There is a lot to be said for bought doll clothing. It’s generally fast, you don’t need to know how to sew or buy your own supplies. Let’s face it: the cost of various colours of thread, different types of fabric and then some kind of fabric to line it so that the darker colours won’t stain your doll? It takes money to make those clothes, but also energy and time. I’ve talked a lot in the past about where to find fabrics or small prints, but when it comes down to the nitty gritty, unless we’re all ready to dabble in pattern design – we need to know where to go to find size-appropriate designs for our Blythes.

One great website is PuchiCollective.com, a lot of people recommend this site for newbies because it has a lot of sewing patterns (many adapted from old Skipper patterns) along with some great tutorials on changing eye-chips, how to do the lock-loop method for rerooting dolly hair and tutorials on how to take scalps off of the doll’s head.

Some other great sites to check out are:

• Orriettacat’s sewing patterns
• xoxo, Blythe
• Simplicity #2353 (not free, but a good resource if you can find it on sale!)

For non-sewing patterns, but these patterns will still aid you in expanding your doll’s wardrobe, check out:

• knitty.com – knitting patterns
• Shershegirl – knitting pattern (plain onesie)
• Shershegirl – knitting pattern (poofy pantie onesie)
• Stitch Journal – knitting patterns (links on side menu)

Dress made with the Blythe Empire Dress pattern from puchicollective.com

When in doubt, you can always do a quick search on Google for “free Blythe patterns” or “free Skipper patterns” (or another similarly sized doll). There’s a lot of resources that are available online, you can also find sewing tutorials (for machine and hand sewing). There are a lot of Japanese books available (although not inexpensive at all factoring in cost of the item and shipping!) like Dolly Dolly or similar books (these generally have patterns for Blythe as well as other dolls that are popular in Japan).

Please remember to read the terms and conditions outlined on each individual pattern. Many of them are free for personal use only (not for commercial use) and be sure to respect the wishes of the designers.

At a lot of fabric stores, there’s a minimum amount (usually a metre [or a yard] off of the bolt or a fat quarter) that you have to get. And it’s usually quite a bit compared to how much fabric you realistically need for making a doll dress, unless you plan on making several matching articles of clothing (in which case, you can dress your dolls like sextuplets or sell the other multiples). Most people (for those not sewing things for sale), you end up with a lot of excessive fabric since you only needed a small part of it. What to do with all that extra?

Swap it!

I’ve seen some people putting together fabric bundles and offering them up for trade/swap or offering them up for sale. It’s a win-win situation, really. You can get fabric that you didn’t previously have (and not dress all of your dolls in identical clothes) and save some money instead of buying even more fat quarters and having even more fabric that you’re not using because you’ve already used it for a dress or two.

Don’t just offer up your scraps, people don’t want little scraps or shivers or fabric that can’t cover their doll. So if you cut your pieces efficiently from the original fat quarter, you can easily offer your extra fabric up for swap! Be sure to include information about the fabric like what kind of material it is, care instructions (if you have it) and even include a photo of the fabric with something for scale (a penny or a ruler works well!) so someone can see if they would like to use that fabric.

And remember – swap safely!

Did you like this week’s Blythe On A Budget? Have a suggestion for a new article? Let me know here!

It doesn’t cost you anything to share the love of Blythe and it can even help you gain another Blythe-friend (or convert a friend into a Blythe-lover).

Not everyone is instantly attracted to Blythe at first. Some people say it’s something about those weird giant eyes, others will say that the pink (or some people seem to think that’s red) chips are very off-putting and even evil looking! And I’m not telling you to try and convert just anyone into a Blythe-lover, some people just aren’t born that way (sadly), but it doesn’t hurt to try to introduce the dolls to someone else.

This is a ‘budget’ kind of tip mostly because you won’t be the one spending the money. Your new-found Blythe buddy will be.

Of course, you get to benefit as well from introducing a friend to Blythe. Not only will you (hopefully!) get to see stock dolls that you haven’t already seen before, even custom dolls from a customizer you’ve never seen the work of up close and personal, and maybe even get someone local to trade dolly clothes with – you also get the fantastic bonus of having a new friend who will actually understand what you mean when you say things like ‘gaze correct’ or ‘boggle’ or ‘putting hot glue to her eyes’ (for some weird reason, my boyfriend still thinks I’m weird when I say the one about the glue and gets a little bit concerned…).

