Swapping

As with many sewers, I have a great big stash, and only so much time/attention span to work on things. It's pretty common to go, "Ooh, wouldn't it be amazing to make X?" and start working on the new thing. Next thing you know, you have a great big pile of things in the "in progress" stack, which is ever growing.

Collecting dolls makes the "in progress" pile and the stash situation even worse, cause the scraps might not be handy for human sized things, but would certainly be useful for your bjds. Also, since they take up less material and don't have to worry about being cold (except Anthea,) current fashion conventions, or an occasion to wear things, there's less reason NOT to sew for them. It has come to the point that my stash is several boxes and a dresser big, and their wardrobes are pretty much filled to capacity.

So I signed up to participate in swaps. My rule is to take as much from the stash as possible when sewing for other dolls and hopefully shrink the darned thing. I also don't like to join ones that have a maximum value or a no hand sewing rule. While my out of pocket expenses for these tend to be low, the labor I put into them is pretty big. Also, when stitching in a small scale, some things are just more practical to do by hand than by machine. Besides, machine stitching is not always a sign of quality. (I glare at my machine, because while I adore it, our relationship is not without hiccups.)

Here's an example:

This was from my first swap, with a mori girl* theme. Being new at this, I didn't want to disappoint my partner, so I made rather a lot of items. Adding another complication was that I'd be on vacation for part of the time between partner assignments and the shipping deadline. I made some educated guesses as to what most participants would want, like a template outfit. This included a dress, pinafore, headscarf and shawl. The rest I added as a personalized touch, like the ribbon on the pinafore and the brown shirt that's to be worn beneath the gown. My favorite parts are the white shawl, which is made with a basket weave stitch and garter stitch edging, and the scalloped tucks on the dress. The blue shawl I added as a bonus, as I made it a while ago and didn't really suit my girls.

*a sort of whimsical enchanted forest fashion aesthetic