How do You Feel About Crafting for Your Doll?

You don't have to make things if you don't want to! It's your doll, and you can do whatever makes you happy with her!

If you just want to collect things by buying them, that's cool. If your interest isn't in craft, but in photographing the doll or whatever, do that instead.

I love craft. I've always loved arts and crafts but here's the thing: sometimes the results are rubbish. I live with that. My face ups are okay, and I'm decent at making wigs. I can make eyes. But my sewing is appalling. Most of my dolls have bought clothes, but I do still try to sew. Thranduil has clothes made by me: there's loose threads and his collar doesn't sit right. There's a triangle stitched into the back of his shirt because it was too tight so I stuck sone extra fabric in there. It was all very frustrating, but I stuck with it because I want to learn and because I love unique things. Custom orders are way more expensive than DIY, and I feel more pride and more attachment to the things I've made myself.

People who create are never satisfied. I have been drawing since I was tiny, and I've had an exhibition and people begging to buy the drawings: but I still see the flaws and I still have days where I feel like I can't draw at all. I still do it, though, because I get more joy than grief from it!

I suppose that's it: if you get more from it than it takes out of you, then persevere. If not? You don't have to make yourself miserable to keep up appearances!

 

Honestly you gotta just sit down and try. You learn as you go. I don't have a working printer so sites with patterns are useless to me. I make my own patterns by laying down the doll on paper and sketching around him or her and making it that way. I buy cheap shoes that I can find. (Keychain sneakers that come in huge lots will come in pairs and make amazing BJD shoes)

I make all their clothes except for a few pieces I've bought or were gifted in a swap. It helps me to bond with them when I get them home.

Sometimes it's not very fun, or when I don't have projects I like anymore I stuff them away.

With a doll who has uneven yellowing there's a "de-zombication" thing here somewhere but you could also just yellow her on purpose to make her even again. The confidence will never get there if you never learn. If you wanna do a faceup, you can buy cheap sealant (clear modge podge actually is a decent one and it has a spray) You can practice as many times as you need to until your happy with how she looks. You can try different things. You can take her with you to craft stores to see what sizes are good for her. You'd be surprised what you'd find.

(Honestly one thing I wish I knew how to craft properly was dollhouse furniture. If I had the room I'd refurbish my childhood dollhouse just for my tinies but that'd also make me get a fourth tiny. )


But there's no shame in buying either. So many people out there make cute and adorable clothes.You can also just commission faceups. You don't have to make things if you don't want to.

 

I like doing craft, I think is fun. And sure, sometimes it doesn't go as you like but is part of the process. Mistakes are good. I see craft as it's own thing and focus in what I have interest and is fun to me.

This mean I can't bother with clothes much but I found wig making incredible relaxing. I cannot explain how I loved wig making lol Eyes are cool but I don't pass much time on it. And I love to make books for them! I'm thinking of doing tiny stuff as charms and standees since 2 characters are into fandom and collecting as well. But that's because I find this fun.

I like face-up as well because I want to customize them and see what I come up with, it's part of my process to create characters and I know with time I will only get better.

Everything takes practice but you don't have to do something you don't like. This is a hobby so it's suppose to be fun not a burden.

 

I've tried to sew but it's an exercise in massive futility for me. I really struggle to think in 3 dimensions and find sewing ridiculously more difficult than most people. Also the sewing machine hates me.
And I get flashbacks to sewing class which I got kicked out of and told never to return.

So yeah...

I'd LOVE to be able to sew outfits. It'd save me so much money and i'd be able to get exactly what I wanted (medieval fantasy outfits aren't easy to find for dolls) but every time I try I generally end up frustrated and feeling stupid and broken and wanting to cry.
It's like being back at school, sitting there thinking "I really am so dumb" because I couldn't remember how to do maths.
My brain sucks.

I do however paint my dolls, I enjoy doing faceups. Though there's one doll who i've never been happy with and who's face i've repaintd like 4 or 5 times now to no avail. *headdesk*
I actually think it's not her head, or the sculpt, it's her wig that's throwing everything off.
I tried a different wig and she looks a bit better but I really do feel like I need to spend a bit to get her a nicely made one that sits properly.
Just 5-6 sized wigs are really awkward to find in this country and are crazy expensive.

I also made staffs/staves for a few dolls which are basically just a stick from the garden with stuff wound around em hahaha.

