Loving your Dolls when times are tough

I would say the best advise I can give is give it some time and not force yourself into enjoying something you once loved. Hobbies get overwhelming and life takes over. I feel like a lot of people all over the world are winding down on hobbies as the stress of the holidays looms around the corner.

 

Firstly, do show yourself some grace. You said that you don't have as much capacity to do doll things in winter vs summer -- this is pretty normal, life has rhythms and seasons. It's perfectly typical to go through periods where you're busier and have less energy, and other periods where you have more free time and brainspace to devote to hobbies. You don't have to be switched on to BJDs all day, every day -- I don't think anyone can humanly manage this for the long-term! So be kind to yourself and let yourself off the hook

It's also perfectly fine to find enjoyment in your dolls simply by looking at them. There's no right or wrong way to engage with this hobby, there's no obligation for you to do anything with/for your dolls. A hobby is meant to be enjoyable and relaxing, not to cause pressure or undue expectations. So if you're feeling some pressure to "maximize your hobby" by doing all the crafts -- do let that go! Likewise, it's also fine and acceptable to buy clothes for your dolls, even if you're capable of crafting for them. You haven't failed yourself or your crafting skills by buying a premade garment. I think the "I must make everything" mindset contributes a lot to undue pressure and expectations on self, which can then kill love for the hobby. (I say this because I fell prey to it as a newbie, and it did ruin the BJD hobby for me for a while. I've since recovered my love for BJDs and no longer force undue expectations on myself.)

All that said... If you want to continue to "keep your skills warm" and stay invested in the sewing/craft side of things, the way to do it is to set aside a little bit of time to do it regularly, and (more importantly) accept that you'll be crafting at a slower pace than your usual pace. Personally, I've done that with art: do my daily 5 minutes of sketching. If I get into a roll and feel I can keep going, then my sketching session goes longer; but if not, I've done my 5 minutes of art for the day, and it's fine that it's just 5 minutes. I can imagine applying a similar "do X minutes of crafting on most days" to my doll sewing.

Another approach is to accept that you'll be crafting for dolls only in certain seasons, and try to schedule intense sessions of time to do this. I did that with my own sewing this year: spent a few weeks at the start of 2025 knocking out a few garments and accessories, and then come February, I put my sewing stuff away and literally haven't sewed a thing since. (I'm hoping to pick things up again in Dec/January, which is the time of the year when I have more free time.) Sometimes this method works better than "craft a bit every day". It depends on your personal schedule and energy/time levels. For example, if you find that you have more energy/time for hobbies in summer than winter, you can give yourself a few sewing goals to meet, pursue them throughout summer, and then close up shop when the season is over.

Finally, if you find you aren't enjoying the hobby anymore, sometimes the answer is to step away. Again, that's normal -- seasons and rhythms. Your dolls will always wait for you. At the end of the day, it's fine to put down and pick up the hobby, as and when you please. Good luck with finding your hobby rhythms!

 

I stored my BJD in my closet inside their boxes nude and wigless. That's the way it's always been, since I discovered them and got my first back in 2003-04 (mine was a hybrid, so I got her pieces at different times). I loved making crappy handmade clothes for my first ones, the first three I'd say. Then as I got more confidence, I enjoyed painting and repainting. Not too long afterward, I also enjoyed modifying a few, like additive and subtractive facial mods. I was in my early twenties back then, I always loved dolls, but my first love was always mass-produced fashion dolls (because I love to hoard but more seriously), because I am short and scrawny (and so much older now!) and the idea of giant dolls always intimidated me a bit. I went back to looking at 1:6 action figures somewhere along that time, and then I learned I could also customize those, so I kind of strayed that way for a long time. Like a decade's worth of time.

I left my BJD nude and wigless in the closet, without touching them or looking at them. Just knowing they were right there, waiting for me when I was ready to handle them again. I got back into considering my BJD in 2022 (year I received the actual newer BJD), I didn't take any of them out, but I purchased my first mature tiny of this kind. Which then sparked the desire in me, to handle and customize my larger ones again. I feel it was because my mature tiny encompasses everything I love about tinier dolls but also the full-on-blank-doll ease of access, to be a fully customizable doll as well. Very much like my giant BJD, only in a size I am so much more comfortable handling. Early summer this year, I finally got around to finally photographing, repainting and modifying my larger BJD.

