On a purple background, a woman's hand holds up a yellow card with a blue stripe running down the left side. At the top of the bleu stripe, the Dritz logo appears as white logo image and text on top of a black background. The card holds 10 of the 12 sew-on snaps that were originally place on the card. Two of the snap locations are now vacated and holes are punched through the card where the snaps would have been.

Snaps for Sewing Projects: a Great Way for Beginners to Close their Doll Clothes! #Sewing #DollClothes

Note: As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Today’s blog post is the ninth post in my series on “What to include in a beginner’s sewing kit.” And we’ll be discussing snaps today. If it’s doll clothes you’re wanting to make, you’ll need some snaps to close the back of the shirts and dresses you’ll be sewing, and as you can see in … Continue reading Snaps for Sewing Projects: a Great Way for Beginners to Close their Doll Clothes! #Sewing #DollClothes

The text in this thumbnail says, "Instrumental Christmas Music for Crafting" and it shows music notes surrounding craft projects like a handmade pincushion, paper crafts, and sewing projects. This is the thumbnail representing a Christmas music video that's meant to inspire crafters.

New music video to inspire your crafts for the holidays… #ChristmasCrafts #ChristmasMusic

You may remember that when I was sick with West Nile virus last spring, I was confined to a reclined position, day and night. I was trying to pass the time by crafting, and I wanted to find some “crafting inspirational videos” on YouTube… But there were almost no videos like that! So I created my first “Crafting Inspiration” music video. Today’s video offers holiday … Continue reading New music video to inspire your crafts for the holidays… #ChristmasCrafts #ChristmasMusic

A purple frame encases the text, "free pattern" above the Chelly Wood dot com logo. These words accompany a photo of a Hairmazing Fashion Forward doll in a pencil skirt and tee.

Make a T-shirt and pencil skirt for Hairmazing Fashion Forward dolls w/today’s free doll clothes patterns @ ChellyWood.com #HolidayProjects #Crafting

For your free patterns and tutorial videos, please scroll down to the second set of bullets. Note: as an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This week I’m giving you the free printable PDF sewing patterns for making the “business casual” style outfit shown at the top of this blog post. Granted, these patterns have been available before, but since the Hairmazing Fashion Forward … Continue reading Make a T-shirt and pencil skirt for Hairmazing Fashion Forward dolls w/today’s free doll clothes patterns @ ChellyWood.com #HolidayProjects #Crafting

A little elf peeks around the corner of this thumbnail square. She wears a red suit with a red stocking cap that has a tiny pom-pom on the end. She waves at the onlookers. Over her head it reads, "December's holiday surprise!" This image accompanies the announcement that Elf on the Shelf will receive some free doll clothes sewing patterns at Chelly Wood dot com this December.

Announcement: Guess who’s making an appearance on ChellyWood.com in December…

Note: As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Since this blog began, every December I’ve gotten requests from its followers to create a few doll clothes patterns to fit the Elf on the Shelf doll. Last year, my inbox was full of requests for Elf on the Shelf outfits! But I didn’t own an Elf on the Shelf… until last January. After the … Continue reading Announcement: Guess who’s making an appearance on ChellyWood.com in December…

The text inside the turquoise blue ribbon at the top reads "hairmazing fashioin dolls' clothes" and beneath this, within the purple background is a white arrow that reads "a whole gallery of free doll clothes sewing patterns" followed by the logo for Chelly Wood dot com. The white arrow points at four images of the Hairmazing fashion forward swimsuit doll modeling handmade fly-front high-waisted shorts with a tee shirt, a three-tier skirt with a tee shirt, a pencil skirt with a tee shirt, and a pair of jeans with a T-shirt.

Free doll clothes patterns for 11.25 inch (28.5 cm) Hairmazing Fashion Forward dolls (Gallery)

Please click on the clothes you would like to make. These patterns will fit Hairmazing Fashion Forward “swimsuit” dolls, which are made by Just Play, LLC, of Florida (USA). Not what you’re looking for? Behind the scenes, I’ve created a course called “How to Alter Doll Clothes Patterns.” With this course, you can take the free patterns provided here and re-design them to suit your … Continue reading Free doll clothes patterns for 11.25 inch (28.5 cm) Hairmazing Fashion Forward dolls (Gallery)

Here we see a collage of eight different Christmas or holiday fabric patterns. In the first row we see (left to right) a green sweater fabric with tiny reindeer, a white fabric with light blue swirls and holiday images, a green-on-red plaid, and a white sweater fabric with tiny red snowflakes and trees in a row. The bottom row of fabrics can be described as follows (again, left to right): Christmas gnomes, sprigs of evergreen trees with red and white dots scattered about, white fabric with red holiday candy stripes, and green leaves with red berries. In the center of the collage, the white words "holiday fabrics" appears on a green strip.

