My day was full of playing “catch up” and I just now looked at the clock… it’s 12:40 and I have no post written for Saturday.
Yikes…what to do?
I looked at some of my archived posts and decided on this one…it’s about when I almost went crazy sewing for the Cabbage Patch dolls. It seems like a long time ago…I guess it was (1982)…but I can still remember so many memories about those few months!
I hope you enjoy reading it again…it was written in September, 2014…
Way back in the Fall of 1982, I wanted some money of my own to buy some Christmas presents. I saw a couple of craft shows advertised in the newspaper and thought since Cabbage Patch dolls were the rage, I could make clothes for them. I wanted to make $100, so I sewed like the dickens making little nightgowns, overalls, dresses, fake fur coats, and a few other things. I went to the closest craft fair and made…da da da da… $99.00! That was all the motivation I needed to find another craft show and see what might happen there.
A friend wanted to take some pictures of me with some of my doll outfits. They aren’t the greatest, but they do mark this season in my life…
I found a BIG craft fair about 45 minutes from my house and decided I would sew again like crazy and participate in this one. It was a 2 day show… a Saturday and a Sunday. I had all my little Cabbage Patch outfits packed in a suitcase and my hubby made me some cute dowel rod “T” stands with a base so I could “sort of” display my things upright instead of just being all spread on the table. The show was supposed to start at 10:00 in the morning, so I began setting up around 9:00. All of my neighboring vendors came over and began buying my doll clothes before the show had even started and at 20 minutes till 10:00, I only 3 things left, and they were just oddball pieces…Oh dear…
I counted how much money I had made in just a few short minutes… almost $300! My hubby and I looked at each other and wondered what we should do. I said, “Hey, let’s head to the fabric store, buy more flannel and I’ll make more things, then we’ll come back tomorrow and sell them…!!!
So on the way out of town, we stopped at a fabric store, bought several yards of flannel and headed home. I had all day to sew and my hubby said he’d help! Well, All day turned into ALL NIGHT and the next morning we headed back to the craft show to display our newly made wares. We made another $100 that day! It was a huge success and I was able to buy some nice Christmas presents.
See… here’s proof… he DID help… bless his heart!
Then right before Christmas, a friend of mine who was a school teacher, asked if she could take my “pictures of the outfits I made” to her school and show them to her teacher friends. She called me on her lunch hour one day and asked if I could make a couple things for some of them. I told her sure… WELL… those few friends turned into several, several, several orders and I had to sew like a mad woman to get them finished in time for Christmas. I was sewing and crying and crying and sewing sometimes 12 hours a day! I was so sick of Cabbage Patch by Easter… yes… it spread out that long… that I was starting to hate this little chubby faced doll! But when I added it all up, I had sold almost $2000 worth of doll clothes from September till April. I guess it was worth it… the jury is still out…
Well, I hope that gave you your first smile on this Saturday!
See you soon,
Blessings, Jeanne
Oh, Jeanne, what a fun post! You were certainly ambitious, and successful!!
I LOVE Cabbage Patch Kids, have been to Babyland (it’s a real place!) and am a member of the Cabbage Patch Collectors’ Club, and have been for a number of years. I have over 20 of the soft-sculpted “Originals” and a number of the ones with vinyl heads, too, although I’ve been weeding some of the mass-produced ones out my “patch” in recent years.
I’ve sewn for CPKs, too, but mostly just for my son’s doll. He wanted a bald baby boy, and I wasn’t sure I even Liked them, plus he was 8-9 years old at the time. However, I realized that, at a time when almost all the dolls had to “do” something–roller skate, eat, potty, sing, dance–here was a doll that sat there with its arms raised, waiting to be picked up and held! Also, kids were starting to take their dolls everywhere with them, like *we* did when I was growing up. So, Daniel got his first. I think he ended up with 3-4 of them; I, however, have Many more than that! LOL (He used to bring them to school with him, and let the girls “babysit” during recess!! LOL)
HI Charlotte,
As I read over that post last night I realized I never even owned one of these Cabbage Patch dolls myself. The one in the picture was loaned to me to get my pattern sizes right.
For that first craft show, I made one of those dolls from that “fake” Cabbage Patch company. I think the heads were called, the “Original ” Baby Doll head. I made the doll and had a gimmick…if anyone bought anything that day, they could register to win the doll. I gave her away at the end of that day.
