Tag: Sewing Tips

Framed by a turquoise blue and purple quilted frame, we see the shabby envelope for McCall's teen fashion doll pattern number 3429, with a close-up of its view A (a body suit with wrap-around pants) and view B (a swimsuit) doll clothes sketches. The ChellyWood.com logo appears alongside the pattern.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Vintage Barbie

Read the directions! McCall’s “Teen Fashion Doll” pattern 3429 #SewingFail #DollClothesPatterns

  Today’s blog post is dedicated to all my followers who live south of the equator. Summer is about to start down there, so it’s time to do a blog post on swimsuits! Sorry for the terrible condition of my pattern in today’s blog post. Not only is the envelope in bad physical condition, but when I purchased it, this pattern was also missing quite … Continue reading Read the directions! McCall’s “Teen Fashion Doll” pattern 3429 #SewingFail #DollClothesPatterns

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Within a quilted frame, we see a stitched-style title that says "Doll Clothes Collars" and three different images of dolls wearing doll clothes with collars. On the far left is a baby doll in a plaid suit with his little white shirt having a pressed collar; in the middle is an 18 inch doll wearing a dress with a jacket that has a pretty pink collar, and on the right is a Ken doll wearing a Hawaiian shirt with a collar. In the lower left is the ChellyWood.com logo.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

5 tips for making doll clothes collars — all in one place @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

For the whole month of August, we’ve been learning my five tips for making doll clothes collars that really work well. But I thought it would be nice to have a single blog post that I can link to, whenever people need to find these tips all in one place. So here we go again with the tips and tricks about sewing doll clothes collars… … Continue reading 5 tips for making doll clothes collars — all in one place @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

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This image is part of a series of blog posts about how to sew doll clothes collars. This image is part of a series of blog posts about how to sew doll clothes collars. A purple and blue frame surrounds a vintage doll clothes pattern, with the words above stating "Doll Clothes Collars Part 5". In this photo, a sweet little Baby doll wears a yellow gingham handkerchief in his/her hair, along with a typical white collared shirt over which he/she seems to be wearing overalls or a vest with a jacket (also made of yellow gingham). The ChellyWood.com logo appears at the bottom of the image.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

5 Ways to Make Doll Clothes Collars that WORK (Tip #5) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

Collar Tip #5: Use Bias Tape This is my final segment offering my five tips for creating doll clothes collars that really work, and it’s the one I truly use most. I’ve been using bias tape for collars since I was in high school. It’s such an easy solution to the collar conundrum, and most sewists have a plethora of bias tape in their collection, … Continue reading 5 Ways to Make Doll Clothes Collars that WORK (Tip #5) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

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This image is part of a series of blog posts about how to sew doll clothes collars. This image is part of a series of blog posts about how to sew doll clothes collars. A purple and blue frame surrounds a vintage doll clothes pattern, with the words above stating "Doll Clothes Collars Part 4". In the photo we see the cover of a doll clothes pattern for Skipper dolls from the 1980's or 1990's, and her shirt has a ruffled collar. The ChellyWood.com logo appears at the bottom of the image.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

5 Ways to Make Doll Clothes Collars that WORK (Tip #4) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

Collar Tip #4: Use Felt Making a doll’s dress, shirt, coat, or jacket out of felt does double duty to make a doll’s collar easier to sew. First, you can avoid hemming everything, including the sleeves and the outer edges of the garment itself. Second, you won’t have as much trouble getting that collar to lay like you want it to. However, you may have … Continue reading 5 Ways to Make Doll Clothes Collars that WORK (Tip #4) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

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This image is part of a series of blog posts about how to sew doll clothes collars. This image is part of a series of blog posts about how to sew doll clothes collars. A purple and blue frame surrounds a vintage doll clothes pattern, with the words above stating "Doll Clothes Collars Part 3". In the photo, we see an 18 inch doll like the American Girl doll sporting a pink "sunday best" style jacket with a collar. The ChellyWood.com logo appears at the bottom of the image.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

5 Ways to Make Doll Clothes Collars that WORK (Tip #3) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

Look closely at the collar that my Ken doll is wearing in the image above. Do you notice anything strange about the collar? Zoom in. Do you see that little white circle under his collar? That’s actually the head of a straight pin. Uh-huh. His collar wouldn’t stay down for the photo shoot, so what did I do? I pinned it down! What works better … Continue reading 5 Ways to Make Doll Clothes Collars that WORK (Tip #3) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

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This image is part of a series of blog posts about how to sew doll clothes collars. A purple and blue frame surrounds a vintage doll clothes pattern, with the words above stating "Doll Clothes Collars Part 2". In the photo beneath these words, we see Ken and Barbie dolls wearing variations on the typical Hawaiian shirt. The ChellyWood.com logo appears at the bottom of the image.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

