What did you learn in bjd that you use for other hobbies

Definitely sewing. If not for my dolls, i never would have been able to make my daughter's Halloween costumes all these years. Or her flower girl dresses either.

 

How to prep plastics better! And knowledge about plastics in general. I had customised a few things before, but didn't know exactly why some plastics are "melty" or become sticky after contact with acetone or other chemicals, and why some plastics had absolutely zero issue with acetone. Aside from knowing on a basic level that the soft and squishy plastic was often vinyl and the hard plastic was... usually not vinyl (but still can be), I didn't know anything more and wasn't clear on the difference.

This hobby introduced me to a lot more chemistry than I expected, and now I know and understand a lot more about plastics which I've been able to take back to other figure/statue/etc work and understand that better. It seems strange that it happened this way, but I think it's because the community here discusses different plastics (different resins) a LOT, in the interest of protecting them from harsh chemicals. In other hobbies like miniature painting, the plastics don't seem to really be discussed, only primers and paints. I learned a great deal more about the actual chemistry of these things from this hobby, which I'm glad about!

 

I love to faceup them, give them a spirit,'' myself'', i give them tattoo too, and drawing them posing

 

I dived deeper into sewing thanks to this hobby. I already come from a family with a lot of people that sew (MY mom, Grandmas on both side of the family) So i was already introduced but never fully got into it till I got my first doll and wanted to make alot of her clothes. I'm now trying to perfect patterns for me to sell finished clothes in the future came a long way in 1.5 years. i'm also going to be trying out dyeing in the future as well.

 

Sewing, I'm much more confident when I sew on fix my own cloths. Much like @nattherat Ive learned a lot about plastic which I use in my lego commissions.

 

I picked up sewing and photography. Both I was interested in but never really knew how to do properly until I got into dolls and started to take it more seriously. I'm always learning but it's a fun learning.

Crochet, I wanted to learn in general since it felt like it was finally time (and I wanted to bring back the joy of gifting those items to others like my grandmother did) and it helped that I could use it for my dolls. Now I make doll clothes, I've made human blankets and scarves and I'm making things for myself. Once I learned how to do miniature crochet, it didn't seem so scary to approach larger projects.

 

I've started using the sewing skills I picked up in cosplay/costuming. After making such tiny seams work on a stiff, unflexible body, making clothes for a human being is a cinch! I've also improved my sculpting skills in the bjd hobby, though I've always done that outside of dolls, and more recently I've tried putting my knowledge of jointing to work in making movable props for cosplay (jointed puppet hands, etc.).

 

I learned a lot about my creative skills after joining this hobby! I now know that I can use a dremel and sandpaper without ruining whatever I'm working on. I also learned about the dyeing process when I dyed my SD Liam. I stopped wearing makeup this year, but after doing a few faceups I'm confident that I'm still pretty good at creating makeup ideas.

 

Safety! I was never that concerned about respiratory protection before, neither with aerosols nor with sanding anything, but the emphasis placed on respiratory safety here convinced me to pay attention to it with other hobbies as well.

Otherwise, the doll hobby is more an amalgamation of skills I learned elsewere, instead of the other way around. Sewing, designing, painting, prop/miniature making are all things I've been doing for years. Getting a doll was an excuse to pick up those neglected hobbies again.

 

I didn't know proper ways to repaint back when I got into BJD. I knew people repainted Barbies, and other fashion dolls, but I always thought it was super hard and scary to try it myself. I was always into art, and dolls and always wanted a customizable doll, that was meant be customized. So, before I learned about BJD, I learned about Volks Dollfie, and Obitsu (and accidentally stumbled across BJD). I was a lot more open to customize dolls that were meant to be customized for some reason, despite them being a lot more expensive than a Barbie doll. I learned that even when I had twenty-plus years worth of experience of painting on flat canvas, those skills didn't translate well onto painting miniature 3D surfaces (for me). It was a pretty slow learning curve at first, and it has gotten slower nowadays because I don't repaint or customize dolls as much, as when I first got into BJD (around late 2003). Painting on large canvas all my life until then vs painting on tiny heads was super different, and not as easy as most people might erroneously believe. You don't necessarily have to know how to paint to be good at it, you have to heavily rely on having a steady hand (which I sadly don't, and didn't realize until I painted my first Volks Dollfie). You can use pencils to kind of bypass not having a steady hand, but I love painting more than drawing, so I always choose to use paint for my repaints or face ups. I'm not a fan of drawing on 3D surfaces, and I don't think I'll switch even if my miniature line work gets crummier with old age (I'm weird and stubborn). DX

I learned about additive and subtractive mods thanks to BJD, which I mostly do on hard plastics because soft ones are a pain in the gut to get right (for me). I also learned how to sew (very poorly), and make wigs (terrible ones!) thanks to BJD, so I'm glad that I discovered BJD even though I don't purchase anymore and don't really play with mine much these days. I learned quite a few different techniques, that I can apply to other toy customizations I enjoy doing. (:

 

Definitely sewing and some stuff about plastics I never knew. I had no idea acetone was so corrosive! Funny enough, faceups have helped me with makeup and vice-versa. Now I can make wigs too, the method really isn't different for making one on a human sized head. I've also learned about respiratory safety with sprays and have been using my pastels and water color pencils in my other artwork. It's introduced me to the joys of modge podge and gotten me into clay sculpting and wood working. Overall I've gotten way craftier! I've got my sights set on a dremel as I want to try some mods but I also want it for wood.

 

My english skills. This hobby allowed me to learn a lot of new words and terms and participating in a forum has made a little more confident in my writing skills!

 

For me, getting into this hobby "late" it's actually more the other way around. What former hobbies (or current hobbies) have taught me that is useful in the bjd hobby as well. I have always crafted in some way or other and my skills with crocheting, embroidery, sewing etc really help with making stuff for my dolls.

 

I learned to sew because of this hobby. When I first got into the hobby, I didn't have much money so the outfit that my doll wore was her only outfit. At the time, "Rozen Maiden" was popular and I was ambitious and wanted to make some of the outfits from the show for my doll. I nearly flunked Home Ec back in high school because of my poor sewing skills (I tried, but didn't have the talent for it) and had never attempted sewing since then, so collecting BJDs was a big motivator in trying again. I had a legit phobia of sewing machines back then so I tried hand sewing doll clothes. It was okay, but not as good as sewing with a machine nor as fast, so I had to slowly learn to desensitize myself to being near/handling sewing machines which took about a decade. I'm finally learning how to machine sew, but actually making simple (human) baby quilts and I'm almost done with my first cloak for my husband ("The Lord of the Rings" style worn by the Fellowship). Eventually, I'm learning to sew other human sized clothing and once I get more familiar and comfortable with that, I'll go back to trying my hand at dolly sized clothing. It's fun.

 

Sewing and photography. I'm not good, but this hobby has given me an incentive to learn. Also, budgeting. This hobby has pushed me to be more careful with my finances.

 

Sewing, using sprays, postal prices and online sales. Very practical