I made a bow for one of them, it's also a stick. A bent stick with a string <_<

But generally speaking I buy clothing and weaponry and wigs and eyes because making them is too stressful. With wigs I can never get them neat enough and buying the supplies is about as much as just getting a dang wig made by someone else, so may as well just buy the wig you know? same with eyes, the supplies, unless you're making in bulk aren't cheap and i'd rather pay a bit more and get eyes that look decent rather than my shoddy attempt.

Clothing is my real problem, because it's so hard to find someone who makes the style of fantasy clothing I want for a price i'm willing to pay and it really is quite expensive. It can cost almost as much as the doll itself just for an outfit! Which is crazy.
So i'm hoping I can bribe my mother into sewing me doll clothing. She's a brilliant seamstress and retired, so maybe if I batt my eyes and ply her with wine she can make me something lol.
I always feel a bit bad asking though, it feels a bit cheeky to ask her to make me something.

At the end of the day, some people like to craft, some people don't. I know my limitations so while I have managed to make cardboard furniture that looks okay from a distance (and thus fine for photographs), I prefer to have miniatures that look good and know I can't make them myself, i'll just nitpick over them and it'll bug me.
I actually quite enjoy the repurposing of found objects more. Like finding a toy whatever and giving it a quick lick of paint to make it more realistic.

And i've been learning how to make plush sculptures and intend to learn to needle felt so I can make little animal companions and monsters for my D&D party to fight lol.
But that's an expensive thing to learn as well. Fake fur, feathers, wire and clay are all not cheap things. And I feel super guilty if I buy DIY stuff then don't use it. It feels like i'm wasting money you know?
So it's gotta be something I KNOW I will have the time and motivation to do.

I tried to learn knitting once. I made like.. a scarf. that was the extent of it. I kept forgetting how to knit part way through because my brain is like a sieve and had to relearn every single time I picked up the wool, which is crazy frustrating.
Some skills don't do that to me, like needle felting is "stab stab stab the wool" and plush sculptures the complicated bit is the armature but it's not hard or complicated to put together, just invovles a bit of trial and error to get right.
But knitting and putting together patterns? Ooo eee nope. Too many stages, too many things to remember and my brain goes "nope".
This is also the reason I found ballroom dancing hard. I'm good at dancing, but my brain is all "remembering the steps of this particular dance? Nah."
My short term memory is apparently shot, I had tests done and yeah, my ability to remember steps or stages of a process is severely limited. Unfortunately people don't seem able to grasp that I actually have a diagnosed damn disability here, and tell me "oh just practice more" like it'll magically fix my faulty brain wiring.
It doesn't. It just makes me feel stupid and useless because I can't do things other people seem to find super easy.
Worst was a while back when i complained about how hard I was finding sewing, a woman told me she could sew just fine despite having next to no use of one hand and I was like "how is this helpful!?"
Oh yeah, now I feel even more of a failure, the one handed lady can sew better than me. *huff*

Sorry, that was a rant.

 

Making things for them is how I learned to do a lot of stuff. I certainly wasn't going to pay more for their clothes than I do for mine and finding their style was impossible, not to mention anything that fit.

I came in to the game with faulty brain wiring and added a brain injury to it. The only opinions I have to live up to are the dolls' and they are happy to have anything. As I go and try I figure out ways to do the things that work for me.

@purple_monkfish Would a knitting loom or machine help you? I have trouble with steps and processes too. I've turned crochet into a muscle memory task of repeating movements to sooth my brain. And what about swapping staves and what's easier to do for the stuff you need someone else to help do? If you can do doll size you should be able to do people size. Maybe you can make found object fairy houses?

I can't carve and do much wood working for squat and because of sudden surprise seizures playing with fire and most heat tools isn't a good idea either.

 

I craft a lot. And even with my skills I do mistakes. But they are also an experience I value a lot.
The most important thing is to be happy with intermediate results.
Start with simple things that you can afford (with time, skills, money) to yourself, and step by step you will grow.

 

I'm not very crafty even though I wish I could be. Sewing and sculpting is all a bit beyond me and I don't feel motivated to try to improve. I've bought supplies and just... Never enjoy working on them. I hope one day that will change!

I do however love doing my doll's faceups. Painting them myself helps me bond with them far more than an artist face, even though I'm not by any means at a professional level.

It's something that IS frustrating and takes me a long time and a lot of practice but it's something I've enjoyed working on improving.

