This image is a quilt-like square with the Chelly Wood logo turned on its side. Beside the logo, we see a photo of Simplicity doll clothes pattern 8466 from the late 1960's or early 1970's. The dolls on the cover of this pattern are dressed in various fashions including one long dress pattern that uses an empire waist.

Learning to sew with Simplicity 8466 vintage Barbie doll clothes pattern #VintageBarbie #DollClothesPatterns

I had so so much fun sewing the red satin dress in this Simplicity 8466 doll clothes pattern! I’ll never forget that feeling of satisfaction, when it turned out perfectly! Just have a look: It looks pretty similar, doesn’t it? Wow. I couldn’t have been more pleased… I’ve created blog posts that describe how I made this satin dress, and over the years, I’ve talked … Continue reading Learning to sew with Simplicity 8466 vintage Barbie doll clothes pattern #VintageBarbie #DollClothesPatterns

Within a quilted frame, we see a stitched-style title that says "Doll Clothes Collars" and three different images of dolls wearing doll clothes with collars. On the far left is a baby doll in a plaid suit with his little white shirt having a pressed collar; in the middle is an 18 inch doll wearing a dress with a jacket that has a pretty pink collar, and on the right is a Ken doll wearing a Hawaiian shirt with a collar. In the lower left is the ChellyWood.com logo.

5 Tips for Making Doll Clothes Collars

For the most faithful Chelly Wood website readers out there, this is a re-posting of a blog post from about a year ago. The topic is still relevant of course, and I welcome everyone’s comments and suggestions in the discussion area at the bottom of the post! Nobody wants their doll’s collar to stick up all willie-nillie, right? Of course not! So here, all in … Continue reading 5 Tips for Making Doll Clothes Collars

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.

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!

A quilted frame surrounds Simplicity Tressy Doll Clothes Pattern 5731 (Copyright 1964) along with the Chelly Wood dot com logo.

Learning to sew with Simplicity 5731 vintage Tressy doll clothes pattern #DollCollector #DollClothesPatterns

Do you see that blue price tag of 50 cents on my Simplicity 5731 Tressy doll clothes pattern? That’s literally how much I paid for these patterns, and this pattern set was cut, but only missing one piece; it was in a nearly-perfect envelope; and the directions were all there, in tact, and in perfect condition. Oooh! What a find! I must have had a … Continue reading Learning to sew with Simplicity 5731 vintage Tressy doll clothes pattern #DollCollector #DollClothesPatterns

In a quilted thumbnail is the cover image of Simplicity 6006, a doll clothes pattern for making a plush Holly Hobbie doll and plenty of pioneer style dresses for her. This image comes from Chelly Wood dot com.

Learning to sew with a vintage Holly Hobbie plush doll pattern #HollyHobbie #DollClothesPatterns

Have you ever made a plush doll? Well I have. In fact, this Holly Hobbie doll and clothing pattern provided me with the patterns for making my first plush doll, and I have happy memories of working with this pattern. To read what I’ve written about this pattern in past blog posts, just click on a title below that sounds interesting to you: Tips for … Continue reading Learning to sew with a vintage Holly Hobbie plush doll pattern #HollyHobbie #DollClothesPatterns

Image of "Sew-Easy Patterns by Advance" vintage Mattel, Inc. Toymakers Barbie doll clothes sewing pattern #2895 with the ChellyWood logo, surrounded by a variety of quilting fabrics in turquoise blue and purple.

Learning to sew with Sew-Easy by Advance 2895 vintage doll clothes patterns for Barbie #VintageBarbie #DollClothesPatterns

The Sew-Easy by Advance doll clothes patterns in my collection are among some of my all-time favorites because they’re just… well… SO vintage! The projects in this Advance 2895 envelope have inspired me to create new patterns, they have taught me techniques I’d never seen before, and I’ve written articles on this website, sharing the tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way. If you’d … Continue reading Learning to sew with Sew-Easy by Advance 2895 vintage doll clothes patterns for Barbie #VintageBarbie #DollClothesPatterns

The text in this thumbnail reads, "How to improve a doll's bangs (fringes)" and it shows before and after photos of an Anna doll from Disney's Frozen. In the before photo, the bangs or fringes are separated into two wild curls, while in the after photo, the bangs or fringes lay more or less straight against her forehead. In the before photo, tiny braids extend above her head, whereas in the after photo, the braids are gone. The Chelly Wood dot com logo appears in the lower left corner.

How to Improve a Doll’s Bangs (Fringes)

Yesterday we looked at “How to Unbraid a Doll’s Braided Hair” (see link), and today we’re going to learn how to get a doll’s bangs (or as they say in the UK, “fringes”) to lay flat. If you’ll notice in the photos above and below, the Anna doll from Frozen II has been played with a lot! And for whatever reason, her bangs/fringes are split … Continue reading How to Improve a Doll’s Bangs (Fringes)

In this thumbnail, a text at the top reads "How to 'unbraid' tiny doll braids" while a photo below shows a Disney princess Anna toddler doll with a tiny braid sticking up above her head on the left and on the right of her head, a similar braid has been successfully unraveled. The Chelly Wood dot com logo appears in the lower left corner of this thumbnail image.

How to Unbraid a Doll’s Braided Hair

I found this little wild child at my local Goodwill store, and bought her for $2.50 American. As you can see in the images above, she had clearly been played with a lot and generally loved by a child. The biggest challenge with cleaning this doll was her hair. Those tiny braids! But I have found a way to unbraid a doll’s braided hair that … Continue reading How to Unbraid a Doll’s Braided Hair

The image shows a close up of the McCall's 9449 small baby and toddler doll pattern published in 1968. This image was part of a vintage pattern discussion on the ChellyWood.com website on Martin Luther King Day, in January of 2023. The patterns were shown to fit modern-day baby alive dolls.

