Restringing Tales

When I got the first version of Seimei, my Dollshe Hound, he came from Tensiya very loosely strung... It was a precaution against breakage, I assume.

Anyway, I knew that he *really* needed to have his strings tightened to have any prayer of holding a pose, so utterly unintimidated by this giant 70cm chunk of Floppy McFlopperson, I grabbed the doll, grabbed my tools, spun him around and started to get to work.

At which point he introduced me to the infamous "Hound Belly-pop".... <_<

Yep. Big Dude flopped over and hit me right in the nose with his big bald head. >_>

It was not an auspicious beginning to our relationship. (And yeah. I sold that version a few years later and bought another Hound on the updated, less belly-popping updated body. Seimei v2 did NOT punch me in the nose straight out of the box, and has been with me ever since. )

When I went to restring my Haute Hound the other day... I remembered the lesson Seimei v1 had taught me. Rafe was NOT given the chance to repeat his cousin's kung fu action.

 

People of this thread, please bless me with your skills! I'm serious, 'cause I've been in this hobby for who knows how many years (on and off), and I still fear restrining. I had two Migidoll bodies in the past that were a bit kicky (one of them more so), and boy oh boy, did I try and try, and it was always either even worse or they got too wobbly to stand. I measured everything correctly, watched what feels like a thousand youtube tutorials on the topic, but still no luck! I think I'm really just hopeless.

 

Oh my gosh! I seriously laughed out loud, that sounds painful but I'm impressed at your determination!

Hmmm...and they're fully sueded? Maybe its less so an issue with the stringing and possibly other factors with the doll. Also, I imagine the string itself would factor into the how well they pose too. If you have a weaker or older elastic, then that wouldn't hold as strongly as fresh, thick stuff. Of course, its just a matter of trouble shooting, but I wish you the best of luck!! Hopefully others on here will have more tips, as I'm just a beginner

 

I'm not a big sueding fan, to be honest, so I've tried it on my dolls. I did however tried wiring some of my dolls in the past, but this did not help either. I've always used brand new elastic, so it couldn't have been that. I suppose why I'm so frustrated is because the bodies I had trouble with were usually described by other as very good posers, sturdy and easy to handle.

 

I am not too keen on restringing dolls. Of course, I do it when needed, but I am not a huge fan of it. Maybe it's the lack of tools or something. I am not accident prone person and I haven't hurt myself badly while doing it but I have gained some smalls scratches on myself while restringing.

 

I have to restring all my second hand dolls, because the string take smells and use to smell parfume. I need to put in new scentfree elastics. I have diagnosis MultipelChemicalSensivity so I getting serious ill from airborne chemicals.
My last doll is an Angel of Dreams Bo 90 cm, he came unstringed because I asked for it. He's a big boy. I have no idea of how to resting him. And not hurt myself..
Some advise?

 

It really helps to have something sturdy to pull against. I've never string a 90cm doll, but for my 70cm, I will usually loop a piece of rat tail cord through the elastic, tie a double knot in it, and then slip the loop over my bed post. That way, all I have to do is grip the doll and push it away from me until I can get my hemostats on the elastic. It;s just important to make sure the doll is never pointed at you, because it will go flying straight for your face if you accidentally let go.

Ribbon would also work fine, but I like the cord because it's smooth easy to untie the knot when I want to.

For a 90 cm doll, I'd get a pair of really sturdy heavy-duty hemostats, and maybe even also use some wooden dowels through the elastics as back up in case they fail. That elastic is no joke, and I could see it easily being strong enough to cause thin objects to dent or scratch the resin.

Good luck!

 

As an alternative to ribbon or cord, you could use metal wire. I take a wire about 10-12 inches long, fold it in half, and then roll the ends so that they're not sharp. The wire is nice and stiff for guiding the elastic through the parts, and it gives me a good grip when I pull on it. A lot of people use hemostats to hold onto the elastic once they get it through the pieces, but I just shove a bamboo skewer in there. It's really all preference, and figuring out what works for you.

