Would you loan someone your doll or ask to borrow one?

Ima have to say definitely not. I don't know any BJD owners offline and i wouldn't send my dolls back through the dangers of postal travel after receiving them safely. (yes i'm dramatic!)

Ontop of that, i don't think i'd trust anyone with my dolls. Lending anyone anything is a big leap of faith, and sometimes you don't always make the jump successfully.

 

Absolutely. Of course only to certain friends, but yes, I would. Anyway they'd most likely be more careful than I am lolz.
I've also been lucky enough to have dolls lent to me, in fact my Mitsouko was a "lend". Now she's a resident. Let me add that the friend who lent her was looking to sell her, so it wasn't like a kidnap situation.

 

I wouldn't, not because I don't love my friends but because my friends may not appreciate them. Also it was so hard getting one that they wouldn't realize how important she is to me

 

I do agree with other posters that the reputation of the person whom is making the clothes would be important. All though for the most part I would be extremely wary to send my doll anywhere because theres always the risk of mail damaging as well as other issues I would not want to happen to an expensive item. If I knew the person in real life it would be a different story hehe.

 

I wouldn't ship my doll in whole or body to a seamstress. I understand the necessity for having a body in hand to do tailored stuff (I'm a seamstress myself), but I just wouldn't risk it. However, my best friend lives fifteen minutes away and she's a seamstress as well. Our crews do not duplicate each other, so we lend each other dolls as needed-it gives us twice the amount of different bodies to pattern from.

 

I am in a little sewing project, I'm the seamstress. I usually use as a model my own dolls, fortunately I own one whose measurements are quite similar to my "customer's" (friend) doll, but I fell much more confident about the final result if I can try the costumes on the doll who is going to be the one who wear it.

I wouldn't allow someone to borrow my dolls because of a sewing project unless I knew that person and it's nearby. That's the case I am with my friend, but I'm the first person to understand that having the possibility to try on the costume guarantees better results.

 

I have had customers offer to send their dolls to me if I'd sew for them. One wanted to send her EID girl. No way! I do NOT want to be responsible for someone elses pride and joy! What if my cat knocked it off the table????!!! No, if I don't have a similar sized doll, I don't do the commission.

 

I might if I knew the person, either personally or by reputation, but if the head is limited, I would keep it and just send the body.

 

I would not have a problem allowing them to use the doll if I knew them really well .... I have a very good friend in our DOLL Group here that sews for many members. I gave her an unfinished kimono that I purchased from a seller in Japan and asked her to use the material to make a tomesode (Formal Black Kimono) for my doll. She asked if she could use the doll for measurements and knowing how well she cares for her own dolls I didn't think twice about allowing her to keep the doll for 3 weeks. She did a perfect job on the kimono and I got the doll back in perfect condition. I told her she could keep any material left over and there was quite a lot... enough for 3 or 4 large (SD) kimono's and 3-4 medium (MSD) one's and from the scraps 2-3 small (YO-SD) one's. So we both came out on top.

- ShadowHawke -

 

I don't think so, although I don't know anyone else who collects dolls of any kind.

I try to never lend anything that I would feel really terrible about losing. That way I don't have to be angry with anyone when they don't return something. And I'd really feel TERRIBLE about losing a bjd, so there you have it!

 

I did, my girl Maryweather (Latidoll Reina) spent a week or two at my girlfriends house a few weeks after I got her. I didn't mind, she has an SD boy, and I trust her and know she would take great care of her, and she did. There is also a meet-up next weekend I can't attend, and she might take one of my dolls with her, if she wants.

My MSD Midori also spends a lot of time in my sisters/best friends room because they make doll clothes and she is their lovely model. They understand how expensive she is and how important she is to me.

I don't mind loaning a doll to someone as long as they are someone I completely trust, and I know that there won't be a chance for someone/something else to get them (ie: grabby syblings, ect). Of course most of my friends wouldn't borrow my dolls, one if a little creeped out by them and most of the rest are freaked out by the price. ^^'

 

Well, I mean, when I didn't have a doll, my friends let me use her doll to measure fabric to make a vest for him and such.
However, she was in the same room as me. I personally would have to supervise the entire time my doll was being "borrowed".
I get get really paranoid about expensive things I own in the first place anyway...

