Labor Pains

I've been laboring for days, working on a new doll design for an issue of Doll Crafter & Costuming magazine. It's a slow process, completing a step, documenting that step in the instructions, illustrating and/or photographing that step, and scanning the illustration or processing the photo, and inserting it into the instructions. The pattern for the magazine will be abridged, and about the time the issue comes out, I'll probably release the unabridged pattern as well. At least that's what I've done with Soft Dolls & Animals magazine.

It's been quite awhile (with the exception of the luncheon doll in the previous post) since I've made a doll that's not coated in layers of Messy Mix, gesso, and paint. So this doll is progressing much more quickly that those other dolls. It's kind of refreshing, really.

A few posts back, Sarah left a comment. And she said a mouthful:

Oh, I hope you write more about this pattern-making project. I'm interested in your thoughts and process, since I find pattern designing a bit frustrating. I am looking forward to having my own pattern that I like, but I'm far from that point now. It's like making chocolate chip cookies knowing nothing only what probably should go into them, and making them over and over and over again, each time not quite right... ;-)

In a nutshell, pattern drafting is just trial and error. But, the more you do it, the easier it gets. Eventually, it becomes a little more intuitive, and by working with different materials, you become more familiar with their properties. Thanks, Sarah!