I am awaiting my first kit! So excited but I’m unsure how to put her together. Do I stuff the cloth body inside the vinyl body? Or fill it and then squeeze it in? How hard is it the attach the limbs etc? I’m hoping the cloth body will give the limbs more range of motion…is that correct? (Like the arms will move around easily like on a cloth body baby rather than a vinyl body baby)
Any help appreciated!! The only babies Ive done are the Berenguer babies I painted my 3 girls and 2 nieces one for Christmas and now I want one
I just finished a Maggie. When putting her together, I placed the cloth body inside the torso. I used rings on the limbs so they are easier to move around once attached. I attached the legs first; arms second and head last. I used cable ties to attach the limbs and head. I filled the cloth body in the torso (after arms and legs were attached) with a weighting sack and polyfil before attaching the head. I was not able to use a neck ring on the head … tried, but it was difficult. I really like her finished and plan to make a few more.
Thanks! This is my first true build I’m a bit nervous and I bought the cheaper body with the strings instead of zip ties. Maybe I should thread zip ties to make it easier?
You can pull the strings out and use zipties, that’s what I do with all mine because the bodies with strings are cheaper and my dollar store sells the zipties. The plugs plug up the holes so that nothing comes out of the limbs, the rings help the arms and legs move more. If you didn’t buy plugs you can cover the holes with moleskin. I’ve only used rings on one doll and that was my full body torso doll but they aren’t necessary. They just give you more motion in the limbs. I have heard you can use clear nail polish to help the limbs move more without rings but have never done it myself. I’m sure someone here can tell you how.
Also I didn’t do Maggie but I did a similar doll. I put the body inside the torso then attached the legs and then the arms. Then I filled the torso and attached the head. The limbs were easy, the head was a little more difficult but not too bad.
I use clear nail polish on the arm and leg joints instead of the rings. It works great. Also I find the zip ties hold the limbs on much better than the strings. Remove the strings and just thread the zip ties into the places you took the strings out of.
so will the arms be really stiff if I don’t use them? I’m unsure what they do 