If you could make the hobby your job would you?

I could not agree with this more. It doesn't matter how much I love sewing for my dolls; if I had to sew doll clothing knowing that making my mortgage payment for the month, paying for food and medical care/prescriptions for me and for my dogs, and keeping the lights and water on (at the bare minimum!) was dependent on me sewing, and successfully selling, enough of that doll clothing every month--- I'd no longer be "doing what I love." It would suck the joy and love out of it and turn it into just another grind. Not to mention the stress and insecurity of never knowing just how many people in this relatively small hobby will want to buy something in any given month-- it doesn't seem like a feasible way to make a stable income that would support you, at all.

 

If I could I would to an extent. I'd give it a try for a little while and if I feel it's taking away from the hobby id change my thoughts on it. But I often do art commissions and love it so definitely continue. Due to my love of bjd I've actually picked to do a double major fine arts sculpting and internet communications as a hope to make it my job (as I have learning disability I can't get hired for desk work as I'm "too slow reading" but great with creativity) Though I also wouldn't want to do it on my own i think having a coworker who is also passionate about your hobby will help a business keep going

 

I enjoy everything about dolls so I would definitely. I already made my own doll and learn face up and eye making and i am planning to learn to make wigs and clothing too

 

No. I have the skill set: I sew, paint, make jewelry and work in leather, but I don't want to do it as a business... this is my hobby, it is purely for fun.

 

I don't think I would! I have a bad habit of trying to monetize my hobbies and it always seems to make things much more stressful for very little benefit. It's nice to have things which you just enjoy for their own sake. Maybe it would be nice to sell a couple things now and again, but I wouldn't want to depend on it in any way.

 

Why would I combine something I’m great at with something I’m awful at?

I tried this as a teen at the well-intentioned advice of adults around me and it ruined everything. I’m a talented creator, organizer and nurterer, yet I am highly territorial and I like the fruits of my labour to stay where I can see them. Aiming to please those outside my carefully selected social sphere with those skills does not come naturally to me and I can’t be forced to expend mental energy on it for long until resentment begins to grow. I would never try to combine such an obnoxious aspect of life with something I love so much as dolls.

 

I would love to make a job of thus hobby. Maybe not as a full time job but just something to supplement my dolly funds

 

I feel like the joy of having a hobby is that it's NOT a job lol... I think I would become disinterested in the hobby and eventually get burned out on it.

 

I absolutely would not. People don't pay you to do things that only benefit yourself, and that's how I approach my hobbies. I do them for me and only for me. That's a huge part of the joy of them. Whereas no job I've had has ever been a source of anything resembling joy.

 

I wouldn't want anything doll related to be my job.I see making things for my dolls an escape from stress, and a job is stressful. I might sell a few props or accessories I've made online at some point, I wouldn't want to try to make a living from it.

For those interesting in making their own BJD, but concerned about re-casts, there is a way to protect your work. Take progress photos and get it copyrighted. In the United States a copyright registration requires a fee of $35 with the U.S. Copyright Office. Yes, your work may still get stolen, but you will have evidence it is your work and be entitled to statutory damages of up to $150,000 per infringement.

I don't know what the laws are in other countries, but I'm sure they are similar.

 

Absolutely ONE of my jobs. As an artist I tend to have three or four jobs I rotate days or workhours on depending on how busy my #1 priority job is. Was, I don't have it at the moment because I am too ill. I used to do film studio props and set work. With recasting being the monster it is these days I can't see doing more than breaking even being a doll artist, and that is a tragedy but a serious reason a lot of people aren't having their doll sculpts cast for sales.

 

I would definitely love being able to work fewer hours and earn enough from sewing and crafting things to sell to make a living. Really considering offering up commissions lately, but I'm still a bit hesitant. I'll figure it out.

 

I would love that.

 

Would I do it as my main job? No. I don't think it would even be feasible, and it would probably kill my love for the hobby. I would definitely do it on the side of my current job though. Just a little Etsy store with only in stock items. I'm fact, that's something I'm actually hoping to do in the future as I become more skilled. I don't expect to make a lot of money off of it, but it would be kind of fun.

