Restringing a Recast Littlefee (should also be compatible with legit littlefee)

Originally posted on Castaways here: http://castawaydolls.com//index.php?topic=2596.0

(Pictures have been removed from my Flickr for various reasons and hosted here, so Castaways thread may die.)

[Please excuse my tacky crumbling nail polish. I never seem to take photos when I have nice nail polish. I'm just classy like that. T_T]

Alright, so I'll be up front and say that this is only the second time I've strung a littlefee, and I'm not very good at restringing in general. I spent several hours pouring over other forums and any online pictures I could find of how littlefee are actually strung so I could fix my girl. So! There may be a few errors in here, and please feel free to correct them.

Note: Before you can restring a recast littlefee with the clicky pieces (and thus the way Fairyland does it), you will need to open up the spot for them in the pelvis. I was able to do this with an exacto knife (but you can also probably poke it through with a pencil or even a toothpick). Please keep an eye on the size of the opening you are making, and rest your clicky piece there often to make sure they aren't opened too big (mine are a tad too big).



Here is the finished result:



Also, you may want to do any sanding or sueding now before you get the doll put back together. The first time I took my girl apart I sanded and beveled a few places inside where the string was snagging. I also sueded her neck and torso. You will need to purchase an S-hook in order to string this way, since I haven't figured out the other way. I got my tiny S-hooks at Low's for about $1.50 for a pack of four.

Stuff you might need:



I did a quick string comparison for those interested as well.



And an s-hook size comparison:



Part 1: Stringing the Legs

Alright, our little
victimhelper is Odelia, a recast littlefee Luna.




Step 1:

First, take the doll apart, and make sure to keep the pieces in order. The easiest way to do this is to remove the face plate, feet, and hands. Next, remove the ankle balls. I work my way up the doll, one leg at a time, etc. until I get to the head. Eventually it'll look like this. Most of the pieces will have little Rs or Ls on them for right and left. Also, select your elastic. The 3mm elastic from Angel Studio I bought from Mint on Card was just too thick, so I went with the Dollzone 1/6 elastic (I'm guessing it's 2.5mm), also purchased from MoC.




Step 2:

The next step is to put the clicky piece in as shown in the picture at the top of this thread. Next, place a thigh piece onto the string. Make sure that the slot faces inwards towards the crotch and connects with the clicky piece. They'll fit together like a puzzle.






Step 3:

Next, place the other thigh piece (the long part) on the elastic.



Step 4:

Add the knee piece. In this step I started using a piece of ribbon through the elastic loop to help me just in case I lose the string up the leg.



Step 5:

Next, you'll add the shin. The shin is usually too thin for the string, unless you're using really thin string, so you'll definitely need the ribbon in order to feed it through.

Here is the ribbon going through the shin:



Here is the fully strung leg:



Step 6:

Just repeat the process above for the other leg. Be sure to pull tight to keep the pieces together properly. You'll want to check the clicky pieces frequently to make sure they are situated properly. I keep the hemostat (you can use a pencil, ribbon, or whatever you like to hold the loop) to keep the leg nice and tight while I work on the other one. In this picture I have the hemostat holding the elastic on the second leg and a chopstick holding the elastic on the first leg.




Step 7:

Next, you will want to put the ankle ball on the leg with the hemostat (first leg you worked on). It helps to have another pair of hands while you do this. It's a pain by yourself. I also found that without a helper I couldn't keep her tight enough.





Next, pull the string as tight as you can on the other leg. (Here is where it really pays to have help.) Tie the knot as tight as you can (seriously, you almost can't have it too tight), but be careful not to chip the resin; my Luna's resin was a little thin here so I had to be extra careful.  Put the other foot on through this loop. (If anyone needs better pictures of this let me know.)



Note: My ankle ball pieces have the s-hooks in opposite directions. They appear to be glued in. In order to fix this and fix the mobility in the foot I'm going to have to remove them. Because of the issues with the ankle ball she has trouble standing in shoes.

That's it! Put the feet on and you're good to go with the legs. As I mentioned, I'll do the torso in the next post and show you how to put her back together. Here are a few more interesting reference pictures.

Standing on one leg after restringing.



A couple standing photos:






Part 2: The Torso

Here is a comparison between two different sizes of s-hooks in the hole in the middle (which you may also have to bevel out for recasts as I did):



Let's begin:

I have her all disassembled now. I have also taken off her ankle balls because I'm tightening her legs at the same time I'm doing this tutorial. In the next post I will link to an awesome leg tightening blog I found.

Step 1:





The first thing you need to do is fold your elastic in the middle and tie and a knot. Next, fold it in half, as shown in the picture.

Step 2:





Next, you'll need to thread this through the neck ball. Make sure you end up with two loops at the top, and two loops at the bottom. The knot needs to be on the bottom, as the opening for the s-hook in the head back is too small for the knot to pass through.

Step 3:





Next, you'll need to pull the loops at the top of the neck ball through the slot in the head back. My string was too thick with the s-hook, so I pulled it through without the s-hook at first. Once everything was situated, I put the s-hook on and pulled it tight.

Step 4:





Sorry for the blur in this picture, but after you have the s-hook in place it's time to thread the elastic through the torso. You'll want to use a piece of string to do this. When you're done, it'll look like this:



Step 5:

This is the most annoying and difficult part of the process. Again, a pair of hands is almost essential to help you out. I did it by myself for this tutorial with lots of cursing, muttering, and grumpiness. Next time the husband shall have to help me. Lucky dog was at work while I did this.



Essentially what you are doing here is tying a knot in the elastic. I tied mine a fair ways above the knot I used to hold the string together, then snipped off that knot. The higher you do the knot, the tighter the torso will be. Put the s-hook at the pelvis through the loops at the bottom. This can be a real pain, and you'll sort of figure out a technique for doing it. Again, the tighter the elastic here the better the posing, but the harder it is to put the torso on this s-hook.

That's it! Now your doll should be back together, and hopefully a good poser too. If you need to tighten the stringing, you'll have to take the torso off and shorten the elastic. If you need to tighten the legs, simply take one of the ankle balls off (the one where the knot sits), pull it as inhumanly tight as you can and tie a new knot above the existing knot. Put the ankle ball back on, and you should be good to go.



List of helpful, non-DoA resources I found to help me with this project:

http://petitcoeuramoi.over-blog.com/categorie-12296737.html (I can't read French, so I just squinted at the pictures to see how the doll was constructed.)

http://wovenflame.blogspot.com/2011/04/whos-poser-now.html (Great leg tightening tutorial. Will be using this for my next round of tightening.)

If you know of any other good, non-DoA restringing resources, feel free to share.

Again, I hope this is helpful and that you can use it to get your kiddos posing at their best. My next post will be the poses I was able to get Odelia to do after this restringing escapade.