my freaky robot disaster

I have been trying my hand at something new for me, which is trying to make some dolls, and I think I'm going to bag it, and go back to what I like better. In an attempt to get ready for some fall and Christmas time street/craft fairs, and in response to some positive feedback about my tiny felt microbots I made recently, my sister and I deciced to make some monster and robot toys. Her former employer was a preschool, and she thinks we could display some prototypes for sale there to get some feedback from kids and parents. She and my mom are successful dollmakers. I, on the other hand, have never been motivated to give dollmaking a try before now.

Thanks to a patient mom and a creative childhood, I do know how to sew pretty well, and I've done some pretty complicated projects in the past ( ...a wedding dress for a family friend when I was fairly young...and a bogus, silly family crest flag complete with two beavers and a great big heart made to fly over our old hippy bus camper...to name a few), but I have never made a real kid-friendly, washable, loveable toy. I rarely sew at all any more. It seems cheaper and faster to just hit the thrift store for what we need.

Well, I have two monsters and one robot done, and I've got to say, I'm just not feelin' the love for this project. The first monster was the best, the second one was a little overworked which is true to how I operate, and the third is a robot which turned out to be so freaky looking in a bad way that she would probably frighten any young kid who saw her. So now it's about ten days later, and I'm putting all that on the back burner for a time, while I decide what to work on next. I know this is my first attempt. Somehow I always expect perfection on the first try, and then reality is something else altogether.

I could fill a room with supplies for projects that go just about like this....