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This is a thumbnail for the "Tape Measure Tuesday" Momoko Doll measurements blog post for Chelly Wood dot com. The hashtag for this feature is #TapeMeasureTuesday, and this blog post will give you specific sewing measurements for the body of a Momoko doll from Sekiguchi (Pet Works).
Momoko Doll Patterns, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Uncategorized

How do I know what sized doll clothes patterns to buy? #MomokoDoll #TapeMeasureTuesday

Let’s say you’ve just bought a doll that doesn’t have commercial patterns made for it because it’s sort of an unusual, rare, vintage, or foreign-made doll. How do you know what size sewing patterns to buy for your doll? That’s the topic of today’s blog post. Stick with me to the very end, please, and you’ll learn a lot about how to locate the sewing … Continue reading How do I know what sized doll clothes patterns to buy? #MomokoDoll #TapeMeasureTuesday

Chelly Wood2 Comments
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.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Uncategorized

What is the best fabric for circle skirts? #SewingTips #DIY

On the back of this Simplicity 5861 vintage sewing pattern for Skipper dolls, the View 2 line drawing of the dress shows the ideal drape of a circle skirt, after the doll’s dress has been made. With dolls, though, the circle skirt doesn’t usually drape like that! Scroll down to the next image, and you’ll see that after I made the View 2 dress for … Continue reading What is the best fabric for circle skirts? #SewingTips #DIY

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.
Interviews With Crafters, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tammy Doll Patterns, Uncategorized

Can anyone help me date the year of publication on one of my all-time favorite doll clothes patterns? #Simplicity #RetroSewing

If you’ve been following my blog much at all, you’ve probably run across at least one of the many blog posts I’ve written on this particular sewing pattern, vintage Simplicity 4883 for Ideal Tammy dolls. I have a long history with this pattern, which was the very first pattern I ever sewed. In fact this pattern helped morph me into the doll clothing designer that … Continue reading Can anyone help me date the year of publication on one of my all-time favorite doll clothes patterns? #Simplicity #RetroSewing

Chelly Wood6 Comments
The thumbnail shows a woman at her desk with a laptop. Above her is a chart of some type. The text reads "tax time! How much did ChellyWood LLC earn this year?" This is followed by the logo for Chelly Wood dot com at the bottom of the image, along with a "down" arrow.
Charity Work, Crafts and Hobbies, Doll Shoes, For Sale in the Store, Interviews With Crafters, Selling Your Crafts, Uncategorized

How much money did ChellyWood.com earn in 2024? #TaxTime #FullDisclosure

Yup! It’s time once again to pay Uncle Sam! For those of you living outside the US, the character of Uncle Sam — shown as a cartoon image on the right hand side of the poster I’m holding in the image above — is a personification of our government, here in the United States. Perhaps you knew that, but I thought I’d explain, just in … Continue reading How much money did ChellyWood.com earn in 2024? #TaxTime #FullDisclosure

Chelly Wood2 Comments
Advance 9939 vintage Barbie doll clothes patterns (the envelope that the patterns come in) is shown with the Chelly Wood doll, framed in a quilted border. The text reads "Advance 9939 vintage Barbie patterns."
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Uncategorized, Vintage Barbie

I jazzed up a vintage Barbie pattern, Advance 9939, by slapping on a bias tape collar!

See that cute little summer top in View 2 of this vintage Advance 9939 doll clothes pattern* package? That’s what I was working on — creating that set of culottes with the sleeveless blouse that looks so cute and sweet on Ponytail Barbie in the drawings. That’s not what I got though. Ugh! *Please note: when you click on links to various merchants on this … Continue reading I jazzed up a vintage Barbie pattern, Advance 9939, by slapping on a bias tape collar!

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Beside the Advance 2896 vintage Barbie doll clothes sewing patterns we see a series of swatches of solid colored fabrics lying next to a harvest printed fabric. A yellow arrow points to a line of colored and numbered circles along the selvage (also spelled selvedge) edge of the harvest printed fabric. The text reads, "Advance 2896: What are these dots?"
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Uncategorized

How to use the selvedge (AKA selvage) circular color guide (AKA the color registration marks) when choosing matching fabrics @ ChellyWood.com #Fabric #Sewing

Over the last two weeks, I’ve been sharing with you my sewing adventures, as I made a harvest-themed outfit for vintage Barbie dolls, using Sew-Easy patterns by Advance, pattern number 2896, view three, the shirt and skirt separates set. As you can see in the image on the right (above), the outfit I’ve made uses a pretty harvest-themed cotton fabric. But what if I wanted … Continue reading How to use the selvedge (AKA selvage) circular color guide (AKA the color registration marks) when choosing matching fabrics @ ChellyWood.com #Fabric #Sewing

