Category: Tutorials: Sewing Basics

These are primarily non-doll-related sewing tutorials. For example: how to backstitch; how to sew snaps; etc…

A turquoise blue linen fabric frames a photo of different types and colors of elastic. The text reads, "Fantastic Elastic" and this thumbnail leads to a blog post about the variety of different sizes of elastic available and which ones suit your doll clothes for sewing projects.
Crafts and Hobbies, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

How to Sew Elastic Directly Onto Fabric #SewingTips #SewingHacks

  It’s confession time. I have some great video tutorials with brand new patterns waiting in a queue. Why haven’t I posted them? I’ve lost my voice! I’m currently on spring break from my full-time job as a school librarian, which usually gives me a lot of time to create, edit, and record voice-overs for my doll clothes sewing tutorials. Unfortunately, I’ve caught some sort … Continue reading How to Sew Elastic Directly Onto Fabric #SewingTips #SewingHacks

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This is a Canva-made purple framed image of basic sewing tools, including scissors, thread, straight pins, safety pins, buttons, and some swatches of felt. The text reads "sewing basics" under the photo, with the Chelly Wood dot com logo below the photo.
Crafts and Hobbies, Fan Mail, Interviews With Crafters, Links, Plushies/Stuffed Animals, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

Tips and Tricks for Beginners, Just Learning to Sew @ ChellyWood.com #LearningToSew #SewingTips

Are you new to sewing? Or are you thinking about teaching a child how to sew? If so, you might want to read my blog post about the top 10 sewing supplies you’ll need in a beginner’s sewing basket. I’ve got a playlist of tutorials for the beginning sewists on my YouTube channel as well. It includes video tutorials like: how to do a basic straight stitch when sewing by hand how … Continue reading Tips and Tricks for Beginners, Just Learning to Sew @ ChellyWood.com #LearningToSew #SewingTips

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Thumbnail shows a woman's hand preparing a swatch of fabric for making knife pleats. The two dolls shown are the modern Stacie in African American rendition of the doll, plus the drawing on the front of the Simplicity 5861 pattern envelope, showing a vintage Skipper doll modeling the handmade skirt.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Stacie Patterns, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics, Tutorials: Sewing for Dolls, Vintage Skipper

Making Pleats for a Skipper Skirt with Simplicity 5861 #VintageToys #Sewing

Do you see the folds in that little green skirt, in View 3 of my Simplicity 5861 doll clothes sewing pattern for Skipper dolls? Those are called pleats. Sometimes they’re referred to as “knife pleats.” And for a doll that’s tiny, like vintage Skipper and modern Stacie (shown below), it can be especially tricky to get the pleats just right. Yes, as the text says … Continue reading Making Pleats for a Skipper Skirt with Simplicity 5861 #VintageToys #Sewing

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A vintage Skipper doll models a red bolero jacket over a black and white gingham dress. She stands beside Simplicity vintage Skipper pattern number 5861 for sewing doll clothes. There's a quilted blue and purple frame surrounding the whole image.
Creative Spark Online Learning, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics, Vintage Skipper

Is there an easy way to sew sleeves? Yes! And it begins with your choice of patterns…

Over the summer, I purchased Simplicity 5861, a vintage pattern for the earliest version of Skipper dolls. This pattern offers pattern pieces for a coat and three different shirt styles, plus a bolero. These garments’ sleeves were remarkably easy to make! You might wonder why that is. Well take a look at the skipper T-shirt that I designed, displayed on a more modern skipper below: … Continue reading Is there an easy way to sew sleeves? Yes! And it begins with your choice of patterns…

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This is a framed thumbnail with the following text written inside a bodice pattern outline: "Vintage Patterns with lessons for beginners" and a small yellow arrow points to text that states, "available after 30 October 2023".
Crissy Family of Dolls, Marie Osmond dolls, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Pepper Dolls (Vintage), Tammy Doll Patterns, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics, Vintage Barbie, Vintage Brad, Vintage Francie, Vintage Ken, Vintage Skipper, Vogue Ginny Dolls

Lessons from Vintage Doll Clothes Patterns (Gallery)

NOTE: These are not free doll clothes patterns! If you would like to download any of the hundreds of free, printable sewing patterns that I offer on this website, please view this video to learn how to find free patterns to fit the doll you’re sewing for. With that said, please click on the doll clothes patterns you would like to learn about: I created … Continue reading Lessons from Vintage Doll Clothes Patterns (Gallery)

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The text at the top of this image says "10 ways to use ribbons with doll clothes" and under the text, is an image of a variety of ribbon spools in a number of different sizes and colors.
Crafts and Hobbies, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

Here are 10 ways to use ribbons when sewing doll clothes…

When I did a recent search for photos of doll clothes with ribbons, here on my website, I discovered that I have uploaded 240 images in the website’s archives, showing the many ways you can apply ribbons to doll clothes. Holy smokes! I’ve sifted through those archived photos and done a quick study of them. And here, in some semblance of order, are the top … Continue reading Here are 10 ways to use ribbons when sewing doll clothes…

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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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The image shows a pretty little doll's skirt with a ruffle. The skirt is made of white cotton with blue, red, yellow, and pink flowers printed on the fabric. The text reads, "how to attach a ruffle".
Tutorials: Sewing Basics, Tutorials: Sewing for Dolls

How to sew a ruffle on a doll’s skirt or dress… It’s EASY!