I think you just have to find your niche.That might be something ss specific as making hair accessories, or needle felting accessories, or body blushing. Maybe all you'll find you enjoy is making eyes and that's ok!You don't have to do EVERYTHING but I think that you gotta try a few things before you find what you do like.

Anne as someone else has already said if that's just shopping and collecting that's totally fine!

 

If crafting is making you miserable, there is no shame in buying. And there is more than one way to spend time with your doll. Photography, writing stories, or just sitting with them are all fine options. I also tried to throw myself into crafting, but right about now I am finally coming to the realization that I don't have the patience to make everything. Sometimes a person just wants to put their doll in the thing and be done with it.

 

I go by the feeling. If I want to sew something for my doll and feel motivated, I'll do it. If I don't, then I'll buy what I need unless I need something extremely specific. That's why I end up buying simple things for my dolls, like socks and underwear, which I find boring to make most of the time. It's also not uncommon for me to get a design idea, sketch it somewhere and come back to it later. My creating process for dolls is very slow but that's how I enjoy it.

For wigs, eyes and shoes, I usually don't bother making them because the process doesn't really appeal to me. I've been sewing for years, so it's easier for me, but making things like wigs or eyes require a lot of new materials that I'm not sure I want to invest in unless I absolutely have to. Considering all the new materials I would need, I'd probably pay more money for just the materials rather than just buying the specific product I want and wait for it a few weeks.

But I also wouldn't be against trying if I have a particular design idea. In that case I would try making a very simple design first to see if I like it and spend a minimal amount of money. That way I haven't lost anything and I don't get myself expansive machines or materials that I won't use ever again.

 

I can sew reasonably well... I've been doing it for a long time... But in general? I'm neither an artist nor a crafter. I don't have the skill, interest or patience to make my own eyes, wigs, props and such. It would be a complete waste of time and materials for me to try to pretend to be something I'm not...

So I don't.

I commission the folks who *are* good at that kind of thing instead. ^_^

 

Nothing is going to look good the first few times you try it when it comes to crafting. I have been doing it for years and I still make things that look awful - for example, I was trying to sew a tiny bodice for one of my MH girls a month or so ago, and it kept looking so awful that I threw it out and completely started over. It still looked bad, but I had put so much time into it already that I just said screw it and chose not to care lol XD I ended up covering the mistakes with some cute decorations like mini flowers and ribbon.

Honestly everyone is their own worst critic. Because you are the one making it, you see all the mistakes and sometimes that's all you can see...but in others' eyes, they see that you made something that looks really cool and think it's awesome that you did it.

The key is to just keep trying and not to give up when it looks bad. You can always start over if you make mistakes - that goes for everything - faceups, clothing, eyes, etc.

I'm sure eventually you will love your doll and be happy with the things you make!!

 

Might do. I managed to learn how to do those loom band thingies, but only like... straight lines lol. That was effectively loom knitting. I have real problems thinking in 3d though, so when it comes to creating anything shaped it's a bit like magic to me, hoping this object will somehow turn into what the tutorial says it will. And then I get easily confused by what i'm looking at.
Forcing something into muscle memory is my only solution too. Sadly that takes an awful lot of work and i'm quite easily demotivated.
I had to learn all my maths and science with rhymes because my brain remembers endless quantities of bloody words and rhymes but can I remember directions or a recipe or anything useful? heck no. I can remember the entirety of the bloody walrus and the carpenter from memory but I can't remember how to solve basic maths equations, I mean.. wth? it's so frustrating.
I also can never remember what line which stop is on for trains, always have to check the map like some tourist *sigh*
I learned ballroom dancing only by forcing it into muscle memory but if you ask me how to do a waltz? not a clue, not a damn clue. But if you put me on a floor and have a guy lead, i'll slip into it fine.

This is part of the reason I HATE change. It takes me ages to learn how to do something one way and then it gets changed and I have to start again. So I use really old computer programs lol, because learning the new menus hurts my brain.

I figure, my mental health is more important than DIYing things. Accepting your limitations is part of life, and no amount of "positive thinking" will change the way my brain is wired up so you take what victories you can and outsource everything else.

