Tag: Sewing for Beginners

The thumbnail image shows a purple patch sewn onto a turquoise cloth. The words "doll clothes sewing chat" are written in the center of the purple patch. Floating in a circle around the patch are graphics of various sewing notions, from scissors, to a tape measure, to bobbins, to thread, and more. This feature on Chelly Wood dot com, is an open discussion about a sewing concept. The article will begin with a definition of the sewing concept, and then a discussion question will follow. This is a great place for people to ask questions about and/or give advice on sewing concepts related to making doll clothes.
Crafts and Hobbies, Interviews With Crafters, Sewing Chat, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

What would you like me to teach for my next online class? Please join the #SewingChat !

It’s time to plan my next online class, and I’d like your help! If you visit the C&T Publishing online courses page, you’ll find that some of their best-selling classes range between $4.99 and $10.00, so I’ve been thinking about designing and offering an online course in that price range. To be fair, it would have to be a reasonably simple class at that price. … Continue reading What would you like me to teach for my next online class? Please join the #SewingChat !

Chelly Wood3 Comments
Today's tutorial video explains how selvage is useful to people who sew doll clothes. This image is just a header indicating that this is a sewing tutorial for beginners.
Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

Selvage is your friend! (A tip for fabric buying, when sewing doll clothes) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingLove #SewingTutorial

    The video at the top of this blog post will explain how I sometimes use selvage (that’s “selvedge” if you live in the UK) for my doll clothes projects, and how selvage can truly be “your friend” when buying fabric. If you want a more extensive video about how to buy fabric for doll clothes, please click here. That’s an older video tutorial … Continue reading Selvage is your friend! (A tip for fabric buying, when sewing doll clothes) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingLove #SewingTutorial

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Please visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns and tutorial videos for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes. This is a text box with a purple and turquoise quilted look to it. The text states, "Sewing tips for beginners: clothing items to avoid." This is the fourth installment in a four part blog article series which reviews the topics, terms, and items to watch out for on a pattern's instructions if you're just starting to learn sewing. Visit ChellyWood.com for free printable sewing patterns and to read the other blog articles in this series for beginners just learning how to sew.
Interviews With Crafters, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

How to Tell When a Sewing Pattern Is NOT for Beginners (Part 4: Difficult Garments) #SewEasy #SewingFun

This is the last installment of a four-week journey to discover what makes a pattern difficult for beginners who are just starting out with their very first sewing projects. By “beginners,” I’m referring to adults learning to sew as well as children of all ages who are learning to sew. We’ve been studying a single pattern, Simplicity doll clothes pattern #4654, which is a fun … Continue reading How to Tell When a Sewing Pattern Is NOT for Beginners (Part 4: Difficult Garments) #SewEasy #SewingFun

Chelly Wood2 Comments
A kitten is shown playing in a sewing room, in a basket full of sewing notions, like thread, ribbon, and tape measures.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

How to Tell When a Sewing Pattern Is NOT for Beginners (Part 3: Know Your Notions) #Sewing #FallCrafts

  For the past two Mondays, we’ve been looking at Simplicity doll clothes pattern #4654, which is a super fun pattern for those of us who have been sewing for a while. However, in the image below, I’ve underlined some key vocabulary that tells us this isn’t the ideal pattern for the absolute beginner. With that said, it’s time for my disclaimer statement: some of … Continue reading How to Tell When a Sewing Pattern Is NOT for Beginners (Part 3: Know Your Notions) #Sewing #FallCrafts

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Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

How to Tell When a Sewing Pattern Is NOT for Beginners (Part 2: Know Your Fabrics) #LearningToSew #Fabrics

  At the end of last month, I did a blog post on how to tell when a sewing pattern is not for beginners, subtitled “Part 1” and today I’m continuing that discussion. It’s not just a lecture, mind you, it’s a discussion! So please add your comments at the bottom. Other visitors to this website will see your comments and learn from them too! … Continue reading How to Tell When a Sewing Pattern Is NOT for Beginners (Part 2: Know Your Fabrics) #LearningToSew #Fabrics

Chelly Wood2 Comments
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.
Crafts and Hobbies, For Sale in the Store, Tips for Beginners

How to Sew Snaps (AKA Poppers) With a Hole in the Middle #Sewing #DollClothes

I’ve had a similar video available on my website for quite some time, but it wasn’t until recently that I realized my original “How to Sew Snaps on Doll Clothes” tutorial video doesn’t have any voiceover. So today’s blog post is going to catch that video up with new technology. As I’ve said before, by adding voiceover to my older tutorials, I’m making them easier … Continue reading How to Sew Snaps (AKA Poppers) With a Hole in the Middle #Sewing #DollClothes

