This image is part of a series of blog posts about how to sew doll clothes collars. This image is part of a series of blog posts about how to sew doll clothes collars. A purple and blue frame surrounds a vintage doll clothes pattern, with the words above stating "Doll Clothes Collars Part 5". In this photo, a sweet little Baby doll wears a yellow gingham handkerchief in his/her hair, along with a typical white collared shirt over which he/she seems to be wearing overalls or a vest with a jacket (also made of yellow gingham). The ChellyWood.com logo appears at the bottom of the image.

5 Ways to Make Doll Clothes Collars that WORK (Tip #5) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

Collar Tip #5: Use Bias Tape This is my final segment offering my five tips for creating doll clothes collars that really work, and it’s the one I truly use most. I’ve been using bias tape for collars since I was in high school. It’s such an easy solution to the collar conundrum, and most sewists have a plethora of bias tape in their collection, … Continue reading 5 Ways to Make Doll Clothes Collars that WORK (Tip #5) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

This image is part of a series of blog posts about how to sew doll clothes collars. This image is part of a series of blog posts about how to sew doll clothes collars. A purple and blue frame surrounds a vintage doll clothes pattern, with the words above stating "Doll Clothes Collars Part 4". In the photo we see the cover of a doll clothes pattern for Skipper dolls from the 1980's or 1990's, and her shirt has a ruffled collar. The ChellyWood.com logo appears at the bottom of the image.

5 Ways to Make Doll Clothes Collars that WORK (Tip #4) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

Collar Tip #4: Use Felt Making a doll’s dress, shirt, coat, or jacket out of felt does double duty to make a doll’s collar easier to sew. First, you can avoid hemming everything, including the sleeves and the outer edges of the garment itself. Second, you won’t have as much trouble getting that collar to lay like you want it to. However, you may have … Continue reading 5 Ways to Make Doll Clothes Collars that WORK (Tip #4) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

This image is part of a series of blog posts about how to sew doll clothes collars. This image is part of a series of blog posts about how to sew doll clothes collars. A purple and blue frame surrounds a vintage doll clothes pattern, with the words above stating "Doll Clothes Collars Part 3". In the photo, we see an 18 inch doll like the American Girl doll sporting a pink "sunday best" style jacket with a collar. The ChellyWood.com logo appears at the bottom of the image.

5 Ways to Make Doll Clothes Collars that WORK (Tip #3) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

Look closely at the collar that my Ken doll is wearing in the image above. Do you notice anything strange about the collar? Zoom in. Do you see that little white circle under his collar? That’s actually the head of a straight pin. Uh-huh. His collar wouldn’t stay down for the photo shoot, so what did I do? I pinned it down! What works better … Continue reading 5 Ways to Make Doll Clothes Collars that WORK (Tip #3) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

This image is part of a series of blog posts about how to sew doll clothes collars. A purple and blue frame surrounds a vintage doll clothes pattern, with the words above stating "Doll Clothes Collars Part 2". In the photo beneath these words, we see Ken and Barbie dolls wearing variations on the typical Hawaiian shirt. The ChellyWood.com logo appears at the bottom of the image.

5 Ways to Make Doll Clothes Collars that WORK (Tip #2) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

Today’s blog post is “Part 2” of my series on how to create collars for your doll clothes that actually WORK. So you’re sewing a collar for your doll, and what you want to avoid is that awful won’t-lay-flat thing we’ve all had to deal with: Last week we learned that adding lace is one way to avoid the Halloween-witch collar, and as you can … Continue reading 5 Ways to Make Doll Clothes Collars that WORK (Tip #2) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

This image is part of a series of blog posts about how to sew doll clothes collars. A purple and blue frame surrounds a vintage doll clothes pattern, with the words above stating "Doll Clothes Collars Part 1". In the photo beneath these words, there are two Crissy dolls (one is African American / Black and the other is Caucasian with very long blond hair done up in a pony tail) and they are both wearing a lace collar with their 1970's attire. The ChellyWood.com logo appears at the bottom of the image.

5 Ways to Make Doll Clothes Collars that WORK (Tip #1) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

Today’s blog post is the first in a series of five blog posts that will teach you how to create collars for your doll clothes that actually WORK. In the coming weeks, watch for each of these tips and tricks on sewing doll clothes collars for dolls of every shape and size. Let’s face it, making a teeny tiny shirt’s collar look right is crazy-hard! … Continue reading 5 Ways to Make Doll Clothes Collars that WORK (Tip #1) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

The image shows Butterick doll craft sewing pattern number 4687 inside a quilted square. The pattern includes an old-fashioned pioneer dress, a wedding dress, and a set of joggers or jogging pants with a sweatshirt jacket.

