Which came first, dolls, or crafting?

I learned how to sew because of this hobby. Hehe, my husband was already in sticker shock over the price of the dolls, so to ease the pain I decided I would make my own clothing. It worked out much better than I could have guessed. I'm so glad. Phew! ^_~

As for faceups, I already loved to draw…so that went hand in hand. ^_^

 

My dolls are a perfect outlet for dressmaking/handcrafting skills I have learned over the years. Also I get to make things for them that I am interested in making, but not necessarily wearing. I mean seriously, I am really way too old for a prom dress. And I have no interest in re-marrying. But I do love fancy clothes. Also it doesn't cost nearly as much to make a dolly dress or sweater as it does to make something for myself. Lucky dollies.

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For me, sewing/crafting by far came first... my first doll was purchased "only" to be a clothing model! (That worked out about as well as you might think it did.) I never intended to actually fall into the hobby, or end up doing faceups, mods, any of that stuff... but it's all from skills I already had before I ever encountered the hobby. I learned to sew as a kid and have been making cosplay, clothes and other things for years; I learned a lot of typical 2D art skills (the kind that help with faceups) when I was young, too, and have a degree in Fine Arts: Sculpture/Printmaking, which ties into the modding element. I might give learning to knit/crochet a shot, though, so I can make little things for them that way, but as for everything else? I didn't learn the skills because of the hobby, I got into the hobby because of the skills.

 

I am the most art-less person I know. I can't sew, draw, or craft.
But once I saw the dolls I knew my small make-up skills were going to learn to work with some new tools and paints.
Plus it gave me even more reason to invest in a DSLR since I know I'll be all over pictures of them.

Who knows, maybe it will lead to learning to sew and make wigs. I think I'd prefer to make wigs.

 

I was a cosplayer/costumer with years of prior sewing experience before I got into BJDs. I've always been both an 'artsy' person as well as a determined and frugal DIYer and a bit of a perfectionist -cough-, as well as having been interested in photography ever since I was a kid. BJDs have just given me another reason to use and improve on interests and skills that were already there. Even if it wasn't with dolls, I'm certain I would be doing the same things in another hobby.

 

1st - Seamstress, costumer, crafter, painter and clay sculptor, (old fashioned) draftsperson/graphic artist by profession. So the dolls fit right into my life. I am so glad to have small people to make costumes for, and all the other fiddlie bits are fun too.

 

It' a bit of both I think.

I learned to sew/knit/crochet/paint and other art stuff in school (I went to a school with a very strong focus on arts), and I used to love making all sorts of things. Somewhere long the line, I just quit doing anything creative at all. I was a bit down for a while, and jut had no creative spark at all. But when I got my doll, I suddenly got all these ideas on what I wanted for her. I have so many things I want to make for her to wear and use. I even started becoming interesting in painting and drawing again after I bought supplies for face-ups. I still haven't tried a face-up (I really like my girl's default)but just having the supplies sitting around sparked some ideas for paintings. I really have my doll and this hobby to thank

 

I have very basic crafting skills but I intend to get better at them... at some point. XD Face ups and modding still scare me. Eventually I'd like to be able to increase my skills and diversify, but my job has thus far made it difficult. :/

 

I knew how to sew before I got any dolls as I make costumes for myself and my boyfriend. I also did alot of sculpting with Fimo. So, when I get some nice fabrics I will get my dolls some extra clothes

 

I had rusty skill at sewing before getting my doll. I'm brushing up on it again but it's still a work in progress. This hobby is a great inspiration in skill building. That is what I love about it. It gives people the opportunity to learn new things to dabble in.

 

I've been crafty since I was a kid so definitely that first. I learned to knit and hand sew from my mom in elementary. I used to make things for my Sanrio plushies ^^; In highschool I learned to embroider and crochet. Knitting, crochet, and sewing are all hobbies I pick back up every few years. BJDs just give me a nice outlet (bigger projects for myself always end up half done =/). I've been drawing since I was a kid too - though I'm not sure how much that has helped with faceups....

 

I was crafty before I found the hobby. I had learned crochet, basic knitting an sewing. Then I went to beauty school and worked in a salon where I learned makeup application and how to make wigs so it all seemed so perfectly to fit into this hobby. I couldn't help but want to get dolls.

 

I don't have a doll yet, but I'm hugely into all kinds of crafting so this feels like a natural extension to my already existing hobbies. I mostly want to sew for my doll and probably make some furniture. I've actually already drafted a couple patterns while trying to settle on which doll to get first!

