Black Friday/Cyber Monday Free Shipping Event

I've been so busy the past couple of days that I forgot to post this here!



That's right, free worldwide shipping for the next four days!

In the 4 1/2 years I've been running this business I've never done a deal like this before, so I suggest you take advantage of it while you can.

Meet The Dolls, Part 4

I'm busy this week getting ready for a free shipping event I'll be holding this weekend in my store (Nov 25-28), but I thought I'd take a moment out to write up another post introducing more of my dolls!

First up is Jesus, affectionately known around here as Zeus. He is Ophelia's oldest son:

(Wearing Dorset's olive green t-shirt)

His girlfriend, Maggie:

(Wearing my green and white striped cardigan)
Her's was the first faceup I'd attempted in about a year! I do about one a year and usually hate them, wiping them off to give to someone far more skilled. Hers is actually growing on me for once.

And their son, Harry:

(Wearing my grey and black striped t-shirt)

So that was a quick little post, got many more to introduce over time!

Confessions of a fabric-a-holic

Yesterday on my tumblr I was asked to take photos of my fabric collection. I am rather well known amongst those that know me for being a fabric addict.

Besides the obvious motivation of being a seamstress, having worked in a fabric store for 9 odd years means you spend a lot of your pay on fabric! Once I stopped working in the store, it didn't seem to stop me from buying more fabric. T_T

My old house used to have no kind of order to my sewing room. It was more known as my fabric room because it was to messy to actually sew in there. When we moved house I knew I had to sort everything before I moved in (because we all know that once you're there, it's all too hard!). So with the help of my friend, we spent a day sorting all my fabric by type. I donated about a third of it to charity, and this is the rest!



Organising by type was really one of the best things I did. It makes searching for things so much easier.



These spacebags are sorted by type too, but are the stuff I don't need constant access too. When I can afford it I want to get boxes for all of this as well.


My childhood chest of drawers is an excellent holder of fabric. I have a whole drawer of just brocade there!


Under my work bench. These boxes hold fabric I want to work with in the near future. Fabric gets cycled through here, often when I search through other boxes and drawers and get excited and inspired!

So there you have it. They say the one who dies with the biggest collection wins, and I think I'm well on my way! I have to force myself into having fabric free months to stop adding to the collection, but it is very hard for me to go to a store to get thread and not come out with something else. ;)

Lest We Forget

Sometimes working from home means that I live in a bubble.

I've been having a bad week. Nothing seems to be getting me out of this rut, no matter how hard I try I feel like I'm making any progress in my goals. It's certainly hard to keep motivated.

But then I was reminded that day is Rememberence Day, and I felt more than a bit humbled.

I live in a peaceful country, that is home to over 180 nationalities. I have a roof over my head, food on my table, an amazingly supportive husband, and loving family and friends. Times get hard, but I still consider myself lucky.

The last time I was reminded of this was when my husband and I went to Russia earlier this year. We went to Volgograd, better known by it's old name of Stalingrad. The whole town was destroyed by the Germans in WWII, and those that survived lived in holes in the ground during the battle, as all buildings were bombed.

Coming from a country that, whilst having gone to war, has never really experienced it on it's own turf, this was incredibly confronting. My grandfather fought in WWII and survived to tell the tale. My ex boyfriend's grandfather also fought in the war and spent a substantial time in a Japanese POW camp. His stories seemed amazing and yet at the same time hard to truly relate to.

When we visited Mamayev Kurgan, a field in Volgograd which has now been turned into a sculpture park and war memorial, it finally started to sink in, and made my heart ache.

Every Russian town has an Eternal Flame, ever burning for those who lost their lives in the war. It's a beautiful thing to me, and this one in particular made me cry, when lined up with the statue I posted at the top, of a mother holding her dead soldier son.

I am no advocate of war, as I'm sure most of us are. But I have nothing but respect and sadness for those who have fought before us. Sadness that they had to fight at all.

Age shall not weary them,
nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun
and in the morning
We will remember them
Lest We Forget

Meet the Dolls, Pt 3

Taking this shot yesterday of these sweaters I've put up for sale, I realised I was taking a pic of all my vampire girls. So allow me to introduce them!