Half of me regrets to have left my giant resin dolls all that time, without ever handling them in all that time (close to a decade if not more!). However, I know deep in my nut-job-of-a-brain, that it was the right thing to do. I did a lot of heavy mods on some of my floating heads. I know, that if i hadn't left them alone for all that time, I would have been tempted to mod them back then, and I would have regretted that even more now. I know that for a fact. So, the other part of me, is glad I decided to leave the alone. I always knew they were there waiting for me to be ready and now I am. I don't sell my stuff, even if I no longer use them, or have any desire to touch them. I am a hoarder, so I know I wouldn't have sold them regardless. However, knowing that I have gained some small amount of knowledge in the long time I've left them alone, and now I can do more precise modifying on them, lets me sleep well at night with my younger-seflt decision to not touch them for so long. Probably not helpful to most, but I feel it's okay to not feel the need or excitement to work or handle your dolls all the time. It's not necessarily a bad thing, the spark might come back someday, or it might not. Regardless, it's okay. It might feel like the end of the word at times, but if you're patient, your dolls will be there waiting when you're (general use of you, in all these) ready. (:

 

I'm getting back into working with my dolls again very slowly again after quite a long hiatus myself. Really just trying to enjoy a lot of things again in general. Stuff comes and goes. What matters is that spark of joy, you can always stoke the flames as long as it's there. No rush.

 

I'm in the same position right now (but with furbies instead of BJDs) and I think that's okay. They also sit on my shelf, not being played with, but still bringing me joy. There are cycles when you're more interested in one thing than the other, and you can always come back again and sew, dress and play with them later. I'd change the dolls in something that won't stain and then you can just dust and admire them for however long you need to get the passion back, be it weeks or years

 

This, one hundred times this. I also like to sew for dolls, but there's days where the tiny seam allowances and fiddly, flimsy fabric is just too daunting for me, so I don't sew on those days. It's totally fine to have unfinished projects stashed away for another day; rarely is a human-sized outfit fully sewn from start to finish in a single day by a hobbyist. Just because a doll is smaller doesn't mean there's any less work involved in constructing their clothing, especially because the slim margin of error encourages you to go slower.

If just looking at your dolls still brings you joy, you aren't out of the hobby. If you still cherish your dolls and try to keep them in good condition, you're still actively engaging in the hobby - maintenance is a part of it, make no mistake. Just because you aren't handling them or creating for them doesn't mean you've lost your spark, it just means that for now, you're at the point where you sit back and enjoy the art. Think of your dolls like a painting; you don't look at a painting with the intent of finding things to add to it, you appreciate it as a whole, regardless of any flaws or errors in it. You can always add to a painting, but if it's already pleasing to look at, it's fine to just sit back and admire it without touching it or thinking of other things to add to it.

And on premade clothing; I haven't, at the moment, bought any clothes for my BJDs, but I still look at what's on offer every time I'm window shopping. Sometimes I see garments that give me inspiration for what to create, and others I see things that I don't think I personally would be able to make, and consider buying them. It's the same for all my other dolls; just because I can make it, doesn't mean I will, and sometimes you have to be realistic and say that you can't or won't make a piece, and just buy it instead. If you're really stuck on the 'must be handmade' nature, consider buying or commissioning clothing from another sewist; they might be capable of things you are not, and have access to fabrics that you don't, so it's a great way to expand your dolly wardrobes.

 

I’m a hardcore and lifetime hobbyist, and if I’ve learned anything over the years it’s that hobbies have a rhythm all their own…an ebb and flow that marches quietly alongside our regular lives. If you think of it in those terms, your occasionally quiet hobby times make more sense and are easier to bear. It’s all good because you’ll return to it when the time is right and will suddenly find yourself as engaged as ever. That’s what’s so wonderful about dolls…they’ll happily and quietly wait for you without judgement.

 

When I got actively into the hobby, I wanted to make everything myself. And it did work while I had lots of free time and only a couple of dolls! But obviously the workload also increases with more dolls, and isn't always as fun when there are other draining aspects in life. Echoing what's been said above - hobbies go in ebbs and flows, and don't stay in vacuum from other things happening to you.

I had a long think over whether I wanted to craft more or own more dolls, and decided that the first option was more enjoyable for me, so I've been slowly reducing the number of dolls and restructuring my collection to make crafting less overwhelming for myself. Of course dolls can also just wait, but having more dolls waiting felt stressful as well So yeah, for me, the priority was crafting so I made some changes to enable that. I've also learned that I don't need to constantly make new things for them, though, and am happy to engage with them not as projects, but just as something to have hanging around the room with me. I'm happy that I can also have them bring me joy that way!

All in all, if something in the hobby feels stressful, it's good to think which aspects of it bring you the most joy, and what you have interest in at the moment, and set a game plan around that. Sometimes it's also best just to enjoy them as they are, even if they are wearing unfinished bits or could use a new shirt - there are so many ways to have fun with BJDs that don't need much effort at all

 

My dolls are in the sit and look pretty phase. I think it's normal to go through a no-touch, no-interaction phase, even if it doesn't feel comfortable. They're not going anywhere.

 

I've gone through this cycle so many times! Not to minimize your feelings, because I know full well it's a specific kind of melancholy that just... grates.

The good news is, the fun and inspiration usually comes back. Well, it always has for me anyway, and I assume it will for you simply because you want it to. Everyone in this thread has good advice, basically just do what you can when it brings you joy and don't try to force things.