But not to worry, it’s not entirely self-centred (for you) because your new Blythe-convert will not only be introduced to one of the best dolly communities around, they’re also likely to be persuaded into taking more photos, learning new crafts (everyone seems to do some dolly sewing at one point or another!) and just getting to know more people. Plus your new Blythe-convert will have something in common with you. If that’s not a fantastic reason to introduce someone to Blythe, I don’t know what is.

Just be sure that you don’t scare off your target too early. You’ll want to explain a bit about the history of Blythe (don’t overwhelm them about the different molds until they’re ready for it – but do explain the small differences between Kenner Blythes, Takara and Ashton-Drake Galleries), maybe talk about what stock dolls your dolls are (or a little about customizers/customizing). You don’t want to scare them off! Newbies are sometimes easily overwhelmed and scared off, so don’t start talking about ripping off scalps and shaving pieces of plastic for ‘gaze correcting’ – they might just going to run away from you or think you’re some kind of crazy person (or both).

There’s a lot of different sites where you can go and sell the things that you’ve made, that’s the beauty of the internet. You don’t need to know how to code anything yourself (although that would be an asset) and all you need to do is ensure that you input the correct payment information so you can receive the funds and make sure you ship things out in a timely manner. But with so many different site options, how can you tell which one is right for you?

I take a look at four popular options available online for your online selling needs and show the pro’s and con’s of each option. Some of them are free (!) while others have paid accounts and some just have the same price structure for everyone. It doesn’t matter if you know how to customize or code because not all of them even allow for customization, but they all have something in common: all four of the sites I’m talking about to you are sites where you can set up your own online shop.

Artfire
Artfire is a little bit newer than Etsy, which can be a good or a bad thing. Good thing is that there is less competition. The bad thing is that less people know about it. There is a ‘free/basic’ account and you can also pay to upgrade. Artfire does not have fees associated with making a listing or making a sale. Their “pro” account is $9.95 USD/mo (at the time of writing – this is mentioned on their site as a promotional price from the regular price of $20/mo) which includes more freedom in how you can run your online shop. With a paid-upgrade, you can get more images/listing, more customization abilities and the ability to create things like coupon/discount codes. If you don’t opt for their paid account, you can list things on Artfire for free, but you do have limitations as to what you can do with your account. The great thing is that there is a free account option, the bad thing is that there are limitations to free accounts (as always). Pro account price may be too expensive for some if you are unable to generate enough sales to cover the cost of your products and the cost of your shop.

Snippets of thoughts on Artfire:

• Basic accounts are free
• There are no fees associated with making a sale
• Pro accounts are $9.95 USD (current promotional price)
• There is less than a gazillion sellers on Artfire (in comparison with Etsy), but less than a gazillion sellers also translates to being less viewers on Artfire

Big Cartel
Big Cartel focuses on more than just handcrafted goods (like Artfire and Etsy) but also includes all branches of art, including music and various designers. Like Artfire, Big Cartel has a free/basic account option (only 5 listings at one time, 1 photo per listing, minimal customizing options) and goes up to various paid accounts from $9.99, $19.99 and $29.99 USD. The number of products you can list increase with each price tier, including the amount of control you have over customizations. The $29.99 USD allows for the most number of products listed at 300 (!) products and that’s apparently for a ‘small’ shop, the $9.99 USD option has a maximum of 25 listings. It allows for site-integration with your own blog that looks a lot more smooth that integration with the other options would be. I actually like how much customization options that you get with Big Cartel. The nice thing about Big Cartel is that there are no fees associated with any sales that you make.

Snippets of thoughts on Big Cartel:

• Basic accounts are free and can have up to 5 listings
• There are no fees associated with making a sale
• Pro accounts go from $9.99-29.99 USD
• Great options for customizations (with paid accounts), good options for integration

Etsy
Etsy is incredibly popular, which is both a good and a bad thing. A good thing is that it’s been tried over and over again by other crafters. The bad thing is that you need to be able to stand out among all the other crafters on Etsy in order to get sales (unless someone is specifically looking you up, in which case less effort is required). Etsy has a lot of page views per day, a lot of visitors, a lot of shops and a lot of activity going on their forums. There are a lot of resources available on Etsy for first-time or veteran online sellers. People discuss techniques as well as sourcing out materials or promotional tips on the forums.