5 Ways to Make Doll Clothes Collars that WORK (Tip #2) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

Today’s blog post is “Part 2” of my series on how to create collars for your doll clothes that actually WORK. So you’re sewing a collar for your doll, and what you want to avoid is that awful won’t-lay-flat thing we’ve all had to deal with: Last week we learned that adding lace is one way to avoid the Halloween-witch collar, and as you can … Continue reading 5 Ways to Make Doll Clothes Collars that WORK (Tip #2) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

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This image is part of a series of blog posts about how to sew doll clothes collars. A purple and blue frame surrounds a vintage doll clothes pattern, with the words above stating "Doll Clothes Collars Part 1". In the photo beneath these words, there are two Crissy dolls (one is African American / Black and the other is Caucasian with very long blond hair done up in a pony tail) and they are both wearing a lace collar with their 1970's attire. The ChellyWood.com logo appears at the bottom of the image.
Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

5 Ways to Make Doll Clothes Collars that WORK (Tip #1) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

Today’s blog post is the first in a series of five blog posts that will teach you how to create collars for your doll clothes that actually WORK. In the coming weeks, watch for each of these tips and tricks on sewing doll clothes collars for dolls of every shape and size. Let’s face it, making a teeny tiny shirt’s collar look right is crazy-hard! … Continue reading 5 Ways to Make Doll Clothes Collars that WORK (Tip #1) @ ChellyWood.com #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

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On a purple background, we see a woman's fingers holding a recently sewn strap under the title "straps and belts" on a purple square background.
Interviews With Crafters, Tips for Beginners, Tutorials: Sewing Basics, Tutorials: Sewing for Dolls

Tips for Sewing Tiny Straps and Belts with Chelly Wood #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

The arrows in the image at the top of this page point to the feed dogs on a sewing machine. These are the “teeth” that grab the fabric and move it along when you press your foot against the pedal that makes your sewing machine move. Those of us who have been sewing doll clothes for a while have run across the problem of not … Continue reading Tips for Sewing Tiny Straps and Belts with Chelly Wood #SewingTips #DollClothesPatterns

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On a purple cotton background with tiny white polka dots, we see the words "why snaps?" and beneath this heading, a photo of a woman's hand holding a package of 12 Dritz snaps. In the corner of this image is the ChellyWood.com logo.
Crafts and Hobbies, Interviews With Crafters, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

Why I love Dritz sew-on snaps (and how to read a Dritz snaps card)! #SewingOnline #DollClothesPatterns

Yesterday I did a blog post asking you which one you liked better: Velcro, or snaps, for the back closure of your doll clothes garments. Although I use both kinds of closures, I prefer snaps, and as I have said many times before on this website, I prefer Dritz snaps to other brands. That’s because Dritz snaps come on a cardstock sheet, so you can … Continue reading Why I love Dritz sew-on snaps (and how to read a Dritz snaps card)! #SewingOnline #DollClothesPatterns

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With a close-up photo of Made to Move Barbie's Bermuda shorts from the back, we can see the double-stitching detail around the pocket, the fact that the tank top is lined with a burgundy-on-white print cotton fabric, and the tank top closes at the back with red Velcro. The words that slant across this image sideways say, "make room for a pocket." The ChellyWood.com logo appears in the lower right hand side of the image.
11-inch doll clothes patterns, Barbie Patterns, Old Patterns from Chelly's Collection, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

A sewing tip: something to think about when you add a pocket! #SewingTips for #DollClothesPatterns

Yesterday I did a blog post showing you how I made a pair of Bermuda shorts from my Simplicity 7928 doll clothes pattern, along with my own reversible tank top pattern, which is, of course, free on this website. As I said yesterday, I’ve found that I can learn a lot by sewing other people’s patterns, and I especially love to take other people’s patterns … Continue reading A sewing tip: something to think about when you add a pocket! #SewingTips for #DollClothesPatterns

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A purple cotton fabric with tiny white polka dots frames a photo of a miniature table-top Christmas Tree that has tiny wrapped gifts under it and miniature Christmas tree ornaments on it. The words "Holiday-themed blog posts" float above the Chelly Wood dot com logo.
Interviews With Crafters, Tutorials: Sewing Basics

Helpful Tips and FAQ’s for People Who Love to Sew for Dolls #DollClothes #SewingTips

It has been about 4 years since I published my “Frequently Asked Questions” page (i.e. FAQ’s), and since I’m doing a series of re-posts while I take time off to make my Creative Spark class, I thought you might enjoy seeing this page. It’s filled with helpful information for those of us who love to sew for dolls! If you click on the question, it … Continue reading Helpful Tips and FAQ’s for People Who Love to Sew for Dolls #DollClothes #SewingTips

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