 

I didn't lend a doll to anyone because I have no need to)) But my friend landed me her two boys while she's on vacation. I'm responsible for their faceups, hotglueing, wigs and some clothes so she's not afraid about improper care))

 

I've done it a couple of times, both of them because the seamstress convinced me that she'll do a perfect dress/suit having the doll with her. The first time I was kinda hesitant but he was my favorite doll and he's really spoiled, and I wanted a perfect suit for him (which I cannot find in the market because he's really odd sized). After that first experience, I let a girl go as well just two days ago lol

 

When I get my bigger dolls that are on my 'buying list' then I certainly would be cautious of who I gave them to. My mum, sister and me all sew, as well as several of my friends. Then only person I wouldn't give the doll to so she could check sizing is my mum. I mean, I love her and all that, but she is forgetful, and generally does not understand the hobby. She wouldn't understand about not pulling on arms and legs, or about forcing just a little bit to see if it will fit ok. My sister, although she is a terror, has loved BJDs for ages (although never told anyone. She cried when she found out I had two on order) and I know that she would treat them as though they were her own. My friends who has BJDs, no questions. She has free range over my only doll at the moment, because I know she understands how to look after them and the like. My best friend doesn't understand the hobby, but loves porcelain dolls, so she would be careful. My other friends that sew, I mean, I would probably want to keep an eye on the doll, but I wouldn't be terrified that someone would hurt them.

Currently, I only have a puki. If someone tells me they want to sew for her, I have a kelly dress that I unpicked, which fitted her perfectly. They get to use that if they want to make her something, as it is really a tad hard to test things on them before they are ready.

When I have my bigger dolls, I will definitely be making her a dressmakers dummy. Really easy - wrap doll carefully in cling film (they need to be nekid underneath). Generally if you from the upper chest/bust to just above the leg joints it works really well. Then wrap around it with insulation tape. Carefully fit scissors up under the gladwrap (being carefull of the doll!) and then cut all the way up the back. Tape it together and then stuff with teddy stuffing or similar. While it can be daunting at first with the scissors so close to the doll, saves a lot of time when you can actually pin things in place on the model. (I haven't done this with a doll yet - however it works great on people with a garbage bag and a LOT more tape!!)

 

Probably not. Unless that person would be living really close to me so I could check on my doll But I would never ship her out to someone.
But I do let my sister borrow her sometimes. Since she makes most of her clothes and she doesn't own a girl herself.

 

I actually have a wonderful friend who wanted me to ship a doll interstate for her to try her hand at sewing for a doll of mine. I love and trust this friend immensely, but I wasn't willing to (a) ship the doll without it being absolutely necessary, and (b) go without my reasonably new dorrie for an undetermined amount of time. She doesn't own any dolls herself, so I think she didn't quite understand my reluctance... I hope I didn't hurt her feelings by discouraging her - in fact I'm sure I didn't - but on the other hand, this doll, a Custom House Little Junior, is very hard to find clothes for... Perhaps I shouldn't have been so protective of it :p

 

Lending anything, for me, is absolutely based on the friend, not the item itself.

That said, I have lent my doll to a friend to serve as a model for an outfit. My friend was sewing a dress for my doll, but sewing something completely from scratch with the steps of making a block, drafting a pattern, etc. are very time-consuming. I knew that I was getting in the way just sitting around while she worked and occasionally distracting her, so I left my doll at her house so she could continue without worrying about making adjustments and fitting at some future date. She is a doll collector and has been in the hobby for much longer than I have, so I wasn't worried at all. She even offered that I could take home a doll of her own as collateral. (I declined; it wasn't necessary--but the offer was a good and appropriate one. :3)

My doll was returned soon after with a gorgeous new dress that fits superbly! ♥

I have other friends that I would not trust with my doll. I wouldn't lend her to people who might not be as careful as I would like. I don't want to worry or (even worse) deal with some kind of accident. It would be difficult and unpleasant to work out details if something bad were to happen.

However, I am generally pretty sharing about my dolls. I've let young girls play with and take pictures of my doll unsupervised. I'm always willing to let interested hobbyists hold my dolls. I don't want to put my important and expensive possessions in danger, but I'm not overly protective.

 

Only if I know that that person knows about BJDs......
And it has to be a closed friend, I think....

 

I have lent my dolls to my sister for photography purposes. But she's not good with them at all (she's super clumsy and doesn't understand how to balance them) so most of the time I stay on hand to help her get them to cooperate. But I would lend my doll to someone that I knew very well and I knew that they would take care of the doll properly.