Original Work - Integrity in the Doll Community

Lately it has come to my attention that there are people who are copying other peoples creative work and styles in the blythe community making almost exact copies. For instance there is a person who is making and selling hats for blythe that look like exact copies of the felted helmets/hats made by Eurotrash right down to the embroidery and bead work done by Ruth. I have also seen skirts with corsets & blouses in a style that is very similar to Squeakymonkey. They are so similar to Tiffany's outfits that unless you knew better you would think it was Tiffany's work! Now I would not find it offensive if the individuals were just making these items for themselves, but the people copying these very recognizable styles are actually selling these items to others in the blythe doll community on etsy and perhaps elsewhere. So there is now a movement to post a graphic stating "buy original" You will see it posted on various blogs, flickr streams as well as on facebook. You can see to the graphic here just to the right of my written blog here over by the dates of my other blogs. The graphic says,

"Buy Original. Support the Artist."


It is an ongoing campaign in the doll craft community to support the artists behind the creations. Buy original products, because they have love, work and effort behind them. Please add this stamp to your picture if you are an artist/artisan or if you love creativity and support our work. Spread it!

I know this will not stop people from selling or purchasing copies of other's creations as there are many more people that want these specific styles and not enough can be produced by the single original artisan; but it is just that there are so many possibilities when creating outfits, sweaters, coats and caps for our blythes and other dolls so that it is easy to find and create ones own style and no need to copy other's work and especially not sell blatent copies unless referenced and/or seeking permission.

On another note, I am making one of those rectangular hats with the tassels found at knitty.com not for my neo blythes, but rather for my middie blythes (they are not for sale and they will be different, but not just in size for I am using a different type of material which will result in a different looking hat). I am knitting this first hat out of a very strange silk yarn that is rough in texture and like string not the smoother soft silk one usually thinks about...! Here are a few photos of these pieced together scraps of silk being used in my knitting.

Stocking stitch - The Right Side

Stocking stitch - The Wrong Side

It will be interesting to see what the hat ends up looking like in the long run. I hope it will be bright, colourful with interesting texture yet also cute on the middies.