My Dolls Click image to go to post

My Dolls Click image to go to post
Click image to see my favorite dolls. Email me at: thesavagedollblog@gmail.com

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Restringing my china baby doll


This is the China Baby my grandmother painted for me when I was a little girl.  She has never been properly strung due to the fact that there are no hooks inside her limbs.
 She has always been kind of jury-rigged.
My grandmother originally used sewing elastic which did not hold up over the years. 
I have done some research but since this is not a
regular manufactured doll, I could never find a better way to string her together.
SO, I am still trying to hold her together the best I can.
Poor baby!
Here she is in 5 pieces. You can see the clips we have used.

They are actually safety pins for buttons that have 
masking tape on the ends to keep them from damaging the china.
I know, what?


I started with her left leg and looped the 5mm
elastic through the pin.

 I then criss-crossed the elastic to the opposite arm.
I used the needle nosed pliers to grab the elastic and draw it out.

I threaded the elastic through the pin in each arm.

Here she is with arms and legs criss-crossed with elastic.

You can see here how I have drawn all the elastic 
through the right arm hole.
(You can see my grandmother's signature)

At this point I tie all the elastic together and
reinsert it all into her arm hole.

Here she is all restrung.  Her limbs never fit really well together.
It's important not to string porcelain or china dolls too tight
as they can be damaged or cracked.
If any of you doll experts out there have a better solution I would be grateful for suggestions!!

Diaper

Slip

Christening gown and bonnet.

This is her basket bed that I made for her years ago.


2 comments:

Barbara said...

Your Grandmother was really talented. This is a great gift and I hope you pass it down to your daughter.

Brenda and Sophie said...

Thank you she was. I have some of her other work as well, vases and plates. I hope my daughter will keep her and pass her down.