, a table, and on the table stands a tiny vintage sewing machine. Visit my website, Chelly Wood dot com to learn how to make your own doll's sewing room diorama like the one I use in my stop motion videos.

Would you like to make a sewing room for your dolls? Here’s how I made mine… #Dolls #Diorama

  Over the years, I’ve had lots of people ask me how I made my doll’s sewing room. There are plenty of options out there, but today’s blog post shows you how I turned a Gloria home office dollhouse set for 1:6 scale dolls (i.e. Barbie-sized) into the little sewing room you see in my videos. Now the earliest version of this sewing room used … Continue reading Would you like to make a sewing room for your dolls? Here’s how I made mine… #Dolls #Diorama

The image shows someone doing needlework in a hoop with three skeins of embroidery floss beside them, in the colors blue (top), green (center), and red (bottom). The words at the top of the purple-background-square frame say, "how to thread an embroidery needle" and these words are, indeed, underlined with an embroidery needle.

How to thread an embroidery needle (a quick animation)… #Animation #Embroidery

Today’s craft tutorial shows how to thread an embroidery needle… For several years, I was the only crafter on YouTube with a tutorial video showing how to thread your embroidery needle. In fact, that was one of my most popular videos long ago. But recently it occurred to me that the old tutorial was a little outdated. The videography was a little too pixelated, the … Continue reading How to thread an embroidery needle (a quick animation)… #Animation #Embroidery

The Chelly Wood doll (a Spin Master Liv doll that has been re-designed to look like the real doll clothing designer, Chelly Wood) is seated at her desk in her office. The wall of the office is a mottled purple color behind her open laptop. The doll's fingers touch the keyboard which is resting on an extended arm of the desk. Her computer screen shows the ChellyWood.com "Share Your Creations" page with three doll clothes displays under the introductory text. The ChellyWood.com logo appears in the lower left corner of the image.

Here are some fashion doll websites you may not have heard about… #FashionDolls #DollCollectors

Of course my own website, ChellyWood.com, is a good one. That’s a given. But I visit other people’s websites too, and these are some of the best I’ve found: #1: My Froggie Stuff — You might have already seen this lady’s fabbity-fab-fab fabulous videos on YouTube. She teaches you how to make everything from doll wigs, to furniture, to entire dioramas. She makes easy-to-follow videos … Continue reading Here are some fashion doll websites you may not have heard about… #FashionDolls #DollCollectors

The image shows the Chelly Wood doll holding an envelope. Beside her is a sewing machine and behind her is a dess form modeling a handmade doll dress. The watermark says, "Chelly Wood dot com : free patterns and tutorials."

Fan mail… “Love your free sewing patterns! Is there anything I can do in return?” #FanMail #FreePatterns

Every now and then I get an email, a public comment on this website, or even a letter in my post office box that says, “Thank you so much for providing all these free doll clothes patterns! Is there anything I can do in return?” Having recently received similar fan mail, I thought I’d do a quick blog post answering that commonly-asked question: “Is there … Continue reading Fan mail… “Love your free sewing patterns! Is there anything I can do in return?” #FanMail #FreePatterns

This is a Canva-made purple framed image of basic sewing tools, including scissors, thread, straight pins, safety pins, buttons, and some swatches of felt. The text reads "sewing basics" under the photo, with the Chelly Wood dot com logo below the photo.

Tips and Tricks for Beginners, Just Learning to Sew @ ChellyWood.com #LearningToSew #SewingTips

Are you new to sewing? Or are you thinking about teaching a child how to sew? If so, you might want to read my blog post about the top 10 sewing supplies you’ll need in a beginner’s sewing basket. I’ve got a playlist of tutorials for the beginning sewists on my YouTube channel as well. It includes video tutorials like: how to do a basic straight stitch when sewing by hand how … Continue reading Tips and Tricks for Beginners, Just Learning to Sew @ ChellyWood.com #LearningToSew #SewingTips

The thumbnail shows four different styles of traditional African clothing. The text above says, "Celebrate Black History Month with traditional African fashions." The text below shows the at symbol followed by Chelly Wood dot com.

The history of the djellaba and the slave trade #BlackHistoryMonth #ModernSlavery

As part of our celebration of Black History Month, here on ChellyWood.com, we’ve studied the Nakatukok of Uganda and Central Africa, we’ve examined the boubou of Senegal and West Africa, and we’ve tried to answer questions about the gele or head-tie, which is popular all over the continent of Africa (as well as abroad). Another unique garment, found in Algeria, Morocco, and North Africa is … Continue reading The history of the djellaba and the slave trade #BlackHistoryMonth #ModernSlavery

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?"

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

The thumbnail shows four different styles of traditional African clothing. The text above says, "Celebrate Black History Month with traditional African fashions." The text below shows the at symbol followed by Chelly Wood dot com.

Let’s celebrate Black History Month by asking “How old is the gele or head-tie?” #BlackHistory #AfricanHistory

In our celebration of Black History Month, we’ve taken a look at the pastoral clothing of the Karamojong tribe of Uganda in Central Africa; we’ve also studied the boubou, a sort of kaftan worn in many countries of West Africa. Now it’s time to learn about the gele, a head scarf or head tie, commonly worn in Nigeria, the most populous country in modern times … Continue reading Let’s celebrate Black History Month by asking “How old is the gele or head-tie?” #BlackHistory #AfricanHistory

The thumbnail shows four different styles of traditional African clothing. The text above says, "Celebrate Black History Month with traditional African fashions." The text below shows the at symbol followed by Chelly Wood dot com.

Let’s celebrate Black History Month by learning about the boubou! #BlackHistory #Senegal

About ten years ago, my youngest daughter and I took a vacation trip to Paris. If you’ve never been there, you might be surprised to learn that a lot of African people and people of mixed African and French backgrounds live in Paris. So after our visit to Paris was over, we waited to board our plane to come back to the US, and in … Continue reading Let’s celebrate Black History Month by learning about the boubou! #BlackHistory #Senegal

The thumbnail shows four different styles of traditional African clothing. The text above says, "Celebrate Black History Month with traditional African fashions." The text below shows the at symbol followed by Chelly Wood dot com.

Let’s celebrate Black History Month by learning about the Nakatukok of the Karamojong tribe in Uganda, Africa! #BlackHistory #AfricanCulture

I first ran across the nakatukok while studying the tribal people of Uganda. However this garment seems to be an adaptation that came to Uganda after European colonization. Now, I’m not a historian; I’m just a school librarian who enjoys studying history and sewing doll clothes. So please correct me in the comments below, if you read anything here that strikes you as incorrect. So … Continue reading Let’s celebrate Black History Month by learning about the Nakatukok of the Karamojong tribe in Uganda, Africa! #BlackHistory #AfricanCulture

The thumbnail shows four different styles of traditional African clothing. The text above says, "Celebrate Black History Month with traditional African fashions." The text below shows the at symbol followed by Chelly Wood dot com.

Let’s celebrate Black History Month with a look at traditional African clothing #BlackHistory #AfricanCulture

In years past, I’ve done different blog posts on various topics related to Black History Month in February,  but this is the first time I’ve begun the celebration by delving into the traditional clothing of various African nations. It was really fun to learn all about the traditional clothing of  African countries, regions, and tribes, but we only have so many blog posts in February… … Continue reading Let’s celebrate Black History Month with a look at traditional African clothing #BlackHistory #AfricanCulture