Category: Tips for Beginners

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.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

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

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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…

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The image shows a laundry line of doll clothes that fit 14 inch, 15 inch, 16 inch, or 17 inch dolls like Wellie Wishers, Hearts for Hearts girls, vintage Velvet dolls, or Best Friends Club BFC Ink dolls. There are free printable sewing patterns for making all of these doll clothes at ChellyWood.com
Fan Mail, Interviews With Crafters, Remco I Dream of Jeannie Dolls, Tips for Beginners

How to Care for Your Handmade Doll Clothes

*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 How to Care for Your Handmade Doll Clothes

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The image shows Simplicity 18" doll clothes pattern #4654 which includes patterns for making a lined hooded raincoat or coverup, a tank top and skort, a short-sleeved everyday dress, a sunny sleeveless top with capri pants, a T-shirt with cargo pants, and a crop top with skort or shorts. There's also an 18-inch doll pictured on the pattern wearing a denim jumper with overall straps. The doll wears a striped tee shirt under the overall-style jumper. (This is "jumper" in the US sense of the word -- not a "sweater" as we'd say in the US, but more of a dress with the style of overalls). The watermark on this photo reminds us to visit ChellyWood.com for free, printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes. This image also has a header that says, "Today's topic of discussion: what makes a pattern difficult for beginners?" And in fact, if you navigate to the link to the article that accompanies this image, doll clothing designer, YouTuber, and writer Chelly Wood discusses all the features that make this particular pattern difficult for a beginner who is just learning to sew. This article is designed to help anyone who teaches sewing classes, is teaching another person how to sew, or people who are, themselves, just learning to sew, what to avoid when purchasing store-bought patterns.
18-inch doll clothes patterns, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners

Learning to sew with 18 inch doll clothes pattern Simplicity 4654 #Sewing #DollClothesPatterns

When I first uploaded this photo, it was part of a series that answered the question, “How can you tell when a pattern is not for beginners?” People often think that sewing for a bigger doll will be easier than sewing for a smaller doll, but that’s not always true. With Simplicity 4654, you would be sewing for an 18 inch doll — usually a … Continue reading Learning to sew with 18 inch doll clothes pattern Simplicity 4654 #Sewing #DollClothesPatterns

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Here we see a close-up of a Mattel Barbie's face. She's wearing a pillbox hat, made of felt, which was sewn using the Simplicity 7601 doll clothes pattern. This lovely Barbie has pale pink lipstick, what might be considered an olive complexion or perhaps a Mediterranean complexion, light brown eyes, and blond, curly hair. The pillbox hat rests gently over her curls, and the felt the hat is made from is a pale purple, almost lilac color. The hat is tipped slightly over her right eye. The coat she wears is barely seen in the image, but it too, is made of the lilac felt. The Chelly Wood dot com logo appears in the lower left corner.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics, Uncategorized

The benefits of sewing with felt when making doll clothes #SewEasy #DollClothesPatterns

As far as fabrics go, felt is relatively cheap, it’s available in most people’s stashes, and it’s easy to sew by hand or on a sewing machine. But is it okay to use for doll clothes? That’s what today’s blog post is going to address. I really love felt for making doll coats and hats, as you can see in previous blog posts I’ve written … Continue reading The benefits of sewing with felt when making doll clothes #SewEasy #DollClothesPatterns

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Framed by a quilt in shades of purple and red, we see a pretty Black Barbie modeling a shirt with a gathered neck line alongside a photo of McCalls pattern 5462 for Barbie and Ken dolls. A black arrow points from the View B doll modeling sportswear on the McCall's pattern to the image of the Black or African Barbie modeling a handmade shirt with a gathered front.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners

What can you do if you cut a neckline too large for your doll? #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

I’ve been doing a series of blog posts about  McCall’s Barbie pattern 5462, and specifically, I’ve been focused on the shirt pattern found in view B. I made all of these garments from the View B pattern, and as you can see, they are each just a little bit different: Today I’m going to focus on the one in the upper right corner of the … Continue reading What can you do if you cut a neckline too large for your doll? #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