 

I would love to if I could support my life with doll-related jobs, but it is just a little difficult now a days with so many people out there doing these things and the living expenses of humans

 

I made it in the past when I sewed for Blythes. I was working 4 years making clothes and customizing but it's not easy in my country by the hight taxes to pay. But it was a really good experience.

 

I wouldn't want to make this hobby into a full time job. I became a commercial artist as I was an artist all my life. While I mostly enjoyed the job, I found I lost interest in persuing my own artistic projects. The same thing happened when I was sewing full time for antique dolls. It became just a job instead of a joy While I wouldn't mind doing a little bit of BJD related work, I would not want it to become my main source of income simply because it would somewhat ruin my passion.

 

This is a hard question to answer, because it's like on one side I would love to something creative that could create some income, from this hobby, but on the other hand, I'm afraid it would make me tired, and kill the affection for my beloved hobby. Sometimes I find it stressful just to sell a doll, with everything that comes with the sale - Photos, posting, communication, shipping costs, money transactions, packing, shipping, waiting, and then when you know everything is ok by the other part, it like having 10 kilos off your shoulder.. But I need to tell though, that I'm having issues with stress and are easy running out of energy, so that's part of the problem. I'm like crossing my fingers, and whatever I can cross, and hoping that this hobby will stay with me my whole life, and that I don't get tired and burned out, like I did with everything else in my life.. It's a lifesaver to have a hobby like this, filling up the large empty void, which would be there if not.. So I'm like, yes, I really want to be motivated and stretch it as far as possible, when comes to creativity and creations, but my mind tells me to be careful, or else this will be yet another burnout.. So I chose the last option, to be careful, and not let my hobby become too stressful for me.

But for all your people out there with lot's of energy, and a strong will, yeah! Go for it, there's definitely possibilities to make money on this, if you have the right skills.

 

So if you could, why or why not would you want to work in this hobby?

I don't want to suggest that I am particularly talented in some facet of the BJD hobby (I have some skill will sewing merely because I've been doing it for some time--20 years or so--and much of my success in other parts of the hobby is better attributed to stubbornness and tenacity than skill), but assuming I had the skill, I would definitely NOT want to work in this hobby, for a variety of factors:

1. I don't like to be told what to make or what to do
I would probably work in the hobby for sewing, which would require making multiple copies of the same thing and selling them (which wouldn't be as bad) or sewing commissions (which are more income). I would probably have to do a combination of both to sustain myself. Sewing commissions means that I have to make what somebody else wants even if their ideas are terrible (in this context, "terrible" doesn't mean taste, but rather choices which are incompatible with the scale they have in mind or fabric choices which do not match the end product).

For example, I could have a situation like I did with sewing for my sister, who wanted a bodycon dress (normally made with strips of elastic or a stretch fabric) out of a heavyweight jacquard. It didn't work well and the whole process of sewing the dress (arguing, compromising, etc) was unpleasant.

2. I see BJDs as my outlet and escape

I'm in a reasonably difficult place in my life and I don't have a lot of free time. There's a well-known phenomenon where when your hobby becomes a job it is no longer fun as a hobby. I think a prominent YouTuber in the hobby found this happening rather publicly recently. I would rather enjoy my hobby and my dolls.

3. I would lose my "me" time

I think there's a temptation with jobs which have no set schedule: "at work" and "off work" time that "at work" time can slowly creep higher until it invades all your free time and you have no free time. (If you're making money and have time which could be spent making it--i.e. in a job with no set hours--it is tempting to work all the time.)

4. I like to help people more directly in my work, and I personally don't see a way I could do that if I worked within the BJD hobby (perhaps others do)

 

As others have said, I'd maybe do it on the side with in-stock things. I had a comic for the best part of the last year which I loved doing, but as soon as I got readers and knew others were there waiting for updates, it killed my drive and really spiked my anxiety. If I had a handmade shirt or wig I wanted to sell for some extra money? Sure. But as a commission-based job? No way.