A vintage 1968 blond Bubble Cut Barbie stands inside a thumbnail, surrounded by tape measures. Beside her is an icon of a dress form for a sewing room, and on the dress form it says, "Tape Measure Tuesday." Below this the text reads, "with doll clothing designer Chelly Wood."

Tape Measure Tuesday: Let’s measure a vintage Bubble Cut Barbie from 1968! #VintageToys #TapeMeasureTuesday

Please note: when you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include Amazon, Etsy, and the eBay Partner Network. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. To learn more about how my website uses affiliate marketing, please visit the website’s Privacy Policy page. Today’s … Continue reading Tape Measure Tuesday: Let’s measure a vintage Bubble Cut Barbie from 1968! #VintageToys #TapeMeasureTuesday

The image shows an African American or African doll wearing her underpants and bra. All around her are images of outfits someone has made for her. She stands next to a tape measure.

Tape Measure Tuesday: Measurements for Sewing Dolls’ Clothes #TapeMeasureTuesday #Sewing

Please note: the gallery below is a work in progress. I’ll add more dolls as time allows. Dolls appear in alphabetical order by the name they are most commonly known for. With that said, please click on the doll you would like to see sewing measurements for:   Behind the scenes, I’m creating a series of classes in doll clothing design techniques, so you can design your own … Continue reading Tape Measure Tuesday: Measurements for Sewing Dolls’ Clothes #TapeMeasureTuesday #Sewing

The text says, "Shoes for Ken" and it displays (left to right, top to bottom) a black pair of work boots, a pair of sneakers that look similar to Vans, a pair of Reebok style Ken sneakers, a pair of bright blue wingtip style shoes with gold laces, a pair of rust colored sneakers with angled white stripes, and a pair of men's mules or clogs.

Ken shoes! Let’s talk about Ken shoes, accessories, and fashions, old and new… #VintageKen #DollShoes

I grew up in the 1970’s, when Ken dolls were few and far between on the shelves in stores. Even harder to find was any type of fashion for Ken dolls. And based on the kinds of emails I get relatively frequently, it’s still a lot harder to find clothes and accessories for Ken than it is to find clothes and accessories for Barbie. Today … Continue reading Ken shoes! Let’s talk about Ken shoes, accessories, and fashions, old and new… #VintageKen #DollShoes

The Chelly Wood doll (AKA Spin Master Liv doll) stands next to the vintage Barbie sewing pattern Advance 2896. This thumbnail image is surrounded by a purple and turquoise blue quilted frame.

Progress with Judy Littlechap’s Wardrobe — Which dress should I design with Advance 2896’s bodice? #Sewingchat #VintageSewing

My official date of retirement from my day job as a school librarian is almost one month away, and I’m buzzing with excitement! I would put a lot more time into these blog posts (and other doll related projects), if I wasn’t exhausted after work every single day. So I think you’ll understand when I say, even though I purchased my Judy Littlechap doll in … Continue reading Progress with Judy Littlechap’s Wardrobe — Which dress should I design with Advance 2896’s bodice? #Sewingchat #VintageSewing

Seated in her sewing room, we see the Chelly Wood doll holding up a sign that shows a page from Facebook, but over the top of the Facebook page, someone has a giant red X through the text and the word "NO!" has been written beside the big X.

Here’s why I haven’t been on Facebook lately… #Disgruntled #Censorship

Do you recognize the header at the top of today’s blog post? If so, you’ve probably navigated over to my Facebook page at some point in the past. The last time I posted something on my Facebook page was February 25th. In fact, I haven’t even opened my Facebook account since then. Not even once. Until today, that is, when I went in to take … Continue reading Here’s why I haven’t been on Facebook lately… #Disgruntled #Censorship

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

A photo of a very old bisque baby doll is on the right and on the left, a lineup of modern fashion dolls wearing Victorian dresses includes different sizes of dolls. The text reads, "World Doll Day 2024."

Doll lovers meet up! Join me for doll-collecting fun in the Seattle area! — #DollCollector #BarbieCollector

If you’ve ever wanted to go to one of these official doll shows, I invite you to attend this one. You can meet me, in person, because I’ll be attending too! I registered for the Barbie Breakfast, but there will be so many great dolls to see at this event! In today’s blog post, I’m going to give you a little background information on each … Continue reading Doll lovers meet up! Join me for doll-collecting fun in the Seattle area! — #DollCollector #BarbieCollector

This is a close-up of one of the flowers on Anita's baby Dresden quilt. The center of the flower is pink. The fabric on the flower petal at 2 o'clock is a grey and white check. The fabric at three o'clock is a bright blue-purple-yellow-orange feather patterned fabric; the petal at four o'clock is a pink floral fabric; the fabric at five o'clock is a petal made of a leafy green fabric; the petal at seven o'clock is white with very tiny red polka dots; the fabric at eight o'clock is a vintage red with tiny white flowers and leaves; at ten o'clock we see a petal made of purple mottled fabric; and the eleven o'clock or noonish petal is made of a blue and green floral fabric. The whole flower has been appliqued by hand onto a white square, which is surrounded by a barely-visible blue fabric that has an almost not-noticeable blue floral print that barely shows.