Fabric — a necessity for a beginner’s sewing kit! #LearningToSew #Sewing

Please note: As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Today’s blog post is part of a series of posts on the top 10 items I would include in a sewing kit for an absolute beginner, who is just learning to sew. Fabric is the #8 item on the list, but by no means less important than the others I’ve blogged about so far. … Continue reading Fabric — a necessity for a beginner’s sewing kit! #LearningToSew #Sewing

Within a purple frame, a holiday card reads, 'happy holidays' surrounded by botanical vines and wreaths. The text above the watercolor painted holiday card reads "DIY Holiday Card." The adjoining blog post offers a tutorial video, showing how to make a Christmas card using watercolor pencils and Sharpie markers.

Holiday Card Making with Watercolor Pencils! #HappyHolidays #ChristmasCardIdeas

  Please note: As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. In today’s video and blog post, I’m taking a brief break from my usual video formats. I created this “artsy” video for both you, my regular followers (in case you want to pick up a new hobby with watercolor pencils) and my art students at school. (I work at a middle school for … Continue reading Holiday Card Making with Watercolor Pencils! #HappyHolidays #ChristmasCardIdeas

The image shows sewing pattern Simplicity 8281 for Barbie, Cher, and Farrah Fawcett dolls.

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

The text in this thumbnail reads "What is a seam ripper used for?" and the purple frame surrounds a red seam ripper tool with a metal pointy end and a red plastic ball on the shorter of the forked ends. The handle of the seam ripper / unpicking tool is made of shiny red plastic.

What is a seam ripper used for? How to use an unpicking tool… #ChristmasCrafts #Handmade

Note: As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Here at ChellyWood.com, I’ve been giving you my list of the top 10 items I would put in a beginner’s sewing kit. Coming in at #7 is a seam ripper (AKA an unpicking tool). A beginner may not know how to use one of these handy little items, so I’ll include in today’s blog posts some … Continue reading What is a seam ripper used for? How to use an unpicking tool… #ChristmasCrafts #Handmade

The image shows a close-up of the digital sewing planner page that was designed by Chelly Wood for setting sewing goals. The top of the image says "Editable PDF" and the edge of the planner is decorated with purple stitching on a white background with lace edging. The heading on the planner itself says "My Sewing Goals" in purple, but you can also see where someone has typed in "Date: January 1, 2023" and in one of the flag-shaped, stitching-edge bars where you are meant to type your goals, someone has typed in "Clean Sewing Room." This shows an example of how this digital planner is editable.

Set sewing goals for 2024 with my 99 cent digital, editable sewing planner @ ChellyWood.com #SewingGoals #NewYearsResolution

The purchase of this item in my Etsy store will help me pay the bills for running my free doll clothes pattern website! As the end of 2023 rolls around, I’ll be reviewing last year’s goals and updating my New Year’s Resolution planner.  Each year, I use this one-sheet planner to set goals, and I’m always surprised at the end of a year, by how … Continue reading Set sewing goals for 2024 with my 99 cent digital, editable sewing planner @ ChellyWood.com #SewingGoals #NewYearsResolution

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.

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

Slice Through Sewing with These Beginner-Friendly Scissors #Fiskars

Please note: As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you follow my YouTube channel, you’ve probably noticed that I love my little Fiskars Stitchers mini scissors, and yes, if you’re new to sewing, you can buy those too. However the #6 MUST-have item in my list of things to put in a beginner’s sewing kit, is a pair of actual sewing scissors. … Continue reading Slice Through Sewing with These Beginner-Friendly Scissors #Fiskars

On a turquoise blue square of linen fabric, we see a photograph of a small tan bear wearing a cute red hat with a turned-up brim. The overlay says "free patterns" and the watermark reminds us to go to ChellyWood.com for free printable PDF sewing patterns for making the stuffed animal shown here, along with his Paddington-bear-like hat.

Paddington bear plush toy free sewing patterns #PaddingtonBear #FreePatterns

Please scroll down to the second set of bullets for the free printable PDF sewing pattern and links to any additional relevant tutorial videos. Note: as an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. How cute is this little fellow? Today’s blog post is actually a re-post, which dates back to when my best friend’s daughter was pregnant, and she wanted books for her baby … Continue reading Paddington bear plush toy free sewing patterns #PaddingtonBear #FreePatterns

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"

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?

Six green stocking caps (two with red pom poms) and six red stocking caps (three with black pom poms, two with white pom poms, and one with no pom pom on top) appear on a pink cutting board that shows they are quite tiny, being about an inch tall or so each.

The Story of the Miniature Stocking Caps: Part 3

My regular followers will remember a story that I shared last summer about Evelyn, who hand-knitted a plethora of itty-bitty stocking caps before she passed away. I bought them at a church rummage sale, from a woman who seemed very disrespectful toward Evelyn. I opened my online store last summer, and attempted to sell these very tiny handmade stocking caps in a way that would … Continue reading The Story of the Miniature Stocking Caps: Part 3