 

I was a crafter first - got my doll to sew for - made some things for her....And then I discovered Alices Collections LOLLLLL - never picked up a needle again....Well I did try half-heartedly - I felt guilty for buying stuff I could make - but hey it's fun, and it's a hobby, and I now enjoy photography, which I never did before, so it's all good

 

I have been sewing,knitting and crocheting since I was six and Istudied fashion and textiles at Uni. My dolls give me an excuse to be creative and make designs that can be worn without the outlay of large pieces of fabric.

 

Good luck, but if you do fall in, just roll with it. From my own "only one" I currently have 23 sitting around in various stages of completion (not to mention the two floating heads and one floating body). But I'm really having a lot of fun taking these raw pieces of resin, so to speak, and bringing them to life in my own vision, using all those skills I accumulated before the hobby, as well as the new and evolved ones that have come since joining up.

 

I was a crafty person to begin with but I learned so much more because of my dolls. I taught myself to sew and do face-ups just for them. I find a new craft to try out for them all the time and it can be simple or complicated but it's almost always something I haven't tried before. My dolls are my creative muses.

 

Before you got your doll, could you already sew/knit/crochet/make things, and did you use these skills to make things for your doll, or did you get a doll, and then learn to make things for it?
I was artistic in the sense that I would make (poor) drawings, paintings and I had been very into make-up, even recreating a bjd face-up on my face. I've attempted to learn how to knit, but couldn't. When my dolls came, I learned myself to handsew (not that things never fall apart or are ill fitting). Learned that doing face-ups is a far from doing make-up and painting and attempted to learn myself how to crochet (fail). I have tried to make several things for my dolls, like a cat scratching post, a couch (2x), a bed (2x), wigs, goggles (2x) and purses. I have attempted sculpting a head and fantasy parts, without success. Yesterday I made a doll bed that kinda looks good.

Or do you have no interest in making clothing/accessories for your dolls?
Interest? Yes! Talent? Nope. I am also impatient when it comes to crafting, have very high standards for myself and my dyscalculia doesn't help when it comes to things that require counting and precise measurements. I wanted to join sewing classes, but I have social anxiety, which makes it a very big step.

 

I've always liked a lot of different crafts but was never that great at any of them. When I started collecting dolls (not just bjds) I started to spend a lot more time sewing so I think that's helped me to improve a lot!

 

I've been sewing since I was in high school. I learned how to knit from my great-grandmother when I was all of six or seven years old. I wasn't much older than that when I started tinkering around with my first little camera...

I got my first pair of dolls when I was 35.

So, yeah. I was doing the artsy/crafty thing a long, long time before my resin minions came along. All they did was change the scale. And the amount of fabric I have to buy. ^_^

 

I've been into crafts all my life, especially sculpting and dollhouse miniatures (I make my own houses, furniture, and accessories from scratch). I have also enjoyed making model kits. However, I did not like dolls until I discovered bjds as they are so customizable -ie a craft project. I have been sewing for my dolls more recently and am enjoying that too. I am always making stuff and having bjd's makes my To Craft List stretch into infinity!

 

Crafting. Been crating forever, and got into BJDs from doll houses.

 

I have always crafted, and making barbie doll clothes was a passion of mine many years ago. Then a friend got a American Girl Doll and I started making clothes for her. I found BJD because they are more lifelike.

 

Crafting came first for me. I used to make miniatures and I've known how to knit and crochet for a long time. I love this hobby because all my disparate crafting abilities come together to make a beautiful doll

 

Crafting came first for me, I was into cosplay, and had started learning to sew in order to make my own costumes, I'm not the best and I have a lot still to learn, but I have made a costume for my doll, with plans to make more clothes for them

 

Dolls came first in regards to sewing. I bought a sewing machine after being involved in the hobby, but I've always enjoyed art. I have been drawing for as long as I can remember, so faceups came pretty naturally for me.

 

The sewing came first. I found that I really love making ruffles, frilly dresses and most things that aren't really practical for normal wear, but they're a bit cumbersome to make full-size just for fun. They take up so much fabric, storage room, etc. 1/3 is a nice size. Big enough to easily get really detailed, small enough for easy storage and manageable amounts of fabric. Plus I can sell/gift the piece if/when I get bored of it. It's harder to do that my people-size clothes because human sizes vary much more than 1/3 doll sizes.