Mariella - Angel Toast Elf Raven girl

Wearing the Rose Stripe Set.
Ex-burlesque dancer come performance artiste (though I'm sure she'd include burlesque in performance art).

Cherie - Elfdoll Barbara

Wearing the Grey Cowl Neck Sweater
1940s Hollywood actress, ex 90s model, now club manager and roller derby extrordiare (under the alias "Cherry Bomb").

Anastazja - Iplehouse Silvia

Wearing Raspberry Swirl Lingerie.
Quiet little bookworm with a dark side.

Svetlana - Iplehouse Dreaming Silvia

Wearing the Lavender Cowl Neck Sweater
Twin sister to Ana. Never lucky in love. All round tart.

We're getting close to the half way mark for introducing my dolls, I think!

Mastering the batching process

This week I'm doing some large batches of lingerie for SD and Super Gem dolls. I've always liked to sew things in batches - either by item, or by thread colour. But usually I would just stick to maybe, 3 of something. But recently I've been attempting larger batches, with good results.

Super Gem Purple Plaid Pants on Etsy
A couple of weeks back I made 24 pairs of doll pants - 6 colours, 4 sizes. I realised the most efficient way to get these made, was to start a production line - cut out all pieces, overlock them all, sew the legs together, sew all waistbands, add the snaps, photograph and list by size. The whole process took me a total of 6 days, but had I done it differently I'm sure it would have taken me twice as long.

Delf Girl Red Plaid Pants on Etsy
The key I found was to get myself into a zone. I'd start off a bit slow, but after repeating the task a few times, I would get into a flow, and as a result, get faster. So I'm rethinking my plans for the next month, and seeing what I can work into larger batches. First up is all this lingerie!

There's a total of 13 sets, which I'll hopefully finish at the end of the week. There is a lot more hand detailing in my lingerie than my pants, so it will take longer. But with any luck I can streamline more of my processes and make them much more efficient.

Meet the Dolls, Pt 2

A quick post today, introducing the first of Ophelia's five children - Charlie and Lucy.
Charlie (child version) - Bambicrony Elf Gun
Charlie (whose real name is Charlotte) is the oldest of the two twins. I have them in both child and adult forms, as all of the rest of Ophelia's kids I only have in adult form, so they needed to grow up! XD

And all grown up:
Charlie (adult version) - Unidoll Dahlia mod
(Wearing Dorset's Olive Singlet)

Lucy (child version) - Bambicrony Elf Gun


Lucy (adult version) - Unidoll Lily mod

(Wearing my new Teal Cowl Sweater)

And then there's Lucy's daughter, Cordelia:
Cordelia - Bambicrony Tan Emily

(Wearing Dorset's Pink Butterfly Garden Maxi Dress)
If you're wondering about her sudden tan skin against her mother's pale skin, that would be because of her father Nako (who belongs to Aeryn):



So now we're just under a third of the way through my dolls! XD

Meet the dolls, Pt1

It seems odd for me to introduce my dolls this way, as I'm used to just posting pictures of them and nattering on as if people know what I'm on about But seeing as I assume most people reading this don't know my dolls, I thought I'd introduce them in batches.

I think I mentioned this before, but my dolls each have a character, and are part of story worlds I have created. This is both part writing inspiration (though I hardly ever write anymore), and part sewing inspiration. Coming from a costume background, I find it fun to create a look for each character, and bring that to life through my dolls.

I guess the easiest way to do this is start from the start and branch out according to how they're interlinked.

Ophelia - Dollmore Black Lilith

Ophelia was my first doll, and is the Queen of my world, quite literally!

Phoenix - Cerberus Project Elf Vampire Chiwoo mod

Phoenix is her younger brother, and one of the many vampire dolls I have.

Eiji - Cerberus Project Nanuri 07

Eiji is Phoenix's boyfriend, and another vampire.

Alice - Serendipity Boding Boding Alice

Alice is Phoenix's childhood friend, and tiny robot making demon extrodinare.

