Category: Old Patterns from Chelly’s Collection

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.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Vintage Barbie

Do you follow fabric suggestions on patterns? Join the discussion @ ChellyWood.com #SewingChat #Fabric

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 a doll clothes pattern? When I was younger, I used to scour my small town’s tiny fabric store for fabric that sort of matched what was in the illustration on the front of a pattern. I’d make my … Continue reading Do you follow fabric suggestions on patterns? Join the discussion @ ChellyWood.com #SewingChat #Fabric

Chelly Wood14 Comments
Here we see each of the doll clothing items found in Simplicity doll clothes sewing pattern #4510 from the early 1960's. This vintage pattern includes a wedding dress with a train and veil, a half-sleeve jacket, a business skirt, and off-the-shoulder evening gown with short pencil skirt, an overskirt pattern which ties in the back, a day dress, a pair of underpants and bra (or 1950's style bikini), a super short swimsuit coverup with ruffle, and an evening gown with straps and lace bodice.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection

What to do with a pattern that’s missing pieces… #VintageSewing #VintagePatterns

Some time ago, I found this vintage Simplicity 4510 Barbie sewing pattern at a second hand store. It cost me only 50 cents (American), but it was missing all of the pattern pieces except three skirts. So why did I buy it? There’s a lot more to a commercial pattern than just the pattern pieces! For example, take a look at the drawn images of … Continue reading What to do with a pattern that’s missing pieces… #VintageSewing #VintagePatterns

Chelly Wood4 Comments
This image shows a single music note with the words "inspirational crafting music" and it accompanies crafting or sewing inspirational music videos made by Chelly Wood, using the musicians featured on the Animoto movie making platform.
Crafts and Hobbies, Music Videos for Crafters, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection

Crafting music for vintage Simplicity 4883 (Ideal Tammy and Pedigree Sindy) sewing projects! #Sewing #Crafting

Okay, folks, I’ve created yet another music video to inspire your crafts! If you look back at this blog post, you’ll understand that by adding this music to your playlists on YouTube, it not only gives you music to inspire your crafting and sewing projects, but it also help the YouTube algorithm to understand that my channel is worth watching! So if you like the … Continue reading Crafting music for vintage Simplicity 4883 (Ideal Tammy and Pedigree Sindy) sewing projects! #Sewing #Crafting

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The image shows a quilted frame around a photo of the cover of the Simplicity 4883 doll clothes pattern envelope. Above the photo, it reads, "Simplicity 4883." Beside the photo is a graphic of a giant yellow and turquoise blue question mark. Below this is the Chelly Wood dot com logo.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Sindy, Tammy Doll Patterns, Tips for Beginners, Uncategorized, Yarn and Embroidery

Have you ever read a pattern incorrectly? And how did it turn out? #SewingChat #SewingPatterns

Once again, I’ve been working with vintage Simplicity pattern 4883 for Ideal Tammy dolls. This time I was making the little red coat in View 1. As you can see in Figure 2 above, the image on the envelope shows little black stitches at the neckline and waistline of the finished coat. I saw this and thought, “Oh goodie-goodie gumdrops! I can do some embroidery!” … Continue reading Have you ever read a pattern incorrectly? And how did it turn out? #SewingChat #SewingPatterns

Chelly Wood2 Comments
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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The image shows a quilted frame around a photo of the cover of the Simplicity 4883 doll clothes pattern envelope. Above the photo, it reads, "Simplicity 4883." Beside the photo is a graphic of a giant yellow and turquoise blue question mark. Below this is the Chelly Wood dot com logo.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Sindy, Tammy Doll Patterns, Tips for Beginners

Can vintage Pedigree Sindy dolls fit in doll clothes made for vintage Tammy? (Part 2 — View 3 Wrap Skirt) #DollCollector #PedigreeSindy

Last week’s blog post was called, “Can vintage Sindy dolls fit in clothes made for vintage Tammy? (Part 1).” We saw, last week, that Pedigree Sindy dolls are able to fit in Dress View 1 from my Simplicity 4883 sewing pattern, but the bust seemed a little roomy for her. To read that whole blog post, please click here. Today’s blog post revisits the question, … Continue reading Can vintage Pedigree Sindy dolls fit in doll clothes made for vintage Tammy? (Part 2 — View 3 Wrap Skirt) #DollCollector #PedigreeSindy