I can knit, but I don't enjoy it too much. I only really do it because I like keeping my hands busy while watching movies.

 

I was a cosplayer first, but never thought I could sew for dolls.

my first doll had nothing to wear, but dolls two and three are drowning in fabric!

 

Crafting came first ^.^ I'm a horrible crafter but I can't seem to be kept away from it :P

 

Crafting came first because I have been into folding origami, drawing, creating some miniature from paper cray, etc...for long ago, before I found BJD and got into this hobby. But for sewing, I have learned after getting my first doll (about a year and half).

 

Crafting was first but my crafting has always been rather doll linked. I have been making cloth faeries for years and before I learned a bit more about altering or making my own patterns I vastly prefered making toys to clothes. I come from a crafty household.

 

I learned to sew from my mom, and I was making cloth dolls (and clothing for them) for several years before I discovered BJDs. My first doll turned out to be about the same size as my larger cloth dolls and could share some of their clothes. As I learned more about BJDs, I learned that all the weird/"incorrect" things I was doing with my cloth dolls - wanting different outfits for them instead of sewing one outfit on and having that be it, wanting them "poseable" instead of making art figures wired and glued into place on wooden stands, making characters that had been in my head for years -- was in fact what BJDs were all about. I found out that I had the wrong idea about cloth dolls after I entered a challenge on a cloth doll-making site to dress a doll using entirely re-purposed items. Apparently I was supposed to make a new doll and sew/glue the items on her, not make an existing doll a bubble-skirted dress and corset out of a contractor bag, a Barnes and Noble bag and duct tape.

 

I started out crafting, then saw a doll that a friend wanted. That started making me want to make tinier and tinier crafts. Then a few years later I saved up and got dolls of my own to make tiny things for.

 

I started with drawing, but as it isn't really "crafting" to me(it is an art, though I still count crafts as an art. I'm confusing :p )
Then I got into polymer clay, and was watching this miniatures artist on youtube make amazing tutorials, for food and even a 1/12 dollhouse doll(not a bjd though) for a brief period of time, I wanted a dollhouse and to make my own dolls and food for it. Then I re-discovered BJD's, which is heard about before, but wasn't entirely interested in before. When I heard of all the customization you could do, I had to have one.

 

Crafting definitely came first. My mom taught me to sew when I was young,then I got into painting/drawing before bouncing between that and plushy/cloth doll making. I was really big into the art classes that a local museum hosted,especially the sculpting ones. After I got into the hobby I focused my skills on clothes,props,and eventually making my own bjds. I've dabbled a bit with wig making too,but haven't had much luck with it yet.

 

I learned crochet, sewing, etc before I collect bjds from my grandma she taught me how to do some women's stuff because I'm too tomboy for a girls in my younger age^^; then I got dolls, so learned how to do crochet, knitting, pattern more seriously than before, and I learned how to do faceups, because it seems interesting to try XD
I could draw so, it is easier for me to do faceups than sewing, but I'm trying to master both ^^

 

I had dolls when I was young and my mother and I would make clothes for them, then I learned to sew. I knit a little but my strongest skill is scrap crafting and costuming. Making stuff for my dolls is an exercise in recycling and designing things around a scrap of something. So my love of dolls came first, then I found BJDs, and I just love the creativity of it all.

 

I still can't sew. The first thing I did sew was for my BJD and I hope to get better in order to make him nice outfits!

 

I've always been a crafter. I sew, Knit, and crochet. when I first got into dolls, I saw their little bodies are a medium to showcase my skills without spending a ton on materials for human sized crafts. My love for the actual dolls came much later

 

I was an artsy, crafter, sewer before, but the sculpting of food and sewing in a smaller scale was new, just for my dolls. I had looked online for food props for my dolls, and they were either cheaply made and didn't look real or were VERY expensive so I took matters into my own hands and learned to make them with help of online tutorials. Now my dolls can have whatever they want! YAY! It has really been nice and has become something my mother and I can work on together as we like to sew quilts so making them mini wasn't too much of a stretch.

It is really fun to sew for dolls! I make my own period costumes for renaissance and victorian festivals and sometimes it takes me what seems like FOREVER to finish (especially victorian). The dolls, however, are much more instant gratification! It only takes me an hour to say...make a nice silk kimono!

 

Crafting first - ever since I was little. Then dolls I'm a little worried about crocheting little dresses using small hooks and thread etc, but hey! Practice makes perfect, right?

