How to do a basic fly stitch #Embroidery #Boderie

  Today I’m re-posting my fly stitch embroidery tutorial from 2019. That’s because you may find this stitch helpful if you want to embroider my little jacket project that I’m posting tomorrow, for 6 inch dolls like Chelsea, Strawberry Shortcake, Anna and Elsa mini toddler dolls, and the 6 inch Dawn/Pippa dolls. Here’s a preview of that coat project: See that zigzag-shaped stitch running along … Continue reading How to do a basic fly stitch #Embroidery #Boderie

On a purple background we see a photo of a Barbie from the back, and her purple crop top has a row of cloth-covered buttons running down the length of the back of the shirt. Beside this image, a yellow button has been covered in yellow check gingham fabric and stitched. The text reads, "cloth-covered buttons".

How to make doll-sized fabric-covered buttons #CraftyMom #CraftProjects

If you just want the patterns and tutorial videos for making the whole outfit, please scroll down to the second set of bullets. Today’s craft project video shows you how to make cloth-covered buttons for dolls. In my video, you’ll see that I used 6 mm diameter buttons to form the back closure for a crop top that will fit Curvy Barbie, but I recommend … Continue reading How to make doll-sized fabric-covered buttons #CraftyMom #CraftProjects

A Curvy Barbie from Mattel models a handmade T-shirt with a three-tier skirt on a thumbnail square that says, "free curvy pattern" next to the Chelly Wood dot com logo. Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes.

Patterns for making a T-shirt and a summery three-tier skirt for Curvy Barbie #Summer #FreeStuff

For your free patterns and tutorial videos, please scroll down to the second set of bullets. My Curvy Barbie is just so lovely in this three-tier skirt with a tee shirt. She looks ready to take a summer vacation! But I want to remind you that the tee shirt she’s wearing is a tight fit, so be sure to use jersey fabric with a good … Continue reading Patterns for making a T-shirt and a summery three-tier skirt for Curvy Barbie #Summer #FreeStuff

Framed by a turquoise blue and purple quilted frame, we see the shabby envelope for McCall's teen fashion doll pattern number 3429, with a close-up of its view A (a body suit with wrap-around pants) and view B (a swimsuit) doll clothes sketches. The ChellyWood.com logo appears alongside the pattern.

Read the directions! McCall’s “Teen Fashion Doll” pattern 3429 #SewingFail #DollClothesPatterns

  In the northern hemisphere, summer is just around the corner, so it’s time to do a blog post on swimsuits! Sorry for the terrible condition of my pattern in today’s blog post. Not only is the envelope in bad physical condition, but when I purchased it, this pattern was also missing quite a few pieces. But it had the swimsuit/bodysuit pattern (which was what … Continue reading Read the directions! McCall’s “Teen Fashion Doll” pattern 3429 #SewingFail #DollClothesPatterns

Framed by a purple and turquoise blue quilted fabric frame, we see the Chelly Wood doll standing next to a book entitled, Little Quilts, with the subtitle "all through the house" by authors Alice Berg, Mary Ellen Von Holt, and Sylvia Johnson. In one corner of the book, it also says, "designer series." This book was published by "The Patchwork Place" in 1993.

Advice for Making a Doll Quilt #Books #Quilting

I received an email from one of my followers, asking me for advice on doll-sized quilts. The question she asked was, “[If] you were to make a doll blanket or quilt for [a 14 inch] doll, what dimensions would you suggest?” So today’s blog post is a variation on the advice I gave her over email… There’s a fantastic book called Little Quilts : All … Continue reading Advice for Making a Doll Quilt #Books #Quilting

The image shows a doll being fitted for a pair of denim shorts. Beside her lies a pair of sewing scissors, a rotund holder for straight pins, some blue thread, and a pair of jeans with some fabric cut out. The text reads, "Earth Day Challenge!" Click here to learn more about the Earth Day Challenge for sewing doll clothes during the week of April 20th through the 27th in 2024, for Earth Day.

How did you do, with my Earth Day challenge? Please leave a comment! #Recycling #Sewing

Did you know recycling old clothes is good for the environment? It can save you money too! And in case you didn’t know, third world countries, where garments and textiles are often made, have the least amount of funding for pollution prevention and clean-up. This leads to air pollution, rain forest depletion, and damage to drinking water and other essential resources. If you’d like to … Continue reading How did you do, with my Earth Day challenge? Please leave a comment! #Recycling #Sewing

A vintage skipper from the 1970s is pictured wearing (on the left) a three quarter length sleeve bolero jacket or coat with matching pleated skirt and knee high socks along with plastic shoes; (on the right) a sleeveless cropped top with underpants and knee high socks, all made of yellow stretchy jersey fabric. The text reads "for sale" and sideways, "doll and shoes not included" over the top of the chellywood.com logo.

Still for sale in my online store: handmade doll clothes for Stacie or vintage Skipper #DollClothes #Handmade

The entire ensemble pictured above has been for sale in my online shop for a while now, but I only recently realized that I’d only advertised it as an outfit that will fit Mattel’s Stacie dolls, when in fact, it was originally designed to fit vintage Skipper. So I thought I’d re-post it with at least a couple of images showing it on my vintage … Continue reading Still for sale in my online store: handmade doll clothes for Stacie or vintage Skipper #DollClothes #Handmade

Baby Dresden doll quilt with vintage fabrics on sale thumbnail text reads "now only thirty dollars plus shipping" -- baby Dresden doll quilt with vintage fabrics. On sale!