Chelly Wood2 Comments
The image shows a quilted frame around a photo of the cover of the Simplicity 4883 doll clothes pattern envelope. Above the photo, it reads, "Simplicity 4883." Beside the photo is a graphic of a giant yellow and turquoise blue question mark. Below this is the Chelly Wood dot com logo.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Sindy, Tammy Doll Patterns, Tips for Beginners

Can vintage Sindy dolls fit in clothes made for vintage Tammy? (Part 1 — View 1 Shift Dress) #Sewing #Patterns

If you’re a Tammy doll collector, you’ll very likely be equally familiar with Sindy, the Pedigree version of Ideal’s Tammy. Sindy, of course, became tremendously popular in the United Kingdom in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Today’s blog post asks the question, “Can vintage Sindy dolls fit in clothes made for vintage Tammy?” And before I go any further, I want to make my affiliate marketing … Continue reading Can vintage Sindy dolls fit in clothes made for vintage Tammy? (Part 1 — View 1 Shift Dress) #Sewing #Patterns

Chelly Wood2 Comments
The thumbnail's heading reads, "simplicity 4883" and shows an image from the envelope of the pattern, with a blond Ideal Tammy doll chatting on the phone; she wears a white dress that's dotted with tiny orange and yellow roses and itty bitty green leaves. The sheath dress she wears is sleeveless, belted, and has a ruffle at the bottom of the dress. Beside this close-up from the Simplicity 4883 envelope's front, a Tammy doll models a dress that's belted, sleeveless, and has a long, double-layered ruffle. There are two photos of the doll modeling the handmade dress, which has been made with pale blue denim floral fabric.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Uncategorized

Sewing hack: what to do when you don’t have enough fabric! #SewingHack #Fabric

Recently I made a denim version of the View 1 dress from my Simplicity 4883 sewing pattern for vintage Ideal Tammy dolls. I used a lightweight denim fabric that had a soft pastel floral print pattern on it, but there was a very SMALL amount of this fabric available. It was really just three long thin strips of fabric, and that’s all. So I had … Continue reading Sewing hack: what to do when you don’t have enough fabric! #SewingHack #Fabric

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Framed by a blue and purple quilt, the ChellyWood.com logo accompanies a close-up image of Simplicity 4883 Ideal Tammy doll clothes patterns and a pattern for making a shoe box closet that would work for most 11 inch or 12 inch fashion dolls like Ideal Tammy, Mattel's Barbie dolls, Rainbow High dolls, and dozens of other fashion dolls in this size range.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Pepper Dolls (Vintage), Tammy Doll Patterns

Are there vintage patterns for Tammy’s little sister, Pepper? (AKA Sindy’s sister Patch?) #VintageToys #VintageSewing

If you’re a regular follower of this website, then you are probably already familiar with my special relationship to the Simplicity 4883 sewing pattern I’m holding up, in the image above. This was the first sewing pattern I remember ever using, and I even did a blog post on how precious this pattern is to me, back in April. You can read that blog post … Continue reading Are there vintage patterns for Tammy’s little sister, Pepper? (AKA Sindy’s sister Patch?) #VintageToys #VintageSewing

Chelly Wood4 Comments
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.
Barbie Patterns, Doll Measurements, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Paper Crafts, Tammy Doll Patterns

How to make gloves or mittens for dolls #VintageToys #Sewing

In June of 2021 and again more recently, I published a blog post about this Mattel Advance Sew Easy pattern number 2895, with a focus on the wedding dress and veil. Today I’m going to look at the Barbie gloves that appear on two of the Barbies in this pattern. After all, for my followers who live below the equator, winter is approaching quickly, so … Continue reading How to make gloves or mittens for dolls #VintageToys #Sewing

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In this image, a quilted frame surrounds a close-up of the swimsuit image from McCalls Teen doll fashion 3429 doll clothes pattern, but the swimsuit (which normally appears in blue) has been redesigned in a salmon or coral colored-shade of pink. It's very becoming on the strawberry blond haired doll drawn there as the model.
Barbie Patterns, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Vintage Barbie