Today’s blog post is for those of you who sew for dolls, but you don’t quilt… #DollQuilt #DollCollector

Yes, today’s blog post is for all the followers, friends, and other folks who love to sew for dolls, but perhaps they don’t enjoy quilting. Why? Because I have a quilt for sale in my store today! The quilt you see below was made by my very talented mother-in-law, Anita, who has made almost all of the tiny quilts you’ve seen in my videos and … Continue reading Today’s blog post is for those of you who sew for dolls, but you don’t quilt… #DollQuilt #DollCollector

This thumbnail image shows three handmade doll clothes outfits: on the left is a pair of pants with a shirt that buttons in front and has three-quarter length sleeves; in the center is a circle skirt dress with a bolero; and on the right is a pair of shorts with a short-sleeved shirt. The text reads, "summer projects: what did you get done" and below the doll clothes it says, "Please share!"

Did you get some of your summer sewing goals accomplished?

At the start of July, we shared our summer sewing goals and summer doll projects in this blog post. At that time, I was hoping to make some of the doll clothes from the McCall’s 4716 Sunshine Family pattern set (the purple arrow in the image above points to it), and I was planning to make a few things for Barbie too. However, I got … Continue reading Did you get some of your summer sewing goals accomplished?

The image shows a laundry line of doll clothes that fit 14 inch, 15 inch, 16 inch, or 17 inch dolls like Wellie Wishers, Hearts for Hearts girls, vintage Velvet dolls, or Best Friends Club BFC Ink dolls. There are free printable sewing patterns for making all of these doll clothes at ChellyWood.com

How to Care for Your Handmade Doll Clothes

*Please note: when you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include Amazon, JoAnn Fabric, Etsy, and the eBay Partner Network. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. To learn more about how my website uses affiliate marketing, please visit the website’s Privacy Policy … Continue reading How to Care for Your Handmade Doll Clothes

Here we see a doll's matted, snarled hair flying wildly behind her head. The doll's face is obscured. The ChellyWood.com logo appears below the image and to the left.

Doll Hair Repair — Is it ever a hopeless endeavor?

I frequent second-hand stores when I feel like having a “fun day out,” and I like to look for used dolls that can be repaired and given a new wardrobe. But one of the most challenging problems with used dolls is matted up, tangled hair. I’ve had some amazing successes with dolls that had such horrendous hair problems, I honestly didn’t think I could do … Continue reading Doll Hair Repair — Is it ever a hopeless endeavor?

On a blue background, we see a pair of yellow ankle pants for a very small doll -- handmade by Chelly Wood -- and the words "Summer projects!" This is a thumbnail for a blog post about summer sewing projects for people who enjoy sewing doll clothes.

What are you sewing this summer? Let’s share for inspiration! #Summer #Sewing

Let’s share! What are you working on this summer? What sewing projects do you have underway? Leave your summer sewing project descriptions in the comments section to give inspiration to everyone who reads this blog post! See the pile of vintage sewing patterns at the top of this post? That’s what I’ve been working on… I found all of these lovely uncut, vintage doll clothes … Continue reading What are you sewing this summer? Let’s share for inspiration! #Summer #Sewing

There's a photo of a project M C squared doll in her underpants and a short T-shirt with one arm outstretched. She's lying on a Work Lion cutting mat. the text to her left says, "Project em see squared doll -- tape measure Tuesday -- with doll clothes designer, Chelly Wood.

Tape Measure Tuesday: What are the sewing measurements for a Project MC2 Doll? #TapeMeasureTuesday #DollClothesPatterns

Maybe you’re not familiar with the Project MC2 dolls. They’re based on a TV show that can still be seen on Netflix, although I think they quit making new episodes in 2017. What I loved about these dolls when they first came out was the message on the box: “Smart is the New Cool!” I bought a couple of the Project MC2 dolls, back then, … Continue reading Tape Measure Tuesday: What are the sewing measurements for a Project MC2 Doll? #TapeMeasureTuesday #DollClothesPatterns

This is a thumbnail for the "Tape Measure Tuesday" Momoko Doll measurements blog post for Chelly Wood dot com. The hashtag for this feature is #TapeMeasureTuesday, and this blog post will give you specific sewing measurements for the body of a Momoko doll from Sekiguchi (Pet Works).

Tape Measure Tuesday: What are the sewing measurements of Momoko Dolls? #MomokoDoll #SewingDollClothes

You asked me to bring back the “Tape Measure Tuesday” feature, so here is the first installment. In case you’re unfamiliar with Momoko Doll, she’s a Japanese doll, made by Sekiguchi (AKA Pet Works), and she stars in my stop motion video of Romeo and Juliet with Dolls as the lead female character, Juliet. Although she has a bigger chest than Skipper, and she’s a … Continue reading Tape Measure Tuesday: What are the sewing measurements of Momoko Dolls? #MomokoDoll #SewingDollClothes

In this very close shot of Judy Littlechap's face, we see that she has light blue eyes, her eyebrows are in tact, and her lips are a deep grapefruit color. Her nose is sligly dirty, and there's a single spot of dirt on her left cheek, but her cheeks' blush is rosy and natural looking.

Meet Judy Littlechap — a rare find at Goodwill! #DollCollector #DollClothesPatterns

I had never heard of Judy Littlechap, when I stumbled across her at my local Goodwill (a second-hand store). She was nude in a plastic bag, marked $2.99, but the date on her backside said she was from 1963. At first I was hesitant to buy her. We’ve all seen a date on the behind of a doll and went “Ooh la-la, a vintage doll” … Continue reading Meet Judy Littlechap — a rare find at Goodwill! #DollCollector #DollClothesPatterns