The people in my life can't seem to understand this, that I KNOW my limitations. I know if I can or cannot do something and no, i'm not just being negative, I genuinely know I can't do that super easy thing because it has steps I know i'll get confused by and spend like 3 hours fighting against and eventually cry.
Not worth it man.
My mother's really bad for this. She finds sewing crazy easy, and knitting, so she's always like "oh but you just do blah and blah" and can do something in 10 minutes what would take me an entire night of frustration to achieve even half of. "oh just practice" she says. "I HAVE practiced! It's not hard, it's impossible!"
Maybe i'll say the same to her next time she struggles to spell something (she's dyslexic) and when she gets angry smile and tell her "exactly, now you know how I feel."
She'll just tell me i'm being a jerk though. *sigh*

But yeah, op, crafting in the bjd hobby isn't a necessity. A lot of people do it, but a lot don't. No shame in outsourcing it to people who can and more importantly actually enjoy doing it.

 

It's all up to you, furui. I would say though that if it's stressing you out more than giving you joy, then it's time to change something up.

I used to sew a lot; I made a lot of costumes for cosplay and things. But now it's been years, my skills (which weren't AMAZING to begin with) have faded with disuse, and my situation has changed with how much room I have access to and how much free time I have. Even just trying to fix a seam stresses me out now, so right now I'm buying doll clothes though I'd like to take a crack at making them one day. I dream of trying to do faceups one day too, but that's a long ways off.

Do what's right for you and your circumstances.

 

"I really want to spend time on my doll, but I just don't have the motivation or the patience. Not for her face-up, for making her wig, or for clothes."
Then Don't!
It's your doll and you get to have fun with it however you want. If doing those things isn't fun for you, don't do them! Hire someone else to do the tricky stuff and just enjoy your doll.

 

I started trying to knit a sweater for a doll (looking at patterns on here and in Barbie/American Girl knitting books, trying to do math and convert the numbers of stitches and rows based on my yarn and my needles and the measurements of my MSD doll)...but before I'd even finished it, I found that he didn't even like that style of clothing. (I bought a doll that came with some clothing, and he stole some of it.) And since he's very different measurement-wise from my other MSDs, there's really no point in finishing it.

I don't regret the time spent on it, though, as I enjoy knitting. I seem to be having better luck with bought clothing/found items/barely crafted things (my one doll is literally wearing a tunic thing that is a circle of cloth with arm holes cut into it, but it suits him) than with making anything for them so far, but perhaps I'll eventually find my niche (or else just stop feeling guilty over not crafting for them and just enjoy them as they are). ^_^

 

I love making things! Too bad I'm a super perfectionist and end up not liking my creations. Oh well, I just like to give them a try. I've made wigs, eyes, face ups, sewn clothing, made shoes, props, etc. I mostly end up using purchased items as they look better? It's all a matter of perception. Thats part of the hobby, finding your likes and dislikes. Keep trying new things, or not, as you decide how you enjoy your dolls.

 

For doll knitting, unless the pattern is made for the specific doll, check out the book- How to Use, Adapt, and Design Knitting patterns by Sam Elliott and Sidney Bryan. I know how to draft my own sewing patterns for them and understand SPI, gage, and enough to knit or crochet stuff but this book helped bridge the gap. Most garment knitting doesn't need many measurements but they need to be the right ones.

If all you do have are Barbie patterns though try making the pattern with needles that are the same US size as the doll's wig in inches and regular yarn. For example try 6,7, or even 8 on an SD sized doll with Red Heart Super Saver. I was able to make a cardigan, it just needed to have the sleeves lengthened.

 

That sounds useful - I've reserved the book from the library so that I can check it out! I only have MSDs, so that tip about wig size might end up being too big for my dolls, but perhaps if I made them sized just a little down and/or with slightly smaller yarn...hmm.

 

If you really want to craft for your doll (this applies to anything like photography, doing face-ups or anything else, really) but feel like you don't get anything done, perhaps start with something easier?
Building up skills is one thing, that just takes practice and patience (patience can be substituted with stubbornness or insanity, whichever suits you better) but to even get that far you also need to build up some confidence in your skills.
It sounds to me like your doll is more or less a blank slate at the moment. That's a good thing. This means that anything you do is something you can potentially find some use for.
For example, if you want to build up a wardrobe of homemade stuff, why not start by some simple tube tops, skirts or dresses? Let it take time, let it turn out wonky the first time. Allow yourself to fix that wobbly hem by just covering it with a pretty ribbon and a bow.
The good thing about simple projects is that they tend to actually get finished. Skill (and speed and quality) will come with time, don't worry too much about that. Find ways to enjoy your dolly crafts in the meantime.
Same thing with face-up. Try a super simple one. Something like just blushing and shading with pastels. Skip tricky things like brows and lashes and leave them for another day. That way your doll will at least have something going on and look less unfinished.
You can also try your hand at simple accessories. Why not a beaded necklace, or bracelet? Sure, it's just beads on a string, but so are the dolls themselves, if you think about it. And that way you don't have to feel that nothing at all has happened.

