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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
Surrounded by a quilted frame, we see the ChellyWood.com logo and images of dolls modeling doll clothes from the 1970's. This image comes from Simplicity doll clothes pattern 7737, dated with a copyright of 1976.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Uncategorized

Whatever happened to Kenner’s Dusty dolls and Skye dolls? #VintageDolls #DollClothesPatterns

Are you old enough to remember Kenner’s Dusty and Skye dolls? Want to know why nobody seems to collect them these days? The Simplicity 7737 doll clothes pattern shown at the top of this blog post was one I owned back in the 1970’s and ’80’s. The patterns loosely fit Barbie, but they fit Dusty and Skye really well. Dusty was a doll with an … Continue reading Whatever happened to Kenner’s Dusty dolls and Skye dolls? #VintageDolls #DollClothesPatterns

Chelly Wood6 Comments
The image shows a vintage McCall's printed sewing pattern for making a wardrobe of doll clothes for "chubby baby and toddler dolls" in the size range from 12 to 22 inches, depending upon whether you purchase the small, medium, or large doll clothes pattern set. The striking image on this pattern (published by McCall's in 1968) is the fact that a doll with brown skin and black hair appears on this pattern front, along with a variety of little blond and red headed dolls.
Baby Doll Patterns, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Uncategorized

Why aren’t there more multicultural dolls on sewing patterns? #SewingChat #BlackHistoryMonth

As we’re celebrating Black History Month in February, in the United States, I’d like to write about the fact that images on doll clothes sewing patterns available in the US today do not accurately reflect the demographics of our nation. Before Caucasian people came to North America, only Native American people lived here. To this day, Native American people and mixed-race Native Americans live in the … Continue reading Why aren’t there more multicultural dolls on sewing patterns? #SewingChat #BlackHistoryMonth

Chelly Wood6 Comments
This thumbnail image shows the Chelly Wood doll (a Spin Master Liv doll) holding up a spreadsheet of expenses and income for 2023. The text reads, "2023 income full disclosure" and beneath this text is a turquoise blue coin-shaped circle with a dollar symbol inside it.
Charity Work, Crafts and Hobbies, Doll Clothes for Sale, Donate, For Sale in the Store, Interviews With Crafters, Selling Your Crafts, Uncategorized

How much money did ChellyWood LLC make in 2023? Full disclosure… #TaxTime #Charity

Many of you know that in my “day job,” I’m a full-time school librarian. I also teach art and library research classes for the middle school where I work. This has been a good paying job, helping me and my husband (who also works full time) to pay for our children’s college educations, and generally keeping the bills paid in our little manufactured home with … Continue reading How much money did ChellyWood LLC make in 2023? Full disclosure… #TaxTime #Charity

Chelly Wood4 Comments
A vintage Skipper wears a handmade yellow shirt and green pleated skirt with matching green knee-high socks and little black ballet flats. The skipper doll is dressed exactly like the image in view 3 on the envelope for Simplicity 5861, a wardrobe designed and published in the 1960's for a vintage Skipper doll. There's also a close-up of her hand-stitched green knee-high socks. This thumbnail's text reads "vintage Simplicity 5861" and it's framed by turquoise blue and purple quilted fabrics.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Uncategorized, Vintage Skipper

Nancy Drew, the mystery girl, makes a magical appearance with my Simplicity Skipper pattern 5861 #NancyDrew #SewVintage

Last summer I got my hands on an uncut version of this wonderful Skipper doll clothes pattern, vintage Simplicity 5861, an original pattern from 1964. Holy hand-stitching, Batman! I have REALLY enjoyed sewing this whole ensemble! My goal, last summer, was to make each item in the wardrobe to match the image on the envelope cover exactly. And guess what… I’ve gotten the whole thing … Continue reading Nancy Drew, the mystery girl, makes a magical appearance with my Simplicity Skipper pattern 5861 #NancyDrew #SewVintage

Chelly Wood2 Comments
In this quilt-framed thumbnail image, a lineup of four Skipper-sized dolls stand next to the Chelly Wood doll (which is a Spin Master Liv doll that has been altered to look like the real doll clothing designer, Chelly Wood), and Chelly is holding up vintage Skipper Simplicity pattern 5861. Over the top of this photo, we see the text that reads, "Who can wear Skipper patterns?"
10-inch doll clothes patterns, 9-inch Dolls, Doll Measurements, Fan Mail, Favorite Books, Holiday Crafts, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Petite Barbie Patterns, Skipper Patterns, Stacie Patterns, Uncategorized, Vintage Skipper

