Restringing Tales

I'm not a fan of restringing tbh, mostly because I usually have all my pieces laid out, I'm very careful, take it slow, I think everything is going great, and then I'm done and...I realize one of the legs is...upside down...

 

I try restringing my 'easy-to-restring' dolls (2 MSDs + 1 Yo-SD) about once a year and I feel like I never do it right xD
Honestly, I'm not sure what I do wrong, because I always follow the indications of the company in terms of lenght and so. Maybe is because of the string I use, that it's an old one. Or maybe I just can't find the right tension.
In any case, they always end up floppy or kicky or some weird in between.
With the 'hard-to-restring' ones (3 tiny anthros) I haven't even tried since they got home because they seem okay (not completely true but I can manage) and I don't want to mess them up like I do with the rest.
I really need to try sueding and even wiring, but I never seem to find the free time to do it.

 

I developed Dupuytren Contracture from hard hand work, at work, contrary to it be hereditary because mine is not, it's painful in the palm.

I was pulling off my dolls head to restring her then something snapped in my palm and it bled under the skin and Boom no more pain since!

normally it's hard to resting a doll for me but after that day, it became easier!

 

Mostly its a struggle, but felt so smart yesterday realizing I could use a needle and thread to help get elastic through really small channels

 

FYI for US collectors - there's a store in Iowa called CR's Crafts. They sell 12-inch and 15-inch restringing tools for less than $3 (plus shipping/sales tax).

 

He is strunged.

IMG_20230615_103427_187

 

I had an S hook hit me in the face once when I was stringing… it was a bit of a shock to say the least. I actually restrung a doll for the first time in maybe 2 years the other week and as I was doing so I thought I’d lost one of the thigh pieces and ended up turning my living room upside down looking for it only to find I’d left it attached to the leg

I have an older Soom body that I could never work out how to string properly and it took me weeks to work out how to get tension just right on it so now it’s never getting unstrung

The body from my first doll is unstrung in a box in my room and it really needs restringing but somehow every time I try to do it I end up getting very frustrated I really need to give it another go soon~

 

Restringing stories? I'm usually very careful but

(Painful injury warning)

I had one s-hook jam um under my thumbnail and be pushed there by the elastic and I had no help so I had to get my pliers to get enough slack to free myself. Then I ran outside and grabbed snow, and jammed it around my poor thumb. OH it hurt.

 

I just restrung my RealPuki Soso, I did it for the first time 4 years ago (had her since 2011) and it was such a fiddly, long , tedious process!
So I'd been post-phoning it but, it was time again. I just finished it in half the time it took me that first time 4 years ago,, and she's able to stand on one leg again and everything, but, man! And NOWHERE to hide those knots in those tiny, minuscule little parts.
I restrung and wired DC Bella after that just to calm down, such a breeze and joy to do in comparison!!

 

I hide the knots in the body.

 

I can do that with most dolls, except the small Fairyland dolls, I don't know if it's their body system and all those tiny extra joints or what

 

I have a crazy idea.
What about instead of a knot, using a crimping bead? Like jewelry makers do to hide knots in tiny elastic cord?
I know this isn't particularly useful now that you've already gone through the torture of restringing your little teeny tiny, but... future tip?

 

You know, I am actually going to test that and see if it would hold that kind of tension, and if so, maybe try it when I restring my PukiPuki Pong next !!!!!

 

Oh, please let me know if you try it, and how it goes. I have a tiny who needs restrung too, and while she doesn't need a crimping bead, the obsessive streak in me is in love with the idea of a neat, tidy way to hold elastic together.

 

Yes, I also need to know when Im have to restring my 1:12 bjds..

 

LOOK at those gorgeous minuscule mature tinies on that bench!
When I try the crimping , hopefully next week or two, I will let you guys know how it goes!

 

I took apart a very old Spiritdoll to sand her and refresh her up and before she was hardly dry my R hand got messed up and now I might need surgery so for now my girl she's just parts in a box. I'm also flaring bad, autoimmune crap, so at the rate she is going it may be a while before I get her strung again..

I'm mad at myself because if I'd just left her strung she'd be okay now...

 

She will be again! She will be better than she was before, and she does not mind waiting until you are ready and able to make it so. Look forward to it, and I hope the flare up abates soon and you will feel better! Wishing you much better days soon.

 

After a doll clean-up, I enjoy the restringing process because it allows me the opportunity to admire (and loathe) the engineering of the limbs and how they have changed through the years: from the kicky legs of the Luts Kid Delf body of 2008 to the IoS Class65F of 2023 which stood rock solid out of the box.

The Kid Delf body is also a learning experience for me on what other tools I need to make the task easier aside from the stringing tool and elastics. It was when I learned how useful medical tools like forceps are for keeping elastics in place while the other parts of the dorrie are restringed.

I also find stringing the Fairyland Littlefee dolls the most dreadful of my crew. The limbs are so.....tiny!

And don't get me started about jointed hands....

 

It's been so long since I've re strung dolls. So rusty and it was a challenge when I did my friends one. I kept goofing up with the length I needed. Worst part is now almost everyone needs a cleaning and restring.