Have you ever heard of Chatty Cathy dolls? According to Wikipedia, in the 1960’s, Chatty Cathy “was the second most popular doll of the 1960s after Barbie.”*
Like Barbie, these dolls were the brain child of Ruth Handler. When you pulled a string, Cathy would say endearing phrases like, “I love you” and “Let’s play school.”
But these weren’t the first talking dolls. You’ll probably remember that Thomas Edison was credited with inventing the light bulb, but did you know he also invented a talking doll back in the 1800’s? Yep. He did.
Unlike Chatty Cathy, though, Edison’s talking doll was not popular. In fact, it might be fair to say it was a little creepy!
Read about it and take a look at a photo of the Edison talking doll here, if you’re curious. Wikipedia even offers sound bites, so you can hear the nursery rhymes the little doll would say.
My mother-in-law owns the Simplicity 4652 Chatty Cathy doll clothes pattern that’s pictured on this page. She didn’t actually own Chatty Cathy herself, though. Instead, her neighbor had one and because she knew my mother-in-law could sew, she asked her to make some doll clothes for hers.
I was super excited to see that she had this Simplicity 4652 Chatty Cathy doll clothes pattern in her collection. I enjoyed looking at it with her, and we took a few photos for this article.
Have a look at the detailed list of fabrics and notions on the back of this pattern:
It even comes with a pattern for the slip and the little panties! How cute!
The Simplicity 4652 Chatty Cathy doll clothes pattern suggests that it’s for a 20 inch doll, and I think the dresses are versatile enough to even fit a large baby doll, don’t you?
People sometimes leave comments here on my website, asking me to design patterns for large baby dolls, but unfortunately the biggest baby doll I own is a 12 inch doll.
However I would easily recommend the Simplicity 4652 pattern for anyone looking for similar patterns for a baby doll. What are your thoughts on that? Leave a comment below to let me know. Would these patterns fit an 18 inch baby doll maybe? Have any of you tried them on a large baby doll?
Now before I go, I want to also share one other object that was in the Ziplock bag with my mother-in-law’s Chatty Cathy Simpicity 4652 doll clothes patterns. It’s the fabric she had purchased as a little girl, to make some doll dresses.
For whatever reason, she never got around to making a doll dress out of this lovely cotton fabric with the beautiful floral print. But isn’t it elegant?
While I was at my mother-in-law’s house, and we were looking at this pattern, she let me take a photo of this beautiful antique floral print cotton fabric. And guess what…
It’s now my background screen for my phone!
Most of the commercial patterns I display and talk about here on ChellyWood.com are also available for sale on eBay. However, if you’ve never purchased a pattern on eBay before, it’s a good idea to read the article I wrote called, “Tips for Buying Used Doll Clothes Patterns on eBay.” It will save you time, money, and will likely prevent buyer’s remorse.
And by the way, if you use the links I’ve provided to make your eBay purchase, this website will receive a small commission, which helps fund the ChellyWood.com website, so I can continue to provide you with all the free patterns and tutorial videos offered here.
In case you haven’t heard, my Creative Spark class, “How to Alter Doll Clothes Patterns” is now live on the Creative Spark platform. You can sign up any time you want!
And don’t panic if it seems like too much to take on right now — sometimes our lives get really busy. I get that. But for any class on Creative Spark, you don’t have to sign up any time soon. Just sign up when you’re ready.
If you’re interested in taking my paid course, you will pay a one-time fee, and there’s no specific time limit to access your course. You can just take your time and learn at the pace that suits you.
To read more about my free sewing patterns and tutorials, please visit the “Helpful Tips” page.
Disclaimer/Credit/Affiliate Marketing Link:
*ChellyWood.com earns money by linking to JoAnn Fabrics, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and other online affiliate programs. Links provided above may be affiliate links. For a full list of my affiliate programs, and to understand how cookies are used to help this website earn money, please see my “Privacy Policy” page.
Chelly Wood and the ChellyWood.com website are not affiliated with the pattern company or companies mentioned in this blog post, but Chelly finds inspiration in the doll clothes designed by these pattern companies. To purchase patterns from Simplicity, McCall’s, Butterick, Vogue, or other pattern companies shown and discussed in this blog post, please click on the links provided here. These links below the “Disclaimer” section do not help raise money for this free pattern website; they are only offered to give credit to the company that made these patterns.
Quotes and facts come from:
“Chatty Cathy,” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 4 June 2022. Web. 8 Aug. 2022.
“Edison’s Phonograph Doll,” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2 May 2022. Web. 8 Aug. 2022.