Vintage McCall’s “Teen Fashion Doll” swimsuit pattern Part Deux #Vintage #DollClothesPatterns

As you may recall from yesterday’s swimsuit pattern article, I’m doing some blog posts about the swimsuit/bodysuit pattern shown as View B, on the vintage McCall’s Teen Doll Fashion pattern number 3429, which appears above. On Monday, I showed you my sewing fail, with regard to this swimsuit / bodysuit pattern. Once I’d tossed my salmon-colored first attempt aside, I decided to give it another … Continue reading Vintage McCall’s “Teen Fashion Doll” swimsuit pattern Part Deux #Vintage #DollClothesPatterns

Chelly Wood3 Comments
The image shows the bottom half of a modern Barbie wearing a purple swimsuit. She stands beside McCall's Teen Fashion Doll Pattern number 3429. This photo is surrounded by a purple cotton square frame dotted with tiny white polka dots. Over the photo and slightly to the left of the photo are the words "free pattern" under which is the Chelly Wood dot com logo.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tall Barbie, Vintage Barbie, Vintage Francie

Which “mystery Barbie” fits best in my vintage McCall’s “Teen Fashion Doll” swimsuit pattern? Surprise! #Vintage #DollClothesPatterns

  Yesterday I showed you my sewing fail, with regard to the swimsuit / bodysuit pattern in McCall’s vintage “Teen Doll Fashion” patterns. Once I’d tossed my coral-colored first attempt aside, I decided to give it another shot with the purple fabric, which turned out much better. But the big surprise came when I tried this finished swimsuit on my dolls. I first tried it … Continue reading Which “mystery Barbie” fits best in my vintage McCall’s “Teen Fashion Doll” swimsuit pattern? Surprise! #Vintage #DollClothesPatterns

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Framed by a turquoise blue and purple quilted frame, we see the shabby envelope for McCall's teen fashion doll pattern number 3429, with a close-up of its view A (a body suit with wrap-around pants) and view B (a swimsuit) doll clothes sketches. The ChellyWood.com logo appears alongside the pattern.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Vintage Barbie

Read the directions! McCall’s “Teen Fashion Doll” pattern 3429 #SewingFail #DollClothesPatterns

  In the northern hemisphere, summer is just around the corner, so it’s time to do a blog post on swimsuits! Sorry for the terrible condition of my pattern in today’s blog post. Not only is the envelope in bad physical condition, but when I purchased it, this pattern was also missing quite a few pieces. But it had the swimsuit/bodysuit pattern (which was what … Continue reading Read the directions! McCall’s “Teen Fashion Doll” pattern 3429 #SewingFail #DollClothesPatterns

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Framed by a purple and turquoise blue quilted fabric frame, we see the Chelly Wood doll standing next to a book entitled, Little Quilts, with the subtitle "all through the house" by authors Alice Berg, Mary Ellen Von Holt, and Sylvia Johnson. In one corner of the book, it also says, "designer series." This book was published by "The Patchwork Place" in 1993.
Doll Furniture, Fan Mail, Favorite Books, Holiday Crafts, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Props and Dioramas

Advice for Making a Doll Quilt #Books #Quilting

I received an email from one of my followers, asking me for advice on doll-sized quilts. The question she asked was, “[If] you were to make a doll blanket or quilt for [a 14 inch] doll, what dimensions would you suggest?” So today’s blog post is a variation on the advice I gave her over email… There’s a fantastic book called Little Quilts : All … Continue reading Advice for Making a Doll Quilt #Books #Quilting

Chelly Wood4 Comments
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.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Vintage Barbie

The biggest problem with Barbie doll wedding dresses is… #JuneWedding #DollClothes

The biggest problem with Barbie doll wedding dresses is making a veil that actually stays on the doll’s head! Let’s have a good look at my “Sew-Easy Patterns by Advance” vintage Mattel, Inc. Toymakers Barbie doll clothes sewing pattern #2895. This is a prime example of how the patterns for Barbie wedding dresses (if they include a veil pattern at all) never seem to make … Continue reading The biggest problem with Barbie doll wedding dresses is… #JuneWedding #DollClothes

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