If you know me from the ball-jointed doll (BJD) community, you’ve probably noticed my love for restringing dolls—I’ll jump at any excuse to do it! Over the years, I’ve tested countless tools and narrowed it down to my top three essentials (elastic included). They’re affordable, effective, and get the job done, though they might not be everyone’s favorites. I’ll also share a few popular tools that didn’t work for me and why they didn’t make the cut. Let’s dive in!
Category: Update
New video: I’m baaack!
After a long break (and a big life change—hello, motherhood!), I’m thrilled to be back at Resin Melody with exciting updates! I’ve expanded my sewing adventures beyond dolls and discovered a love for creating bags for humans—and soon, about 20 handcrafted styles will be available on the site. Don’t worry, doll clothes, wigs, and accessories aren’t going anywhere—this is just a fun new chapter, and I can’t wait to share it with you!
BJD Restringing Tutorial – Single-Jointed MSD – Step by Step Walkthrough
Join me as I walk through the process of how to restring a BJD! My model is a Volks MSD F-04 – a single-jointed BJD.
The video is a bit long, but there is no time lapse and no voice over! Each step is fully explained to help you feel comfortable restringing your own ball-jointed doll.
Not sure what size elastic you need? Cool Cat has an awesome size chart!
http://us.sk-coolcat.com/front/bin/ptdetail.phtml?Part=ac_4&Category=158911
LINKS TO RESTRINGING MATERIALS
Pipe Cleaners (paid link) – https://amzn.to/3eAokTW
Rattail Silk/Nylon Cord (paid link) – https://amzn.to/3ezouL6
Elastic – http://us.sk-coolcat.com/front/bin/ptdetail.phtml?Part=ac_4&Category=158911
Dollmore Restringing Tool – http://www.dollmore.net/shop/step1.php?number=822&b_code=B20050603012757&c_code=C20050607065830
Volks Restringing Tool (SD) – https://volksusastore.com/webstores/dollfie/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=290
Volks Restringing Tool (MSD) – https://volksusastore.com/webstores/dollfie/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=284
Hemostat (paid link) – https://amzn.to/2YCNrPl
The Video: MSD Restringing Tutorial
Plan a Successful BJD Meetup
Use the Buddy System
Have you ever planned a meetup, posted it everywhere you can think of online, told all of your doll friends about it, and showed up on the specified day and time only to wait for others to show up? And wait…… and wait….. and wait…. only to realize several hours later that nobody else is coming? No? Well, consider yourself lucky!
I remember years ago, shortly after I joined the hobby and experienced the above scenario, a friend and I made an agreement that we would always schedule a meetup when the other could attend. This would ensure that, even if nobody else showed up, there would always be at least one other person there.
If you’re new to the hobby, it makes sense that you may not have another doll collector to join you – that’s OK! See if another friend or family member would be willing to hang out for a while until others show up. This way you won’t have to wait by yourself and have someone to chat with while waiting.
There doesn’t have to be a big to-do made about where or when a meetup will be – just plan it with one other person and post online to let others know where you will be and when you will be there. If others can show up – they will! If not, at least you’ll have a good time with your friend or family!
Dye Removal Process on Elfdoll Soah
I originally posted this on my LiveJournal ten years ago (10!! omg it’s been 10 years!) when I had the opportunity to purchase an Elfdoll Soah from a friend who had sent her out to be dyed. When he got her back, the dye job was extremely uneven and streaky.
At the time, I had been wanting a Soah for years and the opportunity was just too good to pass up. So I jumped! …. haha, that’s a lie… I grabbed her up so fast it would have made your head spin!
I didn’t know quite what I was getting into, though.
Unfortunately, when it came to record-keeping, I didn’t fully think things through. When I received her, I didn’t have her in my apartment for more than 5 minutes before I started the process of removing the purple dye. That means I only have photos of purple-dyed doll parts rather than the full doll.
Apologies in advance for the size of the photos. Keep in mind, this was originally posted in 2009, and posted images were a lot smaller back then…
Streaky Purple Doll Parts
The dye job was so uneven and streaky over her entire body and face. I only have a couple of pictures of some of the body parts showing just how bad it was – but imagine this over the entire doll!
The Scrubbing Process
A friend of mine came over and we started the dye removal process by soaking her in Windsor & Newton Brush Cleaner and Restorer and using a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to scrub her down. Surprisingly, this (along with elbow grease!) actually took off most of the dye!
Mostly Cleaned Head + Dyed Body Parts
Sanding, Sanding, and More Sanding
Dye Removal Complete!
After much scrubbing and sanding, and even more sanding and scrubbing, she was declared done! There was still purple dye inside her stringing channels that we couldn’t reach, but overall, she came out looking fabulous!
