The Doll Restoration Wizard:

Step 3 ~ Check Her Stringing

The most important test of whether a doll's stringing is tight enough is whether she can stand easily by herself and whether she can wave hello. A quick test is to lay the doll on her back and raise her limbs at a 45° angle.

Ideally, she should be able to hold her arms and legs at any angle. This Felicity's stringing is just fine.

A Few Notes on Restringing

If you click the No button below, you're going to open Taffy's restringing article. After reading through the article, you may decide you're not willing to do this yourself (though really, I've done it many times now and it's easier than it sounds). If you want to find someone else to do it for you, ask on one of the Message Boards. There are several people who will help you either for free or for a small fee. Or send her to the doll hospital. But what have you got to lose by trying, other than the cost of the parts? Even if you don't get the results you want, you can always go the hospital route.

What if your doll is an all-vinyl doll like a Magic Attic or Stardust Classics? The restringing procedure is basically the same as for American Girls, it's just harder to insert the plastic cup into the body of the doll (or to get it out). The trick with all-vinyl dolls is to heat the vinyl with a hot hair dryer to make it more pliable. (Like Taffy describes for the challenge of getting the parts back into the limb.) An all-vinyl doll's head is generally strung the same way as the limbs. Sasha dolls, however, are an exception. I'd recommend asking for an expert on one of the Sasha Message Boards.

What if your doll is missing a limb or one of the internal parts is broken? I'm afraid there's no good source for these parts, though one person on a messages boards did ask for and receive a box of the internal parts from Götz. Your best bet is to ask on one of the message boards to see if someone has the part you need or use a "donor" doll. If you restore dolls frequently, you may accumulate some extra parts that you can keep for future work.

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