Portland Frog holds up a peace sign in protest. This is part of a blog post at ChellyWood.com that asks the question, "Is being a rebel good?" Discussion centers around McCall's 2970, as this Made-for-Topper-Dawn doll clothes pattern will also fit LOL Surprise OMG dolls (at least the View B dress does anyway).

Is being a rebel a good thing? #SillyMemes #SewingHack

See that image? That’s a thing that happened to me over the weekend. Every time my husband tells me to go buy him a “Whatsit-whoozit” at the hardware store, I always come home with the WRONG item. Then he yells at me, as if I should have known exactly which “Whatsit-whoozit” he meant. So over the weekend, when he had his truck all taken apart, … Continue reading Is being a rebel a good thing? #SillyMemes #SewingHack

Discover Sewing Magic with Chelly Wood's Doll Clothes Sewing Pattern Creations! Inside a charming quilted frame, a unique Chelly Wood doll (a creatively transformed Spin Master Liv doll featuring a grey wig and custom face paint) strikes a pose, pointing at three vibrant purple question marks. Dressed in a red check gingham short-sleeved shirt and black trousers, the doll accessorizes with a red gingham handkerchief securing her silver grey hair and completes the look with black flats. Click to explore ChellyWood.com, your go-to resource for free, printable PDF sewing patterns to craft stylish doll clothes for dolls of all shapes and sizes. Dive into the sewing community and enhance your skills today!

What can you do if you’ve lost the instructions for a commercial sewing pattern? #MeMadeMonday #SewingHack

Before I started typing today’s blog post, I googled the same question: “What can you do if you’ve lost the instructions for a commercial sewing pattern?” And let me just say that yes, AI can make mistakes. It became very obvious to me that Google doesn’t know how to correctly respond to this question. Granted, Google AI offered links to their sources. So that’s good. … Continue reading What can you do if you’ve lost the instructions for a commercial sewing pattern? #MeMadeMonday #SewingHack

With a quilted frame around it, we see a section of a McCall's vintage fashion doll clothes sewing pattern for making a cape that will fit a fashion doll like Barbie and similar-sized dolls.

How to Sew a Welted Arm Opening in a Cape

As I type this first sentence, the ground outside my sewing room window is wet with early morning rain. It smells lovely out there! But this means fall is underway, here in the northern hemisphere, so it might be a good time to do a blog post on cape-making. Specifically, today’s post will show you how I made a welted opening in a cape, so … Continue reading How to Sew a Welted Arm Opening in a Cape

Various sewing and crafting notions like thread, a tape measure, scissors, and a writing utensil swirl around the words "Sewing Vocab" in a thumbnail frame. This is the default thumbnail for the sewing picture dictionary (or sewing glossary with pictures) on ChellyWood.com, a website that offers free printable PDF sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

Glossary of Sewing Terms with Pictures: Buttons

DEFINITION: A type of fastener that usually passes through a hole or uses a loop as a method of closure. This is my own definition. Of course you can google this term to find other definitions as well. A lot of people who are new to sewing doll clothes struggle to find tiny buttons that are ideal for making dolls’ clothes, so today I’ll give … Continue reading Glossary of Sewing Terms with Pictures: Buttons

McCall's 6260 vintage Barbie patterns: view A shows a ponytail Barbie wearing a pink gingham dress with lace skirt overlaid and a matching pair of pink gingham panties (shown below the doll on a silver graphic line); View B shows a silver evening gown (strapless) with matching stole and a pink ribbon tied at the waist; View C shows a pink swing coat with very large pockets and lots of buttons; View D shows an orange Kimono style bath robe with white trim and a white belt tied at the waist; View E shows a pair of high-waisted black pants with a little bolero style pink top over the top of them; View F shows a blue bikini with tiny pink polka dots.

How to Store and Preserve Vintage Sewing Patterns

Today’s topic is near and dear to my heart. If you’re a regular follower of my blog, you’ll know that I own quite a collection of old doll clothes sewing patterns. Many of them are featured in my Monday sewing lessons, all of which can be found on this page. Over the years, I’ve gotten better and better at preserving my vintage sewing patterns, and … Continue reading How to Store and Preserve Vintage Sewing Patterns

The Chelly Wood doll (a Spin Master Liv doll that has been OOAK-made over to look like the real Chelly Wood) points across her sewing room at an ironing board upon which an unplugged iron rests.