To add to the thread topic: I was restringing my DollZone Carter when I first got him, because his chest piece needed a repair. When I went to take his head off, the elastic was so tight that it snapped back into place immediately, and with such violence that the S-hook actually took off the stem on one of his glass eyes. The glass stem then flew up and hit me right next to the eye. It was quite the reminder to be careful in the future. I've since restrung dolls probably a hundred times without issue, but I'm still careful.

 

My Diana came not strung, and I still haven't gotten her put together. I just cannot do it. My son has been trying to put her together for me, and can't do it either.

 

I used to really enjoy it, but since developing nerve damage in my hands due to radiation therapy, I have no feeling in my finger tips. So doing any kind of doll maintenance is a real challenge. The hardest thing is pulling the elastic tight enough. I have no strength in my hands. Its frustrating because many of my dolls are getting older and their strings are losing their stretch, so they are all terribly floppy.

Just adding that my favorite tools for restringing are a pair of forceps and a string puller tool. The string puller is from the fabric store. I ordered forceps from a medical supply store. I actually have 2 pair.

 

What does a string pulling tool look like?

 

So you could buy a restringing tool if you're so inclined (here's one from Dollmore). You could also use a crochet hook with a deep hook.

But honestly, as others have pointed out, I have had the best luck with a folded piece of wire, or a piece of ribbon that I just tied on one end of the elastic (yarn works too). With smaller or curvier limbs, I struggled with straight metal tools.

 

I've used bent wire, crochet hooks and even folded over pipe cleaners for smaller dolls. I have a hardware tool called a wire puller that I use a lot. I use big knitting needles to keep the elastic from snapping back in.

I do a lot of hybridizing and buy second hand a lot, so restringing doesn't bother me. That being said... when my first doll, my BBB Sprite (my avatar) arrived, I took her out of the box and her string immediately broke, scattering her all over the house! So I got a crash course in restringing right out of the gate.

 

Sometimes, you have to use your toes.

 

I have a doll that's strung with blue shock cord because that's the only thing I could find locally without breaking the bank. Doll is pretty pale, too, so jokes about blue blood came to mind . I'll restring her properly as soon as I get my hands on prope leather for sueding (don't like messing around with hot glue).
Aside from that, all my humanoid dolls are 1/4 scale so restringing them isn't hard. I've got a pet doll though, that I haven't painted yet because I'm not confident that I can take him apart and put him together again. It's a Dream Valley Tea. His strings and hooks are so very tiny...

 

I agree with Arekushia about the feet! My big Impldoll boys make me brace their shoulders against my feet and PULL the string up through the neck. It's a lot prettier than when I used to try to go the other way around though! So many bites...

 

I generally enjoy stringing dolls and I can string my SDs with ease because they are all human bodies with rather basic parts.

I do remember the first time I strung a doll, he had no carvings inside the parts and I strung his left and right shin on the wrong sides. I only noticed my mistake after the lower body was put together and when standing up, it looked like he needed to use a restroom really urgently.

One of my first times stringing: I got a brand new doll shipped to me unstrung from the company, with the strings and hooks included in the package. I strung him up, arms first and then legs, put a separate string through each leg. I picked him up by his waist and then... his head S hook just sinks through the neckhole and shoots all the way through his torso. His legs fall off theatrically and collapse on the floor, and the bust part with arms still attached flops down to my lap. I'm left with just the middle torso piece in my hand. I was sitting on a carpet so thankfully nothing broke. The company I guess never checked if the S hooks they sent out with the dolls actually sit on top of the neckhole and don't fall right through when pulled lol. I didn't have any spare hooks so I solved the issue with a metal washer that the doll still has several years later between the hook and his neck.

 

This story sounds like it'd make a hilarious GIF or video!

 

Thankyou! I have use of your advise! am a bit nervous.