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In a quilted frame the text reads "Advance 2896" and a photo of a Bubblecut Barbie shows her wearing a Halloween candy printed black dress. An arrow points from the Barbie to the View 5 image on the envelope of a Sew-Easy Advance pattern for Barbie.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Uncategorized

What can you do when a doll dress is too small? Here’s one idea… #LittleThings #SewingTips

Last Monday’s blog post was all about a mystery surrounding the bodice from my Sew-Easy Advance 2896 doll clothes pattern, View 5 dress. Today’s blog post will pick up where I left off, so if you didn’t read about last week’s bodice mystery, click here to go back to that mysterious story to learn more. *Please note: when you click on links to various merchants … Continue reading What can you do when a doll dress is too small? Here’s one idea… #LittleThings #SewingTips

Chelly Wood2 Comments
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.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Uncategorized

What are the best patterns for Fashion Doll capes? #DollClothesPatterns #ToyCollectors

Fall is right around the corner, so we’ll need to keep our little dolls warm. A coat is easy enough to make, but capes are usually even easier! Before you read on, please note that many of my links are affiliate marketing links. To learn more about this, please see my Privacy Policy page. Thank you! You’ll notice, that in the image of Simplicity 8466 … Continue reading What are the best patterns for Fashion Doll capes? #DollClothesPatterns #ToyCollectors

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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.
Crafts and Hobbies, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Paper Crafts, Selling Your Crafts, Uncategorized

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

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, 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 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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On the left a real vintage Skipper from the 1960's models a handmade ball gown floor length dress decorated with red ribbons and bows on the red bodice and white skirt of the dress. On the right, a similar drawn figure of Skipper wears an identical ribbon and bow-embellished ball gown in red and white. The text reads "tricky tricky ribbons and bows! Simplicity 5861" -- between the real photo of a Skipper and the drawn Skipper in a fancy dress, we see a curly ribbon dangling from above and at the bottom, a big red bow.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Uncategorized, Vintage Skipper

How to Make Ribbon Bows Simple with Simplicity 5861 for Skipper #Ribbons #Bows

In this lengthy series of blog posts, I’m sharing what I’ve learned by sewing all of the outfits offered in Simplicity 5861, a very extensive and well-designed pattern for vintage Skipper dolls. Today’s blog post explains how I made the bows that you see on my Skipper doll’s evening dress in the images above and below. I followed the instructions for making this dress — … Continue reading How to Make Ribbon Bows Simple with Simplicity 5861 for Skipper #Ribbons #Bows

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On the far left, we see the drawing from the cover of the envelope for vintage Skipper sewing pattern Simplicity 5861; in the center, a modern Mattel Stacie doll models a handmade version of the swing coat from view 5 of this vintage Skipper pattern, along with a scarf that looks slightly different from the one on the package / envelope drawing. In the far right photo, a vintage Skipper doll wears the exact same scarf and swing coat as we see pictured on the envelope for Simplicity 5861's vintage Skipper patterns. The text reads simply, "Simplicity 5861."
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Stacie Patterns, Tips for Beginners, Uncategorized, Vintage Skipper

Scarf sewing secrets from Simplicity 5861 vintage Skipper doll clothes patterns! #SewingTips #Dolls

As my regular followers know, I’ve recently created all the doll clothes in Simplicity 5861 vintage doll clothes sewing patterns for vintage Skipper dolls. And I like to tell you what I’ve learned, once I’ve finished making a classic pattern like this one. Today I’ll give you a few simple pointers for making the scarf that goes with the View 5 pattern in the Simplicity … Continue reading Scarf sewing secrets from Simplicity 5861 vintage Skipper doll clothes patterns! #SewingTips #Dolls

Chelly Wood6 Comments
The text reads "lessons learned form sewing wedding dresses." Below this text is an image of the wedding dress from Simplicity 8281 Barbie doll fashions beside a handmade Barbie wedding dress with a three-tier skirt.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Uncategorized

How to make your Barbie wedding dress VINTAGE style! #SimplicityPatterns #Sewing

Last summer my best friend’s grandmother made a special request. She brought me some eyelet from her daughter’s original wedding dress and shared a photo of her daughter on her wedding day. Then she asked if I could create a similar dress for a doll. I gladly accepted the challenge, because dolly wedding dresses are just so much fun to make! YAY! I was already … Continue reading How to make your Barbie wedding dress VINTAGE style! #SimplicityPatterns #Sewing

Chelly Wood8 Comments