Aleana - Dolkot Kiss girl

Aleana is an ex lover and close friend of Phoenix, and aspiring DJ.

Cutting my characters down to one sentence is hard. It's that or ramble on forever!

So I'll try to remember to make a few more posts introducing my dolls in the future. :)

The Delicate Balance

I remember when I was 16 and naive to the perfect words to say at a job interview, that when asked "How do you work best?" I said "When it's busy enough to always have something to do, not when it's quiet." Of course I'm sure I could find some dazzling way of going on about how I always work great under any circumstance now, but really I was telling the truth. I work best when it's consistently busy, but not necessarily chaotic. When I don't have a clear goal or path I flounder and procrastinate. If I have too much on my plate I can become overwhelmed. In times of urgency and crisis I am able to just buckle down and get things done without freaking out, but I'd rather not be in that situation.

I have a problem of thinking I can do much more than I can. I know I can do more than I usually do, but my brain likes to kick it up a notch and say "You totally have the speed and skills of a sweatshop worker, you can make 8 pairs of pants in a day, no problem!" Then I make four and get annoyed at myself for not meeting my goal. Conversely, if I am too cautious and only consider making 2 pairs of pants a day, then I feel I can procrastinate a bit more in the day, cause it won't take me so long. Which ends up being a whole day of procrastination and nothing is done. I'm always trying to give myself goals which are a bit more than what I can normally do, but I can get them done if I put my energy into it. It is a delicate balance.

At the moment I am a day behind in plans. I had hoped to get things done yesterday, but after going out I came home and decided I wasn't in the mood. Today Brendon is home and seeing I haven't seen him for a few days I want to spend his day off with him. Next week we go away for our anniversary, so that's three days of work lost. I'm trying to plan this week to make it as productive and efficient as possible, with achieveable goals which are still pushing me just a bit. With any luck I'll get all 6 colourways and 4 sizes of these pants made up and listed by the end of the week.

Accomplishments make me more motivated, so let's see just how much I can accomplish.

Starting Anew

So I feel like I should reintroduce myself on this blog, seeing that I haven't written anything proper in many years, and who I was 6 years ago isn't exactly who I am now, so you'd have all sorts of odd concepts about me if you started off by reading those old entries!

I go, pretty much everywhere off and online, by Mon. Mainly because my albeit simple name is too hard for so many to pronounce correctly, even when I say it to them. So the nickname my parents gave me suits me fine.

I live in Melbourne, Australia, with my husband and our many ball jointed dolls. It was a hobby I never really expected to get into, but it has brought together so many creative aspects of my life, and I have made so many wonderful friends (like the lovely Aeryn) that I cannot possibly complain about all the money I have spent on them.
My years of sewing, and my study of costume design led me down the path of sewing for them. It's like being their personal costume designer - each doll has a specific character, which inspires me to create a look around that. Because I have such a wide range of tastes, I have ended up with a wide range of dolls to cover those looks!
I have a business, Dorset, which has become almost exclusively about making doll clothes, though I do make the odd wedding dress and cosplay for friends from time to time. I started the business 4 years ago, and after one year of running it from home, wedding costs forced me to find another job, and I worked them both part time for 3 years. After a wedding, a few trips overseas, and some focused debt repaying, I am back to working from home, running my business full time. I've learnt a lot over those 4 years, and am always still learning (aren't we all?), and I'm sure I'll be sharing many of my observations with you.


I've been trying to work out where this blog will fit in my many online presences. My livejournal tends to be more personal, my deviantart is naturally art focused, and my tumblr is really just a visual record of my tastes, inspirations and creations. I think this will be where I most likely write essays on things I don't feel fit anywhere else - about my business, things I like, you name it. No one is really reading it right now, so I don't have to worry about what people think.. yet.


Well, lunch is over, and it doesn't feel like 1pm. The greyness of outside makes it hard to judge the time of day just by looking out the window. Off to get some work done, and maybe I might actually write something more interesting tonight.

Wow, found this old thing!

So it's been 6 years since I posted here, wow.

I'm thinking I'll try and post here again, but I'm not sure what about. Stay tuned for more posts in the future!