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With a tiny quilt framing it, we see an image of the McCall's 5462 doll clothes pattern on the right and an image of a Barbie doll modeling the shirt from view B in the McCall's Barbie clothes pattern on the left. An arrow points from the pattern to the doll's shirt.
Interviews With Crafters, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Uncategorized

How to sew a boatneck top, using McCall’s Barbie pattern 5462 #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

If you’ve only recently started to sew doll clothes, you may feel a little challenged by projects that use a boatneck. According to Webster’s online dictionary, a boatneck top has “a wide neckline that extends toward the tips of the shoulders.” Don’t be discouraged when you see this type of neckline because I’m going to give you some tips by sharing one such project, from … Continue reading How to sew a boatneck top, using McCall’s Barbie pattern 5462 #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

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In this image, the Chelly Wood doll (a Spin Master Liv doll with a Chelly Wood makeover) holds up the McCalls Crafts pattern number 5462. The image is framed by a blue and purple quilt.
Creative Spark Online Learning, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners

Alterations on the fold line with McCall’s Crafts pattern number 5462 #Sewing #DollClothesPatterns

See that T-shirt in View B with the three-quarter-length sleeves? I’m going to focus today on how to make alterations to that shirt, which is found in the McCall’s Crafts pattern number 5462. In fact, I’ve spent much of the month of April fiddling around with that View B 3/4 sleeve length shirt pattern as well as the regular-sleeve T-shirt in View G, so I … Continue reading Alterations on the fold line with McCall’s Crafts pattern number 5462 #Sewing #DollClothesPatterns

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In this image, the Chelly Wood doll (a spin master Liv doll in a grey wig) holds out her hand toward an open cardboard box. The words above the box say Fab Scrap unboxing and Swimsuit Fabric. Inside the box, we can see purple swimsuit fabric spilling over the edge of the box.
Charity Work, Crafts and Hobbies, Links, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Crafts

Fabric Scrap Haul from FabScrap, a fabric recycling center in New York #Sustainability #TextileWaste

Please consider sharing this video on social media, to help spread the word about FabScrap, and the good things they’re doing to help our planet. 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 whether or not FabScrap would be … Continue reading Fabric Scrap Haul from FabScrap, a fabric recycling center in New York #Sustainability #TextileWaste

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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, Tammy Doll Patterns, Tape Measure Tuesday, Tips for Beginners

Learning to alter doll clothes patterns with Ideal Tammy Doll patterns #CollectibleDolls #TapeMeasureTuesday #DollClothesPatterns

What we now call Ideal Toy Corporation’s vintage Tammy dolls was the original fashion doll, back when the idea of a “fashion doll” was still pretty new. She was called, “The doll you love to dress!” The image above shows my Tammy doll and the Chelly doll holding up vintage Simplicity pattern 4883 for sewing a wardrobe to fit Tammy dolls. This pattern (not this … Continue reading Learning to alter doll clothes patterns with Ideal Tammy Doll patterns #CollectibleDolls #TapeMeasureTuesday #DollClothesPatterns

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A Judy Littlechap doll models a handmade doll dress while standing beside a vintage Tressy doll clothes sewing pattern (Simplicity 5731 Tressy Wardrobe).
Littlechap Dolls, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Plushies/Stuffed Animals, Tips for Beginners

The Saga of Judy Littlechap’s Wardrobe Continues #DollCollector #DollClothesPatterns

Last Monday, I told you that I had decided to allow myself to be inspired by making my Barbie a vintage dress from Simplicity 5731, a wardrobe pattern for vintage Tressy dolls. My plan was to first make the dress in View 1 (above) for my vintage Barbie. Then, once I was comfortable with the pattern, I’d create a similar one for my Judy Littlechap doll … Continue reading The Saga of Judy Littlechap’s Wardrobe Continues #DollCollector #DollClothesPatterns

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