What type of ironing board do you use when you’re sewing? #iSew #BeginnerSewing

Every now and then, one of my blog or YouTube followers will reach out to me with a really clever question. That’s the case with the question I’m answering in today’s blog post. But I’d like to hear your responses as well, so when you’re all done reading what I have to say on the topic of ironing boards, please take a moment to leave … Continue reading What type of ironing board do you use when you’re sewing? #iSew #BeginnerSewing

Beside the McCall's 2970 pattern, a list of dolls that will fit this tiny fashion doll sewing pattern can be read as follows: Dawn, Dale, Glory, Rock Flowers, Tutti, Lori, Nan, Posie, Kim, Donna, and the final name, Pippa, is followed by a question mark. The text at the top of the image says, "Who can wear it?" and the envelope's patterns include each of the following outfits for these tiny 6 inch fashion dolls: View A is a halter dress; View B is a long-sleeved long dress with lace trim; view C is a long-sleeved short dress (above the knee) with a full skirt and the dress bodice has a collar; view D is a tunic, pants, and long vest; View E is a nightgown or bathrobe; View F is a cape with hood.

How to turn one dress pattern into two dress patterns #MeMadeMonday #SewingTips

In addition to the View B dress from McCall’s 2970, my Snapstar doll can also wear a number of outfits I designed to fit the Bratz dolls. So if you came here looking for free doll clothes patterns for your Snapstar dolls, please click here. But today’s blog post is actually about how to expand one doll dress pattern into more than one. Read on … Continue reading How to turn one dress pattern into two dress patterns #MeMadeMonday #SewingTips

Chelly Wood doll stands next to the pattern envelope for vintage Simplicity 9097, a 1970s era wardrobe for Barbie dolls. Among these patterns are the following ensembles: view 1: a wedding dress with empire waist, high collar, and bell sleeves; view 2: a similar evening gown shown in purple; view 3 a mod dress with pleated skirt and sleeveless bodice; view 3 B: the same mod dress shown with a short cape and scarf; view 4: a turtleneck blouse with raglan sleeves and a long skirt; view 5: the same blouse with a pair of trousers and a long, below-the-hip length vest.

How to Sew Dolls’ Shirt Collars so They Look Natural #Sewingtips #CreatableWorld

Shirt collars can be especially tricky when you’re making dolls’ clothes. Are there any tips for making a collar lay nicely on a doll’s shirt? Yes, there are, and that’s the topic of today’s blog post. I know I’ve written about this topic before, but it gets brought up pretty regularly. Please forgive me if this is a repeat for you. Before I go on, … Continue reading How to Sew Dolls’ Shirt Collars so They Look Natural #Sewingtips #CreatableWorld

Discover Sewing Magic with Chelly Wood's Doll Clothes Sewing Pattern Creations! Inside a charming quilted frame, a unique Chelly Wood doll (a creatively transformed Spin Master Liv doll featuring a grey wig and custom face paint) strikes a pose, pointing at three vibrant purple question marks. Dressed in a red check gingham short-sleeved shirt and black trousers, the doll accessorizes with a red gingham handkerchief securing her silver grey hair and completes the look with black flats. Click to explore ChellyWood.com, your go-to resource for free, printable PDF sewing patterns to craft stylish doll clothes for dolls of all shapes and sizes. Dive into the sewing community and enhance your skills today!

Are there any sewing patterns for 10 inch Creatable World dolls? Yup! #CreatableWorld #Sewcialists

As you can see in the images above, I’ve been working with the McCall’s 4716 doll clothes sewing pattern, which was designed to fit the Sunshine Family dolls, and in today’s blog post, I’m going to tell you what I’ve learned while sewing it. We’ll look at how the small overalls fit my Creatable World dolls, and I’ll offer some suggestions to make alterations as … Continue reading Are there any sewing patterns for 10 inch Creatable World dolls? Yup! #CreatableWorld #Sewcialists

Click the thumbnail to read the article on Chelly Wood dot com. Three dolls are shown wearing the View B dress from McCall's 2970: left, 6 inch American Girl, center, Vogue Ginny, and right, Elsa from Disney's Frozen (6 inches tall).