Wow…you have 20 of them? Incredible!
You have quite the history with them, Charlotte!
It was fun to hear your stories!
Thanks so much,
Blessings, Jeanne
Forgot to mention, CPKs are still being made today (both Originals and mass-produced), and Babyland is still very much a going concern. You can learn more at htpp://www.cabbagepatchkids.com if you are interested.
Thanks for the link too!
Let’s see now, back in the early 80’s my two children were tween’s, so not interested in dolls. Of course, Brian never was, and Jennifer was not much of a doll person either. So, while I was aware of Cabbage Patch dolls, and who wasn’t, they never made an appearance at my house. While some thought them cute, I thought they were pretty ugly! Sorry Charlotte!
That was amazing, though, that you were able to make a fantastic amount of money sewing doll clothes. How much were you charging at that time, Jeanne, for an outfit?
Oh, goodness, that picture of George cutting out doll clothes is darling! It shows that the two of you were a “team” even in the early days of your marriage! How sweet of him to help you out!
Happy Saturday to you, Jeanne, and enjoy the nice weather!!
HI Linda,
Maybe you just needed one of your “own” to love!!! :o)
My outfits were pretty cheap… $12 for the night gown and bunny slippers, $12 for the camouflage outfits, the dresses and hairbows were $10, the cowgirl outfits were $20. They took the most time. I found those little guns at a Ben Franklin store and bought all they had.
The coats were $15.
It really was sweet of my hubby to help me with the cutting out…and that was the only time he ever did it too!
I cleaned and weeded out in my attic today. It was pretty warm up there so I had to quit about 3:00 because I was dripping wet.
George was working in the garage.
We both got lots accomplished…
Thanks Linda,
Blessings, Jeanne
Babyland, home of the Cabbage Patch Dolls, is near our time share in Helen, GA. A few years ago we went to the new building and watched a young girl’s doll being “born” in the Cabbage Patch under a huge tree. Then the doll is sent to the nursery for the “nurses” to check her over, etc. It is quite a production! The originals are worth quite a bit of money now, I understand. I am glad you had such a success with your efforts back then, and just look at the road it started you on!
HI Sissy,
After my stint with the Cabbage Patch sewing, I never followed what was up with them anymore. I didn’t even know there was a place called Babyland. How interesting.
I guess my sewing for them really was the beginning of my road to dolls! I wish I had some pictures of my set up at the craft shows. I’m going to have to look and see if I can’t find something…
Thanks, Jeanne
Hi Sissy! I’ve visited Helen, also–a lovely town!!
And, yes, I have a baby I saw being born from the Mother Cabbage! My girlfriend (who is not in the least bit a doll person) was living in the Atlanta area at the time, and took me both places (and others). She held my 22″ Kid, Dawn Hollye, while I took pictures of my new baby being born. I watched her being checked over in the nursery, then had to take the Oath of Adoption and everything! It was not unlike when we went to court to adopt our son (which was done in the judge’s chambers) back in the late 70s.
Wonderful memories!
Our girls loved their Cabbage Patch dolls. I can vividly remember lining up with a friend at an opening of a ToysRus store to nab some for our girls. They loved them and played with them for years.
Sounds like you did pretty well on their clothing craze too. Love the photo of George. Wouldn’t that be great scanned, done in black and white, and matted? I think I would hang it in your sewing room. Oh the memories.
On another note, a couple of new girls are on their way here. I am expecting their plane to land sometime next week. Maya and Clem, A Girl For All Time dolls, 16″ will be welcomed accordingly. If you like the English eras, they are for you. Perfect companions for the AG dolls too, and not expensive at all. 🙂
HI Joy,
I remember when they were absolutely the hottest thing ever…people were paying insane prices for them. I really hit sewing for them at absolute height of that insanity.
That picture of my hubby cutting out those tiny little doll pieces is one of my favorites…
I did find myself looking at the Girl for All Time dolls the other night…I saw one that was new to me…she was a red head with blue eyes…Elinor was her name I think
She was very pretty.
Don’t forget to send pictures of your new girls!
Thanks Joy,
Blessings, Jeanne
Dear Jeanne, I didn’t know that anyone sewed for the CPKs. Your outfits are so cute.