Mix and match doll clothes patterns when a pattern piece is missing #SewingTips #DollClothes @ ChellyWood.com

You may remember seeing the pretty elastic-waist and elastic-neckline Barbie dress that I made, using McCall’s “Teen Doll” Barbie Clothes Sewing Pattern #3429, which was first published in the 1970’s. Here’s the link to that original blog post, if you’re curious, and here’s the doll dress I made, using that pattern: Unfortunately, my McCall’s “Teen Doll” Barbie Clothes Sewing Pattern #3429 was missing its pinafore … Continue reading Mix and match doll clothes patterns when a pattern piece is missing #SewingTips #DollClothes @ ChellyWood.com

Framed by a purple and turquoise blue quilt, here we see a photo of vintage Ken doll clothes pattern number 2899 from Sew-Easy Patterns by Advance. Over the top of the vintage Ken doll clothes pattern, the words "BTS doll" are followed by a question mark. The ChellyWood.com logo appears beside the photo, to the left of the photo.

Do vintage Ken clothes fit modern BTS dolls? #BTSfan #DollClothesPatterns

I’ve had this vintage Ken doll clothes pattern number 2899 from Sew-Easy Patterns by Advance for a couple of years now, and I’ve wanted to try sewing these patterns, just to see if they will fit my BTS doll that I got for Christmas two or three years ago. Why haven’t I gotten them sewn? Time. There’s just not enough of it. But maybe if … Continue reading Do vintage Ken clothes fit modern BTS dolls? #BTSfan #DollClothesPatterns

This is a pattern review for the See and Sew 18 inch doll pattern for a bathrobe, dress, and sweat pants set. The review is written by doll clothing designer, ChellyWood. The image shows the front of the original pattern, published by Butterick in 2009.

Make an 18-inch doll’s winter coat from a bathrobe pattern #WinterSewing #DollClothesPatterns

On this website, I get frequent requests for new patterns to fit 18 inch dolls. One request that pops up from time to time is, “Can you make a coat pattern?” When I get these requests, I remind my followers that such patterns exist, and they’re not that hard to find! Today’s pattern review for the See & Sew B5414 is one such pattern. A … Continue reading Make an 18-inch doll’s winter coat from a bathrobe pattern #WinterSewing #DollClothesPatterns

Framed by a turquoise blue and purple quilt, we see the Chelly Wood dot com logo and a photo of the Chelly Wood doll (a re-painted Spin Master Liv Doll) wearing an apron and holding up Simplicity Barbie doll clothes pattern number 7601 (published in 1991).

Make Barbie a winter coat, hat, and purse with Simplicity doll clothes pattern 7601 #WinterSewing #DollClothes

I already posted this pattern discussion back in January, but I do like to offer winter topics in June or July, every now and then, to honor my followers who live in parts of the world where it’s currently winter (for example New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Bolivia, Argentina, etcetera). In fact, my brother-in-law’s family comes from Argentina, and that part of my family is … Continue reading Make Barbie a winter coat, hat, and purse with Simplicity doll clothes pattern 7601 #WinterSewing #DollClothes

A purple and turquoise blue quilt frames the words "how do you box your doll clothes" which float above a 3-D photo of a box wrapped in craft paper with a turquoise blue ribbon delicately tied around the box. The ChellyWood.com logo appears to one side of the text and photo.

How do you box your doll clothes for mailing (shipping)? #Handmade #DollClothesPatterns

The ensemble shown at the top of this page was part of a doll clothes gift I made for a friend’s little girl, Navy. What a cool name this little girl has, don’t you think? Navy? I love it! That’s even a color of fabric! Okay, so when I gave her this gift, consisting of all these handmade doll clothes, how did I package them? … Continue reading How do you box your doll clothes for mailing (shipping)? #Handmade #DollClothesPatterns

With a purple and turquoise fabric quilt frame, we see see two doll clothes patterns for Mattel Skipper dolls inside the frame with a woman's torso over the top. The woman, who wears a yellow blouse, has her hands up and her shoulders shrugging, with a curious look on her face. There are question marks dancing around her. The ChellyWood.com logo appears to the side of these images.