You are charged on a per-item, per-listing basis and a percentage is deducted from each sale after you make one, based on the listing price. Each listing lasts for 4 months. Costs for listing are billed to you via a valid credit card or a Paypal account. Crafters under the age of 18 are permitted to have an Etsy shop provided that the actual store owner is their parent or legal guardian.

Snippets of thoughts on Etsy:

• To list one item, it costs $0.20 USD
• Each listing can last up to 4 months before it expires (unless someone buys it before 4 months is up)
• There is a 3.5% fee per sale that you make on Etsy
• There’s about a gazillion* other Etsy sellers on Etsy to compete with.

* May be an exaggeration, but it seems that way.

Storenvy
I haven’t found very many sites that use Storenvy yet, but it seems like a fun and interesting option. According to their website, a store is completely free. There are no limits to the number of products that you can list for sale, there are no fees associated with any sale that you make (beyond what Paypal themselves take). They also have full customization, for those who are code-savvy and have a lot of free features. For those wondering, Storenvy makes their money from their affiliate/sister site, which prints custom t-shirts for people who want to sell shirts via Storenvy. There is a social media feel to the website, which was one of the goals of Storenvy – people can ‘like’/heart your products and write comments directly about your shop and products on your profile (which doesn’t appear on your storefront).

Snippets of thoughts on Storenvy:

• Only one account level and it’s free
• There are no fees associated with making a sale
• Great options for customization (and by the looks of things, you can make it look just like the rest of your site!)
• Social media feel to the whole site with the liking and followers options.

– – – – –

For those that are current online shop owners and selling your Blythe/dolly clothing or shoes or pullrings or anything else that you can think of: what online shopping site do you use? What do you like or dislike about it?

I’ve talked about participating in organized/group swaps before, but a great way to get something new is to find someone to do a personal swap with! You will need to be able to offer up something of equal or seemingly equal value, of course, because that’s the way that swaps work. But done right, a personal swap can be very rewarding to both parties.

What the cost is to you:

• Things that you already own (and therefore expenses have already been paid for)
• Things that you can make (and make customized for your swap buddy) – Keep costs low by using what you have available
• Cost of postage (with or without tracking and insurance – be sure to discuss how your swap partner will be sending your things to you!)

I know, it’s great! You could be getting a few great new clothing items or a few pairs of shoes without having money needing to trade hands (beyond shipping costs). But you first need to find someone to swap with. Who should you consider?

• Someone who runs an Etsy/Artfire shop if you happen to run one as well (makes the trade value easier to figure out)
• Someone that you have talked to in the past (eg. online friend)
• Someone that you’ve met in person before (like at a Blythe Meet)

When initiating the idea of having a personal swap with someone, remember to be polite and courteous! The worst that someone can say is no and don’t be offended if they do – it may be because they don’t think that they have the time to devote to going through their dolly things or time to craft or they have other priorities to deal with first. It does help if you’ve spoken to them before, or they at least know who you are! Don’t just become friends with someone for the purpose of wanting to trade things with them – it can be a little perk that comes up later, but no one wants to be friends with someone who just wants things from them.

I find that personal swaps are a great way to get something new or “new” while honing my own crafting skills without hoarding everything that I make for myself (and my dolls are thankful too that they get to wear something made by someone else!).

The Personal Swap Do’s Round-Up:

• Be polite and courteous when asking someone if they want to do a swap with you.
• Try to match the swap items with them (by number of items and/or overall perceived monetary value).
• Discuss shipping details ahead of time – if you both decide to use tracking, then pay for tracking.
• Let your swap partner know when you’ve received your package.

The Personal Swap Dont’s Round-Up:

• Don’t be cheap! While it may be fun to get new things for not a whole lot of money, it’s not fun for your swap partner if you don’t actually send them something that would be fun for them. So don’t send things with rips or tears or stains unless you’ve mentioned it to them first (and they’re okay with it!).
• Don’t ignore the agreement between the two of you. If you said you would ship by a certain date, you should follow that. If you said you would ship with insurance and tracking, then do so.
• Don’t forget to let them know when you’ve shipped out the package, they may not be home when the package arrives otherwise or not even know to expect one.
• Don’t feel pressured into going through with the swap. If neither of you have sent your packages yet and there’s suddenly a reason why you cannot fulfill your swap package (either by emergency or conflicts), let your swap partner know! Communicate at all times to let them know.