With all that said, if it gives you joy to just have your doll around as it is now, do that! There is nothing wrong with that. A doll don't starve or freeze or get lonely. A doll will patiently wait until you have the energy to do things with it. If you ask me, that's one of the best things about them!

My own crafting goes very much in periods. Sometimes I'm super productive and churn out stuff like a little one man factory. Other times nothing at all happens for months. It's the nature of the beast when dealing with creativity and crafts. Everyone has frustrations when creating stuff and no project is fun all the way. There will always be boring bits to get through, mistakes that makes you feel stupid, things that ends up taking four times as long as they should etc. We all go through that.
We all have to find our own way to be ok with that, I think.

Sometimes when I'm stuck on a dolly project, I actually sit down with the doll I'm currently making something for and talk to it about it. This allows me to get into the dolls characters perspective of things and helps me figure out what the priorities should be. Nowadays I don't worry too much about a doll being neglected if I don't do anything with it for a while, but when I was new to the hobby i sometimes did. I found it useful to sit down with the doll and apologize to it and then imagine the doll telling me, in it's characters words, that it was ok. Silly as it may seem it really helped.

 

It can be intimidating to try doll crafts for the first time, especially when you see the amazing work that's shared by other hobbyists on the web. I was really intimidated and I remember having craft supplies sit idle for weeks while I battled with my anxiety. But it's seriously a lot of fun once you get started!

Don't worry about getting it perfect on the first try and don't feel bad if the wig/faceup/outfit/etc. you made does not turn out how you wanted in the end. Sometimes unexpected results can be eye-opening and even better than your original plans! And practice really helps. You should try new things 'cause there's LOADS of different aspects to crafting in this hobby. If you find you don't excel in something, there's other avenues to explore.

Important: if you feel yourself getting frustrated with a craft project, set it aside and take a break. There's always time to try and continue it later.

 

How do you guys make things for your dolls?
I'm trying to make most things for my dolls, but I may draw the line at shoes, because I hate what I seem to be able to do for soles. (Sewn leather soles are fine, but I can't really make molded synthetic rubber soles.)

How do you feel when you decide to make eyes, or sew something, or paint your doll, or make a wig, or anything of that kind?
I really enjoy it. I'm a student, and going into/working in (both) a really bio-science heavy field, so a different sort of science, and a different way of thinking, is really welcome.

Do you have frustrations, even in your hobby?
I think that frustrations come with everything. I get frustrated at school, frustrated at work in lab, frustrated by art projects. They just sort of come with living.

Is it always fun?
I've learned to only do it when it's fun. Every once in a while, I'll stick with a project to finish it, but I never start a day's work on a project if I'm frustrated with it. It's better to work on it at when I won't do it halfway.

Do you just patiently live with the feelings as you draft your patterns?
I think it's all about finding a balance. A little bit of worry, a little bit of frustration, well that's life. If you want to tear your hair out, it's better to think on it over the night and perhaps you'll think of a better way of doing it. Don't do it if it's not rewarding overall.

Do you hate your work and throw it out?
I've definitely thrown out a couple projects, but I guess, you might say I've never thrown out what I've learned from it. Each project isn't valuable for the end result, but rather what I learned from it.

I also like to remember something that an art teacher taught me, "I meant to do that." If something doesn't work out, and the project is already a junk run, might as well try to make it work in a different way than you intended, or try to make it into something else.

Do you complain to other people about it?
I usually don't complain about art projects or labwork. Schoolwork, however, I do complain about--frequently.

Are you happy with the process of making things, do you like what you make?
The only reason I do crafting is because I like it better than what I can buy. The clothes fit better, the mods make the sculpt fit the character, and the other projects I've tried, like wigmaking, allow me to provide a better product (or at least, a more tailored one) than I can find.

 

I personally make all my dolls stuff since it saves money and it makes me feel closer to my dolls and if you need to remove a faceup acetone works best just be sure to keep running water near by to stop the reaction