STEP 1 - But where does it come from?

I want to make a doll - not like my normal dolls- a different doll.

A doll with details.

I thought it might be interesting (or possibly as boring as bat poop) to share the whole process with you guys over a few posts. It may even help me to work through some of the "problems" this way...and in a way I can revisit later I guess.

(Be warned: it could take a while and you know I am prone to craft-related tantrums.)

Step 1: Where does the initial idea come from?

So here's the background- I sew - a LOT! I sew weird things sometimes, chip packets, laminating sheets, tape measures etc. This means my sewing machine seems to visit the sewing machine repair man quite often. In fact, over time I have developed a crazy on-the-phone type relationship with Milton the sewing machine man.

I never bother to give full and detailed descriptions of the problems on the little sheet provided when I drop off the machine because I know Milton will ring and he will understand my discussion of thingos and doo-dads and you-know-that-weird-little-wire-bit-just-under-where-you-bring-the-thread-up-again....

Milton speaks my language.

I may have mentioned my "love" of Milton at the local patchwork shop after he had returned my machine from what I thought was certain death. Have you ever met him they asked?

I haven't ! That got me to wondering? Was Milton young, not so young? I imagined a Milton. Milton had a moustache.

I decided to make a Milton.

That's it! So that little project gets tucked into the overflowing back-of-the mind list of projects where it bubbles along. Occasionally I will see something or think something and add it to the "Milton" file. A collar and tie? Some tools?

At some point, maybe I find the right bit of fabric, or maybe something like an upcoming birthday means that the project gets to see the light of the sewing room. Then it is time to try and get the ideas out of the brain and into reality, but thats Step 2.

(stay tuned, this step was the easy bit. Step 2 is the one that often ends in tears, it is Fantasy versus Reality)