I remember the craze. A widower friend wanted one for his daughter. I called all around and found a store that had one left but it was not near me. I took a commuter train about 55 minutes to get the doll. When I got home, I called my friend and told him that I had the doll. He informed me that someone else had already gotten one. Grrrrrr! I had to return the doll the next day.
Thanks for sharing this story. I like the part about the other vendors buying your clothes. It sounds like you really had fun making the outfits.
HI Dorothy,
As I’m answering these comments, I’m remembering I do have some pictures somewhere, because I made a little sherpa coat that was a big hit. I had forgotten about it.
It was almost embarrassing how fast my doll clothes disappeared. There was a vendor beside me who did woodworking and my hubby felt so sorry for her, he bought one of her plaques…it’s on my hubby’s office wall.
Thanks Dorothy,
Blessings, Jeanne
It sounds like the costume shop getting ready for the Shakespeare Festival. What’s sleep? I don’t know–isn’t in Shakespeare somewhere? We worked day and night. My parents looked up Sleep–Lack of, in the encyclopedia.
Now what we need is the $2000 adjusted for inflation so that we know what that was worth in current money.
Anyone else look Cabbage Patch dolls up on Ebay — nearly 15,000 entries? You could probably choose one month a year as Cabbage Patch month, and make your $2000 again. Offer Cabbage Patch outfits on your Etsy site and see what happens.
There are only almost 6000 entries on Etsy. The craze is still there but it’s gone underground.
My sister had a couple, and the girlfriend of one of her sons brought hers over to play with Linda’s dolls. Linda and her husband came home one night to find ashtrays (no ashes) and beer cans strewn all over the living room, with Cabbage Patch dolls sprawled around, passed out after the party. Teenage boy humor. When Linda’s son and his girl broke up, she left her doll with Linda, knowing it would have a good home forever.
Thanks Marilyn
I love your story about the dolls in the living room! How funny!
I had no idea they were still popular…and that there were so many entries on Ebay and Etsy.
I think I’ll stick with the dolls I sew for now. I really was sick of sewing for them.
Thanks so much,
Blessings, Jeanne
I can’t believe you got George to do that. FANTASTIC! Love the picture of him. So long ago but so wonderful.
HI Gloria,
It was a “one time” event… :o)
Love you!
Your story makes me wonder if you had time to shop for your Christmas presents with all the sewing. My daughter had a Cabbage Patch doll (before she got her AG Kirsten). It wasn’t really cute, but it was a lot cuter than the”real” baby from her top 3 wants in her Christmas wish list. That doll was ugly in her face design and had hard plastic bones you could feel under the gel filled rubbery body. It was creepy.
HI Christal,
Actually, I can’t remember much about Christmas…I’m sure I had gifts for everyone though…
Every doll that’s ever been made has always had some little (or big) girl love it! Guess that’ll always be true…
Thanks Christal,
Blessings, Jeanne
I loved seeing the pic of George carefully cutting out a pattern piece! I hope all is well!! 😀
Thanks Christine…
I actually ran across that picture lady night and took a moment to study it!
I sure do love that guy!!!
Blessings, Jeanne
Cabbage PatchDolls got us through what would have been a very sparse Christmas too. I started by making my own heads because the plastic ones you could buy were less than cute. I had made some funny faces using old nylons and stitching in the features so it was basically the same technique. My boss at the time named them Kathie-Patch dolls. I had so many orders I had to have a helper. My friend made the bodies and stuffed them and I did the heads ,faces, dresses and wigs. My hubby found a wholesale place to buy polyfill and I don’t know how any 40 lb boxes we went through. We numbered and signed them and the last ones were up in the 400 numbers. I know I have pictures somewhere…I’ll look
HI Kathie,
It sounds to me like I wasn’t the only one sewing till we were half crazy! What a time in our lives huh?
I love that your boss called them Kathie Patch dolls! That’s so sweet
Oh I hope you can find the pictures…
Thanks so much,
Blessings, Jeanne
I loved reading your story, Jeanne. What a nice tidy sum for Christmas presents.
My question for your is: What was your next money making sewing adventure?
HI Lynn,
Let’s see… I think next was probably ding alterations…I was good at them but didn’t like doing them…there was no creativity in alterations.
I should put together a little photographic history of my sewing…
Thanks Lynn,
Blessings, Jeanne