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 But recently it occurred to me that the old tutorial was a little outdated.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

What do you want to read about thumbnail image of Barbie laptop on a purple coffee table with a question mark

Tell me about your doll world… Who are you? What do you do with dolls? #DollCollector #QandA #DollChat

The rules have changed for bloggers. When I first started this website, back in 2014 (yep, it has been 10 years), I could learn a lot about my followers from the analytics provided by my web hosting service. I knew how old they were, what part of the world they lived in, and whether they were male or female. I could even see what search … Continue reading Tell me about your doll world… Who are you? What do you do with dolls? #DollCollector #QandA #DollChat

The text reads "making pants with Simplicity 5276" and the image shows an American Girl 18 inch Kaya doll wearing a sleeveless top and a pair of denim look pants alongside the scanned image of the Simplicity 5276 sewing pattern for 18 inch dolls.

Sewing my 18 inch dolls some pants/jeans with Simplicity 5276… #ShowAndTell #Sewing

I’ve been making a pair of denim-look pants for my 18 inch American Girl Kaya doll, using the sewing pattern Simplicity 5276. I really like the versatility of this pattern. As you can see in the image above, it offers a lot of casual combo outfits for an 18 inch doll, and it includes options for both summer and winter wear. Before I go on, … Continue reading Sewing my 18 inch dolls some pants/jeans with Simplicity 5276… #ShowAndTell #Sewing

The text reads, "Breyer Rider doll clothes for sale, eight dollars plus shipping at Chelly Wood dot com." The photo shows navy blue pants with wide legs and a scoop neck striped long sleeved tee shirt sitting on a cutting mat.

Breyer Rider handmade doll clothes for sale $8.00 for top and pants! #Breyer #Horses

Crazy as this sounds, there doesn’t seem to be anybody making doll clothes for the Breyer Riders, and after receiving many requests for me to sell my handmade Breyer Rider doll clothes, I’ve finally broken down and made some just for that purpose… to sell. The Breyer company is best known for its model horses. I’ve got five of these horses pictured below, so you … Continue reading Breyer Rider handmade doll clothes for sale $8.00 for top and pants! #Breyer #Horses

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.

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

Text reads "American Girl Kiya Doll Clothes for Sale" with a misspelling of the name Kaya. The text also says, "twelve dollars plus shipping at Chelly Wood dot com" and the red "for sale" medallion appears in one corner. The full Kaya Native American dress, boots, and belt are shown on a blue cutting mat.

New in the Shop: $12 for American Girl Kaya Deerskin Outfit — This is a DEAL! #AmericanGirl #DollCollectors

Okay everybody, I’ve been holding onto these doll clothes, thinking I would eventually sell them with a Kaya doll I found at a thrift store and cleaned up, but it’s time to give up on that dream. I never ran across a Kaya doll at a thrift store, so I’m just going to sell these doll clothes for someone else to enjoy. These lovely Native … Continue reading New in the Shop: $12 for American Girl Kaya Deerskin Outfit — This is a DEAL! #AmericanGirl #DollCollectors

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.

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

A Mattel Ken or Ryan doll stands in a whitewashed room wearing a tux. To his right is a white pillar with climbing vines curling their way around it. To his left is the bust of a famous composer, and above that, a window with a purple painted frame. The Ken dolls wedding attire consists of a white cotton shirt with collar and tie, a black felt jacket, and a pair of black cotton trousers. He wears black plastic dress shoes as well.

Free Ken doll jacket patterns, shirt pattern, and pants patterns, to make a full suit!

I’m re-posting this ken suit pattern page because I’ve updated two of the tutorial videos. This was originally part of a wedding set for Tall Barbie and Fashionista Ken, but as you’ll see in the first bulleted list below, the wedding ensemble for Ken will fit a number of different dolls. Before I go any further, I have to make my affiliate marketing statement: as … Continue reading Free Ken doll jacket patterns, shirt pattern, and pants patterns, to make a full suit!

This image shows a single music note with the words "inspirational crafting music" and it accompanies crafting or sewing inspirational music videos made by Chelly Wood, using the musicians featured on the Animoto movie making platform.

Inspirational quiet crafting music for sewing doll clothes w/Simplicity 5861 Skipper patterns @ ChellyWood.com #Music #MusicVideos

Okay, folks, I’ve created yet another music video to inspire your crafts! This music has gentle guitar and ukulele melodies in each of the instrumental tunes. Today’s video features the video clips and photos I took while making doll clothes for Skipper, using Simplicity 5861 vintage Skipper doll clothes sewing patterns. If you look back at Tuesday’s blog post, you’ll understand that by adding this … Continue reading Inspirational quiet crafting music for sewing doll clothes w/Simplicity 5861 Skipper patterns @ ChellyWood.com #Music #MusicVideos

The image shows the Chelly Wood doll holding an envelope. Beside her is a sewing machine and behind her is a dess form modeling a handmade doll dress. The watermark says, "Chelly Wood dot com : free patterns and tutorials."

Fan mail… “Love your free sewing patterns! Is there anything I can do in return?” #FanMail #FreePatterns

Every now and then I get an email, a public comment on this website, or even a letter in my post office box that says, “Thank you so much for providing all these free doll clothes patterns! Is there anything I can do in return?” Having recently received similar fan mail, I thought I’d do a quick blog post answering that commonly-asked question: “Is there … Continue reading Fan mail… “Love your free sewing patterns! Is there anything I can do in return?” #FanMail #FreePatterns