Which dolls can wear Skipper patterns? #Sewing #SewVintage

Note: As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Last week one of my followers, Lisa, contacted me with some questions about sewing for Skipper. We had a lively exchange over email about how Skipper has changed over the years, and I answered a few of her questions about who can wear various Skipper doll clothes sewing patterns. Today’s blog post will share with … Continue reading Which dolls can wear Skipper patterns? #Sewing #SewVintage

Chelly Wood3 Comments
The image shows sewing pattern Simplicity 8281 for Barbie, Cher, and Farrah Fawcett dolls.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Uncategorized

Learning to sew with Simplicity 8281 doll clothes patterns #VintageDolls #DollClothesPatterns

I can’t look at Simplicity 8281 without getting a happy feeling in my heart of hearts. I have so many memories associated with this wonderful doll clothes pattern! It dates back to 1977, but I don’t think I owned the pattern until closer to 1979. I would have been about 12 years old then, and I remember making the yellow sundress a lot of different … Continue reading Learning to sew with Simplicity 8281 doll clothes patterns #VintageDolls #DollClothesPatterns

Chelly Wood6 Comments
In this thumbnail image, the text reads "mix-N-match" with two photos below the text. The photo on the left shows a standard Mattel Barbie wearing a handmade strappy summer bodice with a handmade wrap skirt that comes to just above the knee. She also wears little red plastic ankle boots. The photo on the right shows Simplicity 8281 vintage Barbie, Cher, and Farrah Fawcett doll clothes sewing patterns. Arrows connect the bodice to one outfit for the top and another outfit for the bottom. The arrow pointing at the summer top bodice points to the View 3 and view 2 outfit, while the arrow from the wrap skirt points at the wrap skirt in view 5 of Simplicity 8281 vintage Barbie doll clothes sewing patterns.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Uncategorized

The Best Mix and Match Doll Clothes Patterns for Christmas Gift Giving #HolidayGiftIdeas #ChristmasGifts

Note: As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. When you make a set of doll clothes, it’s always nice if the child who receives them has the option to mix and match tops with skirts, pants, and jackets. I’m a member of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution), and this year our chapter of the DAR will be giving gifts to a … Continue reading The Best Mix and Match Doll Clothes Patterns for Christmas Gift Giving #HolidayGiftIdeas #ChristmasGifts

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The Chelly Wood doll (a Spin Master Liv doll with her face repainted and her hair dyed grey to look more like the real Chelly Wood) stands beside the original pattern for Simplicity 5861, a set of Skipper doll clothes including a blue coat. Beside this photo, we see a picture of the doll coat that Chelly made for Skipper, and it's blue, exactly like the one in the artwork on the front of the pattern, but Chelly's has a pinwheel printed lining. The text reads, "doll coat"
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Uncategorized

Does a doll’s coat need a lining, and if so, how do I choose the lining fabric?

Simplicity 5861 is an amazing ensemble of sewing patterns for Skipper, including two coats: a bolero and a winter coat. When I found this pattern on eBay last summer, I’d been searching for a high-quality version of it for years, so I snatched this up as soon as I saw that it was an uncut pattern — and let me tell you, this adorable pattern … Continue reading Does a doll’s coat need a lining, and if so, how do I choose the lining fabric?

Chelly Wood2 Comments
The text in this thumbnail reads, "How to improve a doll's bangs (fringes)" and it shows before and after photos of an Anna doll from Disney's Frozen. In the before photo, the bangs or fringes are separated into two wild curls, while in the after photo, the bangs or fringes lay more or less straight against her forehead. In the before photo, tiny braids extend above her head, whereas in the after photo, the braids are gone. The Chelly Wood dot com logo appears in the lower left corner.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Uncategorized

How to Improve a Doll’s Bangs (Fringes)

Yesterday we looked at “How to Unbraid a Doll’s Braided Hair” (see link), and today we’re going to learn how to get a doll’s bangs (or as they say in the UK, “fringes”) to lay flat. If you’ll notice in the photos above and below, the Anna doll from Frozen II has been played with a lot! And for whatever reason, her bangs/fringes are split … Continue reading How to Improve a Doll’s Bangs (Fringes)

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