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.