Monchhichi dolls (also called Kiki, Monchichi or Chicaboo in different countries) originate from Japanese animated series “Futago no Monchihichi” (“Monchhichi Twins) in the ’80 by Koichi Sekiguchi.
We have two standard size 8″ (20 cm) Monchhichis (dreadlock boy and girl in a rain coat) and two 6” (14 cm) Bebichhichis (a boy and a girl in baby hats). They are very cute and remind me of my childhood when they were very hard to get (only in Pewex, shop where you could buy goods using US Dollars). My sister had one of them and for many years we were playing with it, making clothes for her, she had even handmade kimono and fake crocodile leather backpack made by our mom ;) So now when my daughter asked me to make some clothes for them I could not refuse… This is first / test outfit so it is not perfect… more to come soon.
To make this cute dress all you need is a little bit of fabric and two hours of your time (or less if you have experience in sewing or have sewing machine).
MATERIALS
A4 piece of fabric
2 x 6 cm of lace for sleeves – optional
thread and needle
1 cm piece of hook & loop iron on tape (Velcro)
pencil
scissors
2 mini buttons (5mm each)
ribbon rose or one more button – optional
METHOD
Fold to the back edge of the fabric and sew on the front, do that will all sides of the fabric except stripy sides (that is where you have to sew parts together) and bottom of the dress. Then connect all three parts together, at the end sew the bottom line and connect sleeves. To connect sleeves sew lace on inside of the dress.
Now iron on hook & loop tape on the back of the dress, on the top of it sew in one or two mini buttons just for decoration. On the front attach ribbon rose or one more button for decoration.
- You can download here printable A4 pattern which you can use as a stencil to cut out shapes in the fabric.
- Please note that I don’t have any experience in sewing so I’m sure there is a lot of things that could be done better ;)
- Iron on hook & loop tape I bought is not very good for thin fabric like the one I used, so make sure that you have double layer of fabric in a place where you will be ironing on the tape.
- I have lots of new fabrics we bought with my daughter, so expect more Monchhichi outfits soon… next project – trousers for boy Monchhichi.
I’ve never seen a Monchhichi before. The dress you made is really cute.
They were big thing in the ‘80 in Poland, everyone wanted to have one. Many companies were making fake ones… as the original Sekiguchi Monchhichi were only available in Pewex (foreign currency stores). Now you can buy them easily in many shops in Poland but not still not in UK. I got our 4 dolls for my daughter on eBay from Japan I think.
I used to have one of those dolls when I was a kid! The dress is too cute!
I have one myself, very, very old :) is lovely with that dress.
Have a nice weekend
Moira
I used to have the paperdolls because we were too poor to afford the doll. I miss my Monchichi paper dolls. They would be an awesome design element in my cards [since they’re well played with and torn from the book]. I used to watch the cartoon too. Thanks for posting on craftgawker.com. I think I would have missed this otherwise.
Oh, the dress is adorable also. I kinda got caught up on the blast from the past. hehe.
we (my 5 year old daughter & me) love monchhichi! you can buy them in every toystore here in Belgium.
i used to have some as a kid and now she has 3 monchhichi’s she loves to play with but she always asked for an extra dress and now i made her a dress as in your tutorial. a dress in felt (i don’t have a sewing machine) but it’s lovely!
thanks!
please show us more…
Hello Margot,
What a beautiful dress you made for the Monchichi. I made one for my daughters monkey, whith your pattern. And we love it all! I can’t find any more examples, so if you want to share you’re great creations, please let me know.
OMG I just came across this blog. I loved the Monchhihis! I’m in the US and loved watching them and I had a few dolls when I was a little girl. No one around here remembers them. I even remember my dad getting me on for Valentines day. I would have loved to have had this pattern for my dolls. (well my mom would have been making them.) How cute and sweet. Thanks for sharing and taking me back to childhood.
Thank you for such a nice comments!
I’m happy that I would bring back some childhood memories! My mum used to make clothes for Monchhichi as well and now I’m making them for my daughter’s.
I will post some new patterns soon as my daughters have fallen in love with Monchhichis all over again (!)
Hi, I am using your photo on tumblr because I like Monchhichi. If you disagree I remove it.
Also on facebook but facebook does not give good URLs for posts.
takao.hiwatari.1
Thanks for sharing your tutorial. I found my old monchhichis at my fathers housen and my daughter was inmediatly in love with them. We’r e gonna use your pattern for clothes.
Phew! I alsmot started to believe I ‘made up’ Mochicchi’s in my imagination from childhood!! Until now, I have NEVER found another being alive (in Canada anyway) that remembers these most cherished little creations besides myself. Thank you for sharing ;D
I’m happy to hear that!!! We still have Monchhichis, my girls love them. It used to be so hard to get them… but now you can buy them even on Amazon!
I’m waiting on my first Monchhichi and have been looking for clothes for her. I’m so happy you posted this pattern. Now i can atleast make her one dress. Did you make more patterns? I can’t find anyone to tell me if they fit in other doll clothes and if so which ones.
Thank you for posting this!!
Hi Margie… no we haven’t made more clothes but I’m still planning to make some more, especially now when my younger one started playing with Monchhichis again.
If you make the dress don’t hesitate to tag Coffee & Vanilla on social media so we can take a look at the result :)
Good morning. I saw your post with the Monchhichi dolls. There is a small little grey knitted cardigan with one of your patterns. I am desperately on the look out for a similar pattern, but couldn’t find any, until I saw this one. Will you please be able to help me with the pattern? Thank you so much.
It is perfect! Thank you for sharing!