Chelly Wood

I'm a school librarian in my day job, but I spent many years in the classroom before becoming a YouTuber and sewing blogger. I taught English/language arts, reading, science, and foreign languages for 25 years. I've also been an adult community education teacher, youth group leader, and fencing instructor. I'm best known for my online presence as a designer of clothing and costumes for dolls and action figures. You can learn more about me on my website by googling my name (Chelly Wood) followed by the words "doll clothes."

Hands-on! Let kids make mistakes. Through the mistakes, they learn the most.

VFW Teacher of the Year for the State of Idaho, 2014

BA in English Literature (minor in French) from Washington State University; certified in Library Science through the University of Idaho; my sewing skills began at home, at the age of 3, and I designed my first pattern at age 11, back in the 1970's. I've never had formal training in sewing or pattern design, but I come from a family of fantastic sewists and pattern designers who shared their talents with me.

Do you remember that image of a Barbie doll with real-girl proportions that went viral back in 2014? From that image, an artist named Nickolay Lamm created the Lammily doll with crowd funding. Since I had a successful website offering hundreds of doll clothes sewing patterns and tutorial videos showing children and adults how to sew my doll clothes patterns, Lamm approached me early in his company's growing years and asked me to design some patterns for his doll. My patterns are still available through his company today, and they are quite popular. However I continue to earn my primary income as a school librarian. You can learn more about me on my website.