Before American Girl and Dianna Effner Little Darlings, there were Cabbage Patch dolls….

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.

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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…

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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…

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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!

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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…

See your tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne

16 thoughts on “Before American Girl and Dianna Effner Little Darlings, there were Cabbage Patch dolls….”

  1. Jeanne,
    You are adorable!! It was so nice to see your smiling face this morning! What a story about those Cabbage Patch dolls! You did a great job of making the cutest outfits, and your success is well deserved. Can’t believe the picture of your hubby helping out, but it is so cute!

    1. Hi Linda,
      What a great way to start my morning….”You are adorable!!” That was 30+ years ago… but thanks anyway. It made my day!
      Blessings, Jeanne

    1. Thanks Cindy,
      These were snapshots and I just used my camera on macro shot to take pics of my pictures. I guess it worked!
      Love you,
      Me

    1. Sissy,
      Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed the story! It was 30+ years ago but it sure doesn’t seem possible. It’s one of my favorite pics of my hubby… it doesn’t show his face, but his heart!
      Blessings, Jeanne

  2. Your Cabbage Patch dresses are adorable! It’s no wonder you sold them all. I remember trying to sell Barbie clothes back then at a flea market. No luck at all.

    What a great story to share with us, thank you, Jeanne.

    1. So glad you enjoyed it Cindy. As much as I LOVED Barbie, it’s a wonder I never tried selling Barbie clothes, but I didn’t. I MADE plenty, but just never sold them.
      It was fun to get these pictures out and remember…
      Blessings, Jeanne

  3. You are ADORABLE…and “sew” is your husband!!! What a pleasure reading this Cabbage Patch story!! As difficult as it may have been, it sure has proven to be worth it. You are a fabulous seamstress…such an asset to our Yahoo group and a darling, darling person to boot. Thank you for sharing these tidbits of your life. I’m sure I can speak for all of us when I say that your blog has been a huge blessing!!

    Bobi in TX

    1. Thank you Bobi,
      It’s nice having readers like you! I appreciate your kind words and am so glad you are enjoying the ramblings I do each day! Tell your friends to subscribe to my blog…I’m having another GIVEAWAY as soon as I get to 50 subscribers. I have 41 now…
      Thanks Bobi,
      Blessings, Jeanne

  4. Thanks for sharing this story with us Jeannne. Funny to see your husband cutting fabrics….
    I can ´t imagine mine doing that , ah ! ah !

    1. Sophie,
      My hubby said he thinks all the men will think he’s a wimp for cutting out doll clothes. I tried to tell him, “well, maybe.. but the women loved seeing you do it!” He smiled!
      Thanks Sophie,
      Blessings, Jeanne

  5. A wonderful look back at the beginnings of your success in sewing for dolls. You can feel the concentration in your husband looking at his picture. What a dear man!

    Jan M

  6. LOL! What a sweet story. And BRAVO to your hubby. That picture of him says everything. I have to say, I was never much of a fan of Cabbage Patch Kids, but I DO remember them.

    1. Thanks again C,
      My hubby really helped me out then… it’s one of my favorite memories…
      Blessings, Jeanne

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