  People who are just learning to sew will sometimes take one look at a pattern that has a ruffle, and think, “I can’t make that. A ruffle looks too hard!” But it’s not hard! In today’s one-minute #Shorts video, you’ll see that the steps to making a ruffle are relatively easy. It may also help to view one or more of these tutorial videos … Continue reading How to sew a ruffle on a doll’s skirt or dress… It’s EASY!

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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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The image shows a quilted frame surrounding a photo of the McCall's doll clothes pattern number 5462 for Barbie and other 11 inch fashion dolls. An arrow points from the view G pattern for a T-shirt to a modern Barbie wearing a cropped-front tee shirt with side slits. The text above these images says, "T-shirt alteration." The Chelly Wood dot com logo appears in the lower right corner of the image.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

How to Alter a T-shirt Pattern, to Make a Crop Top w/McCall’s Crafts 5462 Doll Clothes Patterns #DollClothes #SewingPatterns

Before I begin today’s blog post, let me say that I’m definitely feeling better. I’ve been sick with West Nile Virus, which is why my blog posts for my website had been put on “back burner” for a while. But I want to reach out to all of you who have kept me in your prayers… Thank you so much! Your comments on my website … Continue reading How to Alter a T-shirt Pattern, to Make a Crop Top w/McCall’s Crafts 5462 Doll Clothes Patterns #DollClothes #SewingPatterns

Chelly Wood4 Comments
On a turquoise blue cotton background, we read the words "how to use a needle threader" and beneath these are images of a needle and a traditional tin threader. In the lower left corner is the ChellyWood.com logo.
Crafts and Hobbies, Tutorials: Crafts, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

How to use a needle threader for hand-sewing doll clothes projects @DritzSewing #DollClothesPatterns #SewingTips

In spite of the tiny sewing machine that often appears in my doll clothes tutorial videos, I actually sew a lot of my doll clothes by hand. I find that hand stitching gives you greater control when sewing tiny items. If you’re ever struggling with a sleeve or zipper attachment, I recommend switching from your sewing machine to sewing by hand. It may actually save … Continue reading How to use a needle threader for hand-sewing doll clothes projects @DritzSewing #DollClothesPatterns #SewingTips

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Chelly's Books, Crafts and Hobbies, Favorite Books, Greenbrier Dolls, Tutorials: Crafts, Tutorials: Sewing Basics, Tutorials: Sewing for Dolls

What is rickrack trim? And how do you use it? @ChellyWood.com #dollclothes #sewingproject

  Today’s tutorial video shows you how to use rickrack trim, like the trim shown at the bottom of the dress below: Today’s tutorial video is actually a re-post. To learn why I’m doing so many re-posts on my website, revisit the blog post called, “There’s a CAT in my Sewing Room!” While I’m gone, feel free to look over some of the basic sewing … Continue reading What is rickrack trim? And how do you use it? @ChellyWood.com #dollclothes #sewingproject

Chelly Wood2 Comments
The image shows the Difficulty Scale for Chelly's flowers. These are purple flowers with turquoise blue center. Lowest on the difficulty scale is a single flower. The most difficult projects have five flowers.
Interviews With Crafters, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

Helpful Tips and FAQ’s for People Who Love to Sew for Dolls #DollClothes #SewingTips

The following information is also found on my “Frequently Asked Questions” page (i.e. FAQ’s). You may have noticed that my difficulty scale’s flowers have changed colors over time. You can tell how old my patterns are by the colors of the flowers on them. Now this doesn’t seem related, but actually it is… My oldest daughter graduated from Idaho State University recently with a college … Continue reading Helpful Tips and FAQ’s for People Who Love to Sew for Dolls #DollClothes #SewingTips

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

What is a yoke in sewing terms? #LearningToSew #DollClothesPatterns

Almost exactly one month ago, for Martin Luther King Day, I posted a blog post about this McCall’s 9449 doll clothes sewing pattern. In that blog post, I talked about how rare it is to find vintage patterns with representation of African American dolls on the envelope’s cover art. Well, it’s now February, and here in the US, we celebrate February as our Black History … Continue reading What is a yoke in sewing terms? #LearningToSew #DollClothesPatterns

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Surrounded by a turquoise blue cotton frame, we see a photo of a Skipper doll in a very short Easter dress. The words "free pattern" appear above her at an angle, and beside her is the Chelly Wood dot com logo.
10-inch doll clothes patterns, Daily Patterns, Skipper Patterns, Tutorials: Sewing Basics, Tutorials: Sewing for Dolls, Whole Costumes for Dolls

Let’s sew a super easy Easter dress for Skipper w/today’s free PDF sewing patterns @ ChellyWood.com #EasterCrafts #DollClothesPatterns

  For your free patterns and tutorial videos, please scroll down to the second set of bullets. Easter isn’t until April 9th, in 2023, but as you may have learned at Christmas time, it’s always a good idea to get your seasonal sewing projects done way ahead of time! So today’s tutorial video — which is actually a remastered video from quite some time ago … Continue reading Let’s sew a super easy Easter dress for Skipper w/today’s free PDF sewing patterns @ ChellyWood.com #EasterCrafts #DollClothesPatterns

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