SALE! $5 off on this lovely handmade doll quilt! #AmericanGirl #DollCollector

When I first announced that my mother-in-law’s handmade baby Dresden doll quilt was for sale in my store, the asking price was $35 plus $7 shipping. But that was back in February, and well, it hasn’t sold yet. So my mother-in-law, Anita, asked if we could lower the price a bit. It’s now up for grabs at a mere $30 (plus the usual $7 shipping … Continue reading SALE! $5 off on this lovely handmade doll quilt! #AmericanGirl #DollCollector

The image shows a doll being fitted for a pair of denim shorts. Beside her lies a pair of sewing scissors, a rotund holder for straight pins, some blue thread, and a pair of jeans with some fabric cut out. The text reads, "Earth Day Challenge!" Click here to learn more about the Earth Day Challenge for sewing doll clothes during the week of April 20th through the 27th in 2024, for Earth Day.

Challenge! Let’s use recycled fabric to make doll clothes this coming week! #EarthDay #Sustainability #TextileWaste

Please read the article below to learn more about FabScrap, and the good things they’re doing to help our planet, as well as Chelly Wood’s sewing challenge for Earth Day 2024! 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 … Continue reading Challenge! Let’s use recycled fabric to make doll clothes this coming week! #EarthDay #Sustainability #TextileWaste

The text reads "sewing room for dolls (DIY)" and the image shows a glue gun poised over the top of an open diorama room box that contains a miniature dress form mannequin, a table, and on the table stands a tiny vintage sewing machine. Visit my website, Chelly Wood dot com to learn how to make your own doll's sewing room diorama like the one I use in my stop motion videos.

Would you like to make a sewing room for your dolls? Here’s how I made mine… #Dolls #Diorama

  Over the years, I’ve had lots of people ask me how I made my doll’s sewing room. There are plenty of options out there, but today’s blog post shows you how I turned a Gloria home office dollhouse set for 1:6 scale dolls (i.e. Barbie-sized) into the little sewing room you see in my videos. Now the earliest version of this sewing room used … Continue reading Would you like to make a sewing room for your dolls? Here’s how I made mine… #Dolls #Diorama

What’s the Best Book for Teaching a Child to Sew? — Sew in Style by Erin Hentzel! #CraftyMoms #CraftyKids

Full disclosure here… I’m actually acquainted with Erin Hentzel, the author of Avery Lane Design’s book, Sew in Style. She’s a member of one of the doll clothes sewing groups that I belong to on Facebook, and she’s a fellow instructor at the Creative Spark Online Learning platform. Furthermore, as an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. But I actually bought this book back … Continue reading What’s the Best Book for Teaching a Child to Sew? — Sew in Style by Erin Hentzel! #CraftyMoms #CraftyKids

The image shows someone doing needlework in a hoop with three skeins of embroidery floss beside them, in the colors blue (top), green (center), and red (bottom). The words at the top of the purple-background-square frame say, "how to thread an embroidery needle" and these words are, indeed, underlined with an embroidery needle.

How to thread an embroidery needle (a quick animation)… #Animation #Embroidery

Today’s craft tutorial shows how to thread an embroidery needle… For several years, I was the only crafter on YouTube with a tutorial video showing how to thread your embroidery needle. In fact, that was one of my most popular videos long ago. But recently it occurred to me that the old tutorial was a little outdated. The videography was a little too pixelated, the … Continue reading How to thread an embroidery needle (a quick animation)… #Animation #Embroidery

The image shows a homeless man smiling while he holds a large quilt in front of a tent. The text reads, "Charity."

Do you quilt? My cousin’s story will warm your heart! ❤️ #Charity #Homelessness

When my cousin Anita Queen posted these pictures on Facebook, I called her up and asked if I could interview her about her charitable work as a quilter. Being a family relative and fellow seamstress, she gladly shared her story. Have you ever had a quilt that seems to grow dust? You’ve posted it on Etsy, taken it to craft fairs, and no matter what … Continue reading Do you quilt? My cousin’s story will warm your heart! ❤️ #Charity #Homelessness

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.

I’ve been sewing with vintage McCall’s 9449 and here’s what I’ve learned about sleeve elastic! #Sewing #Vintage

My niece has a birthday coming up, and I’ll be giving her an 18 inch American Girl doll this year. I’ve made her a few doll clothes with my own, personally-designed patterns, of course, and I’ve also been experimenting with Simplicity 5276 (a modern pattern). But for my favorite outfit I’ve made so far, I used my re-sizing formula to adapt the pattern for making … Continue reading I’ve been sewing with vintage McCall’s 9449 and here’s what I’ve learned about sleeve elastic! #Sewing #Vintage

At the top of this purple polka dot square image, it says, "Let's get crafty." Below these words, six boxes suggest the following topics: sewing tips, dioramas, miniatures, doll shoes, embroidery, and a final category called "and more."

Let’s Get Crafty! A link to galleries and pages with free craft patterns /crafting tips @ ChellyWood.com #FreePatterns and #CraftTutorials

Click on the links below to access the craft advice, free patterns, and crafty tutorial videos that interest you: Buyer’s Guide Chelly’s Classes Dioramas and Miniatures Doll Play Videos Doll Sandals, Shoes, and Boots Fabric-covered Buttons DIY Tutorial Fan Mail General Crafts and Hobbies Holiday Crafts Interviews with Crafters Links Measurements Music Videos to Inspire Your Crafting Paper Crafts Pillows Pincushions Plush Toys Selling Your … Continue reading Let’s Get Crafty! A link to galleries and pages with free craft patterns /crafting tips @ ChellyWood.com #FreePatterns and #CraftTutorials