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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

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."

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

A Lottie doll wears Easter clothes in pink. The text reads, "Free patterns" and has the logo for the Chelly Wood dot com website, where you can find hundreds of free printable doll clothes sewing patterns.

Sew super easy Easter doll clothes for Lottie dolls w/free patterns @ ChellyWood.com #Easter #CraftProjects

Scroll down to the second set of bullets to download the free printable PDF sewing pattern. Easter is just a hop, skip, and a jump away, so if you’re going to make some doll clothes for a child, this little felt top and matching Easter-egg-print skirt for a Lottie doll is just what you need, since it only takes about an hour to make (depending … Continue reading Sew super easy Easter doll clothes for Lottie dolls w/free patterns @ ChellyWood.com #Easter #CraftProjects

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.

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

Vintage Skipper wears a floor-length ball gown with a red bodice, decorated with red ribbons. Barbie wears a floor-length ball gown with a black bodice, decorated with black ribbons. Both dresses have white skirts and match in terms of style. The text reads "They Match!"

Matching patterns to fit Barbie and Skipper @ ChellyWood.com #Sewing for #Barbie

Did you know you could purchase patterns for Skipper and Barbie that match? Yup! I bought my Vogue 9964 pattern for vintage Skipper and vintage Barbie back when it first came out, in 1999. I made all of the outfits pictured on the envelope, and I can tell you that it’s not my favorite pattern. Why not? Well the purse is easy enough to make, … Continue reading Matching patterns to fit Barbie and Skipper @ ChellyWood.com #Sewing for #Barbie

How to make your Barbie dolls a wedding bouquet #craftproject for a #JuneWedding @ ChellyWood.com

Are you planning to make your Barbie a wedding dress for June? If so, you’ll need a bridal bouquet! It doesn’t take much at all to make a bridal bouquet for your Barbie wedding ensemble. There are only three ingredients that you’ll need to make your doll a pretty bouquet to hold on her ever-important wedding day, and today’s blog post will give you some … Continue reading How to make your Barbie dolls a wedding bouquet #craftproject for a #JuneWedding @ ChellyWood.com

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.

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