Can Vogue Ginny dolls, 6 inch Disney Princesses, and the 6 inch American Girl doll fit in McCall’s 2970 sewing patterns? #AmericanGirl #SewingPatterns

Today’s blog post is part of a series of posts which look at McCall’s 2970 miniature fashion doll wardrobe pattern. This series is designed to help readers decide which dolls do (and which dolls don’t) fit in this very tiny sewing pattern. To read my previous posts on this topic, please click the link right here. The McCall’s 2970 pattern is designed to fit vintage … Continue reading Can Vogue Ginny dolls, 6 inch Disney Princesses, and the 6 inch American Girl doll fit in McCall’s 2970 sewing patterns? #AmericanGirl #SewingPatterns

McCall's 2970 doll clothes sewing patterns. Click the thumbnail for the article which talks about which dolls (including Topper Dawn and Pippa) will fit in this tiny six inch doll's wardrobe. Article available to read at chellywood.com

Can Enchantimals dolls and Calico Critters fit in McCall’s 2970 sewing patterns? #TinyThings #Dollhouses

A couple of weeks ago, we looked at whether or not the McCall’s 2970 miniature fashion doll wardrobe pattern would fit Strawberry Shortcake, Lottie, and the Stacie dolls from the 1990’s. If you’d like to go back to read that article, click the link right here. In case you didn’t know, the McCall’s 2970 doll clothes patterns were designed to fit vintage Dawn dolls, which … Continue reading Can Enchantimals dolls and Calico Critters fit in McCall’s 2970 sewing patterns? #TinyThings #Dollhouses

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!

Where do tiny clasps for dolls’ overalls come from? We should all be aware…

A few years ago, I added an item to my “Shop” page: closures. One of the items I linked to were clasps for Barbie-sized (or smaller) dolls’ overalls, and at that time, I did a blog post a lot like this one because I like to be open and honest about where these notions come from. At that time, I was buying my overall clasps … Continue reading Where do tiny clasps for dolls’ overalls come from? We should all be aware…

McCall's 2970 doll clothes sewing patterns. Click the thumbnail for the article which talks about which dolls (including Topper Dawn and Pippa) will fit in this tiny six inch doll's wardrobe. Article available to read at chellywood.com

Can Strawberry Shortcake dolls and Lottie dolls fit in McCall’s 2970 sewing patterns? #MeMadeMonday #VintageToys

As you can see in the image above, the McCall’s 2970 miniature fashion doll wardrobe pattern was designed to fit a number of different six to seven inch fashion dolls. But this pattern came out in the early 1970’s. A lot of dolls have been made since then that may very well fit the clothes in this pattern. Today’s blog post addresses how well the … Continue reading Can Strawberry Shortcake dolls and Lottie dolls fit in McCall’s 2970 sewing patterns? #MeMadeMonday #VintageToys

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.

Little House on the Prairie and Holly Hobbie – are they related? #HistoricalFiction #LittleHouse

When people talk about the 1970’s, they usually reference a time when everyone dressed like hippies, went to Woodstock, and lived at ashrams. I was a little girl in the 1970’s, yet I don’t remember any of that hippie-dippie stuff. Not really. I mean, my cousins grew their hair out long and played guitar, but that was about it. What I remember is this: every … Continue reading Little House on the Prairie and Holly Hobbie – are they related? #HistoricalFiction #LittleHouse

With a quilted frame around it, we see a section of a McCall's vintage fashion doll clothes sewing pattern for making a cape that will fit a fashion doll like Barbie and similar-sized dolls.

Why do so many doll clothes patterns include a cape? Here’s why… #barbiestyle #barbiecollector

Before I write a blog post like this one, I usually go to the internet to see if other people have already written on this topic. I do this to make sure I know my facts, and frankly, it’s a good idea to do a little pre-research on what has already been said so that my content adds to the conversation. It surprised me to … Continue reading Why do so many doll clothes patterns include a cape? Here’s why… #barbiestyle #barbiecollector