Learning to sew with McCall’s 9449 “toddler doll clothes” pattern #VintageSewing #DollClothesPatterns

The blog posts I’ve written about my McCall’s 9449 “toddler doll clothes” patterns are some of my best blog posts, in my humble opinion. There’s just so much to say about this pattern! And I discovered that it fits not only my 15 inch dolls, but also my 12 inch Baby Alive — well, kind of. Click on the relevant blog posts below to learn … Continue reading Learning to sew with McCall’s 9449 “toddler doll clothes” pattern #VintageSewing #DollClothesPatterns

This thumbnail image shows three handmade doll clothes outfits: on the left is a pair of pants with a shirt that buttons in front and has three-quarter length sleeves; in the center is a circle skirt dress with a bolero; and on the right is a pair of shorts with a short-sleeved shirt. The text reads, "summer projects: what did you get done" and below the doll clothes it says, "Please share!"

Did you get some of your summer sewing goals accomplished?

At the start of July, we shared our summer sewing goals and summer doll projects in this blog post. At that time, I was hoping to make some of the doll clothes from the McCall’s 4716 Sunshine Family pattern set (the purple arrow in the image above points to it), and I was planning to make a few things for Barbie too. However, I got … Continue reading Did you get some of your summer sewing goals accomplished?

The simplicity 4510 Barbie wardrobe includes everything a lady would need for a honeymoon: a bikini, a swimsuit coverup with super short skirt; a dining-out dress with a one-shoulder bodice and pencil skirt topped with a tulle over-skirt; a 3/4 length sleeve jacket with matching A-line skirt underneath; a plaid hostess-style dress with a ribbon for a waistband; a nightgown with lace bodice; and of course the wedding gown, which is very 1960's in its style, with a fitted bodice that has short sleeves and a square neckline, flowing into a full, long skirt that has a very large ribbon tied around the waist (and a veil connected to the head with a tiny ribbon at the top).

Learning to sew with Simplicity’s vintage Barbie bridal honeymoon doll clothes pattern 4510 #vintageBride #DollClothesPatterns

I’m calling today’s vintage Barbie pattern, the “bridal honeymoon set” because Simplicity 4510 has everything a fashionable lady of the 1960’s would need, if she was going to get married and enjoy a vacation honeymoon! There’s a swimsuit, a coverup, a lace-top nightgown, an evening gown for dinner parties, a jacket and skirt for a shopping day, an everyday dress, and of course, a beautiful … Continue reading Learning to sew with Simplicity’s vintage Barbie bridal honeymoon doll clothes pattern 4510 #vintageBride #DollClothesPatterns

In this image, the Chelly Wood doll holds up McCall's "teen doll" pattern #3429 which was published in 1972. In the blog post at ChellyWood.com, where this pattern is discussed, Chelly Wood (a doll clothing pattern designer) asks the question, "Do you prefer to come up with your own fabric concepts, or do you like to choose a fabric that matches the illustration on the front of the doll clothes pattern?" The Chelly Wood doll is actually a Spin Master Liv doll that has been made over to look like the actual doll clothes pattern designer, Chelly Wood.

Learning to sew with McCall’s vintage Barbie doll clothes pattern 3429 #sewvintage #DollClothesPatterns

Today’s retro fashion doll pattern, McCall’s 3429 from the 1970’s has definitely given me some challenges — especially with that swimsuit (aka bodysuit) pattern! But as I worked with the McCall’s 3429 pattern, I learned a lot along the way. Today’s blog post gives you an opportunity to learn from my sewing adventures with McCall’s 3429! Read about the struggles I had with the swimsuit/bodysuit in … Continue reading Learning to sew with McCall’s vintage Barbie doll clothes pattern 3429 #sewvintage #DollClothesPatterns

If you collect Dawn, Pippa, or other 6-inch fashion dolls, your help is requested…

*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 If you collect Dawn, Pippa, or other 6-inch fashion dolls, your help is requested…

Here we see the full front display of Vogue Craft Pattern #9964, which offers patterns for making doll clothes that will fit a vintage Tutti, vintage Skipper, Vintage Barbie, Bubble Hair Barbie, and vintage Midge dolls.

Learning to sew with reproduction Barbie doll pattern Vogue 9964 #VintageSewing #DollClothesPatterns

If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you’ve probably noticed that I enjoy sewing commercially-made vintage Barbie patterns. But what about the reproduction patterns that are so popular? One of the first reproduction vintage Barbie patterns I remember buying is Vogue Crafts 9964. But what did I learn from this pattern? In the following blog posts, I share the lessons I’ve learned form Vogue … Continue reading Learning to sew with reproduction Barbie doll pattern Vogue 9964 #VintageSewing #DollClothesPatterns

Framed by a purple and blue quilt, we see three cabbage patch dolls dressed in handmade doll clothes. This looks like it is a photo from the front of a commercial pattern. There's a "Goodwill" sticker on the front as well, indicating that the pattern was purchased from a second-hand store. The ChellyWood.com logo also appears on the image to the side of the pattern photo.

Learning to sew with Cabbage Patch doll clothes patterns #CabbagePatch #DollClothesPatterns

At the time of this blog post, I only own two Cabbage Patch doll clothes patterns. There’s Butterick 6934, which appears above, and it offers three styles of dresses for Cabbage Patch dolls. And then there’s Butterick 6508, which offers pants, shirts and overalls for Cabbage Patch dolls. These patterns have inspired my own pattern designs, as you’ll see when you read the articles I’ve … Continue reading Learning to sew with Cabbage Patch doll clothes patterns #CabbagePatch #DollClothesPatterns