 

I did sew and knit before dolls came in to my life
I am a tailor but retired now
Ilse

 

I've liked crafting since I was a teenager, say around 14. Then I discovered BJDs when I was 16 or 17, so the crafting came first but not by much!

 

Mmmm... I am able to sew for humans. I'm not very good with clay, but I'm pretty good with wood, foam, and wonderflex. I can't cast resin for the life of me. Quite frankly, I'm too intimidated to try. I can't epoxie, either.

But when it comes to dolls... I can't sew like. Complicated clothing. I just don't know how to get those seams to work. I can make accessories. One thing that I was brave enough to do when it came to these dollies was dremel and mod. I'm not a great artist, but somehow drawing tattoos is a lot easier when I'm doing it on a doll than when I do it on paper XD

 

Dolls. Definitely dolls. I have 0 talent in craftsmaking or anything that involves manual skill really, but I'm seriously considering picking one up whether that is faceups/sewing/furniture-making, because I think I owe some justice to my bank account...:p

 

I was already a crafter before I had bjds. Crocheting, knitting, making jewelry, ..... I live in a very crafting family - everyone of us has some crafting abilities.
But having bjds made me want to do more crafting.
I started sewing too .Though I still have to improve a lot !
I found out I'm a disaster with clay !
I tried face-ups but I think I will leave this to the artists. I love to do it but I doubt if I have the skills for it !
Making wigs : tried it but it was a no ! I'm better off buying wigs.
The same for the eyes.
And modding : until now it's a no ! I fear of damaging my dolls ! I even do not dare to put a hole in their ears.

But overall through bjds my crafting experiences have expanded - whether I succeeded or not. I like to try out new crafts

 

Before dolls I knew the bare basics of sewing and knitting and crocheting, enough to sort of do it if I ever felt compelled to/repair rips in clothes or things. But since joining the hobby I've found myself wanting to learn more about sewing and crafting so that I can customize my dolls even further!
One of the main reasons for my peaked interest is I think it will be a little more economical to make things for my dolls, rather than buying them from a company, currently each doll has one outfit that I bought, but they deserve wardrobes and wardrobes of clothes! I'm getting a sewing machine pretty soon and I'm very excited to start making more things for them!
I think I will leave wig making to the professionals for now.. I tried it once...eep.

 

I started off as a cosplayer but I have always done crafty things so BJDs have been a great creative outlet.

 

I was into crafting long before I ever knew what a BJD was.

 

Crafting is what lead me to getting into BJD!

 

I did other types of crafting before collecting dolls but now am hoping to learn to use my sewing machine to make clothes for them. I'm not sure I'll be very good at it though.

 

I have been sewing since I was six, went to art school, I paint, draw, work in leather, wood, and metals. I knew nothing about these dolls at all until I saw a friend's doll.... My first thought was" FINALLY, THE PERFECT PERSON TO SEW FOR!!" Seven years and many dolls later, I am still busy making doll goodies!

 

I've been sewing since I was little (though not very well) and been doing lots of different arts and crafts. I played with Barbies as a kid, then started collecting slightly larger fashion dolls as a teenager. A comment that Soom's Mini Gem's could steal some of Barbie's clothes led to my first BJD. I've gotten better at sewing making them clothes, and have a growing stash of Barbie patterns. I've been working with polymer clay for a long time and am pretty good at making mini food. I hope that my artistic talent helps me learn to do face-ups.

 

Sewing, crafting, art stuff all came first. It was the sewing and crafting that led to my interest in BJDs. I've collected figurines for a long time, so picking up a BJD hobby was bound to happen eventually.
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For me it was simultaneous. I always wanted to learn to sew, and saw getting a BJD as a great opportunity to learn. I started trying to sew clothes the day after I ordered my first doll.

 

Crafting came first by about 50 years. I grew up with a mom who was a textile artist and interior designer. I inherited her love of creating, so at an early age I was drawing and making my own paper doll sets, and also sewing clothes for my Barbie dolls.

As an adult I went into costume design as a career. My hobbies were dollhouse miniatures, quilting and embroidery. I gave all of that up after a bad car accident caused some severe spinal issues. I didn't think I could do the things I loved, until I discovered BJDs and it renewed my interest in doing creative projects.

I'm working on getting my dolls dressed and then I want to learn faceups.

 

sorry - duplicate post