Please keep me in your prayers everyone. I spent two days in the hospital before the doctors discovered that I have West Nile Virus. I’m back at home now, but like “Long Covid,” the after effects of West Nile Virus can lead to long-term complications. Right now I’m on strict bed rest, so I’ll be “out of the office” for a while, as far as … Continue reading Please keep me in your prayers!
I’ve been doing a series of blog posts about McCall’s Barbie pattern 5462, and specifically, I’ve been focused on the shirt pattern found in view B. I made all of these garments from the View B pattern, and as you can see, they are each just a little bit different: Today I’m going to focus on the one in the upper right corner of the … Continue reading What can you do if you cut a neckline too large for your doll? #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns
Do you see that blue satin shirt on the left in this photo? It’s the boatneck shirt from my McCall’s Barbie pattern 5462, but I’ve altered the neckline. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been showing you different ways to alter a single pattern for making a Barbie doll shirt. Today I’m going to show you how simple it is to change a boatneck … Continue reading How to alter the neckline of a boatneck shirt pattern @ ChellyWood.com #DollClothesPatterns #Sewing
If you’ve only recently started to sew doll clothes, you may feel a little challenged by projects that use a boatneck. According to Webster’s online dictionary, a boatneck top has “a wide neckline that extends toward the tips of the shoulders.” Don’t be discouraged when you see this type of neckline because I’m going to give you some tips by sharing one such project, from … Continue reading How to sew a boatneck top, using McCall’s Barbie pattern 5462 #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns
See that T-shirt in View B with the three-quarter-length sleeves? I’m going to focus today on how to make alterations to that shirt, which is found in the McCall’s Crafts pattern number 5462. In fact, I’ve spent much of the month of April fiddling around with that View B 3/4 sleeve length shirt pattern as well as the regular-sleeve T-shirt in View G, so I … Continue reading Alterations on the fold line with McCall’s Crafts pattern number 5462 #Sewing #DollClothesPatterns
In spite of the tiny sewing machine that often appears in my doll clothes tutorial videos, I actually sew a lot of my doll clothes by hand. I find that hand stitching gives you greater control when sewing tiny items. If you’re ever struggling with a sleeve or zipper attachment, I recommend switching from your sewing machine to sewing by hand. It may actually save … Continue reading How to use a needle threader for hand-sewing doll clothes projects @DritzSewing #DollClothesPatterns #SewingTips
I used to do a blog post under the category “Tape Measure Tuesday,” and I’ve been thinking about bringing this feature back. After all, when it comes to sewing, measurements are important! They help you decide whether or not your favorite doll can swap clothes (and sewing patterns) with other dolls of a similar size and shape. Today I’d like to get a little feedback … Continue reading Should I bring back doll sewing measurements? Your opinion is needed! #Sewing #TapeMeasureTuesday
I get requests for doll pajamas all the time, and occasionally I’ll mention McCall’s Crafts Pattern #2862 as a good option. What my fans and followers don’t realize is that pajama patterns are readily available for nearly all the dolls I’ve designed patterns for… right here on ChellyWood.com! Yep. If there’s a dress pattern, it can become a nightgown pattern. It just depends upon how … Continue reading Baby Doll Pajamas with McCall’s Crafts Pattern 2862 #DollClothes #DollClothesPatterns
Please consider sharing this video on social media, to help spread the word about FabScrap, and the good things they’re doing to help our planet. 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 whether or not FabScrap would be … Continue reading Fabric Scrap Haul from FabScrap, a fabric recycling center in New York #Sustainability #TextileWaste
When I was a little girl, any doll dress that had lace, rickrack, or ribbon trim was always a favorite of mine. My cousin and I would “do a pick” for doll clothes before we started our play time. That’s where you lay out all the doll clothes on a bed, table, or floor, and take turns picking which doll clothes were part of your … Continue reading The trim makes all the difference with vintage Simplicity 1844, a #vintage 16 inch baby doll pattern for #dollclothes
Today’s tutorial video shows you how to use rickrack trim, like the trim shown at the bottom of the dress below: Today’s tutorial video is actually a re-post. To learn why I’m doing so many re-posts on my website, revisit the blog post called, “There’s a CAT in my Sewing Room!” While I’m gone, feel free to look over some of the basic sewing … Continue reading What is rickrack trim? And how do you use it? @ChellyWood.com #dollclothes #sewingproject
Have you ever wondered how I made the tiny sewing room that appears at the start of my sewing tutorials? Today I’m going to show you how I made my original sewing room, some of the problems I’ve had with it, changes I’ve made to it, and a few tips/tricks for building your own dioramas. I threw in a quick look at bloopers and … Continue reading A look at my miniature doll sewing room “behind the scenes” (with bloopers) @ ChellyWood.com #BehindTheScenes #Miniatures
Scroll down to the second set of bullets for the free PDF sewing patterns. I like to call this my “mermaid skirt” for 14 to 15 inch dolls like Wellie Wishers, Hearts for Hearts girls, Disney Princess 13-14 inch dolls, and similar-sized dolls. I call it that because, if you look closely, the fabric of the skirt is decorated with sea creatures, including cute little … Continue reading Sew this precious outfit for Disney Princess Toddler dolls with free patterns @ ChellyWood.com #CraftyMoms #DollClothesPatterns
The following information is also found on my “Frequently Asked Questions” page (i.e. FAQ’s). You may have noticed that my difficulty scale’s flowers have changed colors over time. You can tell how old my patterns are by the colors of the flowers on them. Now this doesn’t seem related, but actually it is… My oldest daughter graduated from Idaho State University recently with a college … Continue reading Helpful Tips and FAQ’s for People Who Love to Sew for Dolls #DollClothes #SewingTips
What we now call Ideal Toy Corporation’s vintage Tammy dolls was the original fashion doll, back when the idea of a “fashion doll” was still pretty new. She was called, “The doll you love to dress!” The image above shows my Tammy doll and the Chelly doll holding up vintage Simplicity pattern 4883 for sewing a wardrobe to fit Tammy dolls. This pattern (not this … Continue reading Learning to alter doll clothes patterns with Ideal Tammy Doll patterns #CollectibleDolls #TapeMeasureTuesday #DollClothesPatterns