Chelly Wood2 Comments
Here we see the Chelly Wood doll from the ChellyWood.com website and the ChellyWood1 YouTube channel. She holds up a sewing pattern for 18 inch doll clothes. The pattern's cover image shows Simplicity 18" doll clothes pattern #4654 which includes patterns for making a lined hooded raincoat or coverup, a tank top and skort, a short-sleeved everyday dress, a sunny sleeveless top with capri pants, a T-shirt with cargo pants, and a crop top with skort or shorts. There's also an 18-inch doll pictured on the pattern wearing a denim jumper with overall straps. The doll wears a striped tee shirt under the overall-style jumper. (This is "jumper" in the US sense of the word -- not a "sweater" as we'd say in the US, but more of a dress with the style of overalls). The watermark on this photo reminds us to visit ChellyWood.com for free, printable sewing patterns for making doll clothes to fit dolls of many shapes and all different sizes. This image also has a header that says, "Today's topic of discussion: what makes a pattern difficult for beginners?" And in fact, if you navigate to the link to the article that accompanies this image, doll clothing designer, YouTuber, and writer Chelly Wood discusses all the features that make this particular pattern difficult for a beginner who is just learning to sew. This article is designed to help anyone who teaches sewing classes, is teaching another person how to sew, or people who are, themselves, just learning to sew, what to avoid when purchasing store-bought patterns.
Interviews With Crafters, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

How to Tell When a Sewing Pattern Is NOT for Beginners (Part 1) #SewingForDolls #Handmade

I started sewing doll clothes when I was very young, back in the early 1970’s, but I didn’t really learn how to read patterns and pattern instructions until I was about 10 or 12. Reading the instructions on the back of a pattern can seem daunting to a child who is learning to sew, and therefore I don’t advise it for kids under age 10. … Continue reading How to Tell When a Sewing Pattern Is NOT for Beginners (Part 1) #SewingForDolls #Handmade

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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.
Crafts and Hobbies, For Sale in the Store, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

How to Sew Snaps (AKA Poppers) on Doll Clothes Part 1 –when the snap doesn’t have a hole in the middle #Sewing #DollClothes

Today’s tutorial is an upgraded version of a concept I’ve covered here on ChellyWood.com before. I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but Dritz snaps sometimes have a hole running through the middle of them (which used to be essential for sewing on snaps), but lately they seem to be making them so you can’t slide a straight pin inside the little hole–if there even … Continue reading How to Sew Snaps (AKA Poppers) on Doll Clothes Part 1 –when the snap doesn’t have a hole in the middle #Sewing #DollClothes

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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.
Crafts and Hobbies, For Sale in the Store, Tips for Beginners

New to Sewing — What do I need? Here are the 10 basic sewing supplies for beginners who are just learning to sew…

For those of you who are regular followers, in recent months you’ve seen a number of posts about the top ten items I would put in a sewing kit, if I were a beginner and brand new to sewing. Today’s blog post is a roundup of all ten items. On the other hand, if you just happened to stumble across my website, you may have … Continue reading New to Sewing — What do I need? Here are the 10 basic sewing supplies for beginners who are just learning to sew…

Chelly Wood2 Comments
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.
Crafts and Hobbies, For Sale in the Store, Tips for Beginners

What size elastic should I use for my doll’s clothes?

In November, I started a series that listed my top 10 items I’d put in a sewing kit for a beginner. Of course I was working up to Christmas, and trying to make a list of items for a sewing kit you might give someone for Christmas. But then I got caught up in my Elf on the Shelf outfit series, and now I find … Continue reading What size elastic should I use for my doll’s clothes?

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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.
Crafts and Hobbies, For Sale in the Store, Tips for Beginners

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

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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.
Crafts and Hobbies, For Sale in the Store, Tips for Beginners

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

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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.
Crafts and Hobbies, For Sale in the Store, Tips for Beginners

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

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Crafts and Hobbies, For Sale in the Store, Tips for Beginners

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

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On a blue background, there's a photo of a red tomato pincushion with tiny pins in it. A red strawberry dangles from the center of the tomato by an embroidery thread. The text above reads, "pincushions! Please add to the discussion."
Crafts and Hobbies, For Sale in the Store, Tips for Beginners

Please describe your favorite pin cushion and why you like it…

I’ve been doing a series of blog posts on all the items a beginning sewist needs to have in his/her first sewing kit. Today’s blog post is about pincushions, the #5 item on my list. Please note: As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Do you see in the image above, how a crafty lady has made her own pincushion? Etsy has plenty … Continue reading Please describe your favorite pin cushion and why you like it…

Chelly Wood8 Comments