Not all Skipper patterns are alike! #BuyerBeware #DollClothesPatterns

As the heading for today’s blog post states, “Not all Skipper patterns are alike!” You see, Skipper has undergone quite a few changes over time. The earliest rendition of Skipper was a nine-inch doll with no bust and a fairly inflexible body. Here’s my vintage Skipper, modeling a poodle skirt:   In the 1980’s, she became taller but still didn’t have much of a bust.  During … Continue reading Not all Skipper patterns are alike! #BuyerBeware #DollClothesPatterns

With a quilted purple and blue frame, a photo of a Made to Move Curvy Barbie with bright pink Anime-style hair stands next to and looks down at vintage 8281 Simplicity Barbie doll clothes pattern, which contains the patterns for making the very same raglan-sleeved shirt or blouse that the Made-to-Move Curvy Barbie is wearing. She also wears a miniskirt that is not pictured on the envelope for Simplicity 8281 vintage Barbie doll clothes patterns. The ChellyWood.com logo appears to the side of the photo.

Can a Vintage Simplicity 8281 Barbie doll clothes pattern fit Curvy Barbie? #SewVintage #DollClothesPatterns

Based on the photo you see above, which shows my Curvy Made-to-Move Barbie wearing the raglan-sleeved blouse from View 3 in Simplicity Barbie doll clothes pattern 8281 from the early 1980’s, you would think Curvy Barbies could wear all of the patterns from this set. But it may not be wise to make assumptions about this vintage pattern just yet. The pattern was originally designed … Continue reading Can a Vintage Simplicity 8281 Barbie doll clothes pattern fit Curvy Barbie? #SewVintage #DollClothesPatterns

Quilted blue and purple fabrics frame an image of a Made-to-Move Barbie who stands below the ChellyWood.com logo wearing a handmade jumper and pink cotton blouse. Arrows point from the jumper and blouse to Simplicity doll clothes pattern 5731 (Tressy doll clothes) and Simplicity 8281 (a pattern for Barbie and Cher and Farrah Fawcett doll clothes).

Can you mix-and-match vintage doll clothes patterns? #SewingProject #DollClothesPatterns

In the image above, my Made-to-Move Barbie is modeling a jumper-style dress with a raglan sleeved blouse. These two patterns didn’t come in the same envelope. In fact, they actually came from two different eras in history. My Simplicity 8281 vintage sewing pattern is from 1977 while my Simplicity Tressy doll wardrobe pattern number 5731 was published in 1964, more than ten years before. Can you guess … Continue reading Can you mix-and-match vintage doll clothes patterns? #SewingProject #DollClothesPatterns

Inside a purple and turquoise quilted frame, we see the ChellyWood.com logo and a curvy Barbie with pink hair standing next to the vintage 5731 Simplicity Tressy doll clothes pattern. The Curvy Barbie wears a white top and burgundy short skirt / miniskirt / mini-skirt.

Can a Curvy Barbie wear Tressy doll clothes? #DollClothesPatterns #SewVintage

Yes, this blog post gives you one more fashion option for your Curvy Barbie! The outfit shown above was part of an ensemble I put together for a little girl I know. As you can see in the image below, I re-created the ruffle blouse from View 2 of this Simplicity Tressy doll clothes pattern 5731. To give you a little history, I found this … Continue reading Can a Curvy Barbie wear Tressy doll clothes? #DollClothesPatterns #SewVintage

A quilted fabric frame surrounds a photo of a vintage Barbie with dark brown hair. The doll stands beside the Tressy doll clothes Simplicity pattern 5731. The Mattel vintage Barbie wears an outfit from the cover of the Simplicity Tressy doll clothes pattern. Her handmade doll clothes include a pink jumper-style dress and a white blouse that's worn under the strappy jumper dress.

Can a vintage Barbie wear Tressy doll clothes? #DollClothesPatterns #VintageBarbie

Based on the image above, it certainly does look like a Vintage Barbie CAN wear vintage Tressy doll clothes patterns! I blogged about this outfit a bit last week, and I mentioned that this was part of an ensemble I put together for a little girl from my area whose family knows me. As you can see in the image below, I re-created the dress … Continue reading Can a vintage Barbie wear Tressy doll clothes? #DollClothesPatterns #VintageBarbie