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How to Restring Porcelain Dolls

Porcelain dolls are often jointed. However, because porcelain does not allow for rotating joints the way that a soft plastic doll does, the joints on a porcelain doll fit into sockets and are held in place with elastic. Old dolls were often strung with rubber bands, but rubber bands degrade quickly, breaking apart inside the doll, which causes the doll joints to loosen or even fall apart. However, it is not difficult to replace the rubber bands with new elastic, which will enable the joints to move once again.

Things You'll Need

Needle-nose pliers
Scissors
Doll elastic
Crochet hook

Instructions

- 1
  Pull apart the arms and legs gently, cutting the string inside and pulling it out with the pliers. Remove all the string. If the doll was strung with a rubber band, there may be residue inside; clean this before continuing.
- 2
  Run your doll elastic over the top of the doll's torso from the top joint of one leg to the head and down to the other leg. Double this measurement and tie a knot in the end to form a loop. Cut away excess elastic.
- 3
  Fold the loop in half and attach the center to the head. Each joint of the doll should have a hook of some type to hold the elastic. If it does not or you don't see an easy way to attach the elastic, you may need to purchase doll hooks and attach them to the doll's joints with epoxy first.
- 4
  Push the crochet hook into one of the leg openings, through the torso and out the neck of the doll. Grab one end of the elastic with the crochet hook and pull it through the torso, hooking it to the leg that goes in that joint. Repeat with the other leg. The elastic should feel snug, but not so tight that the doll is not easy to pose.
- 5
  Run your doll elastic over the top of the torso from the end joint of one arm to the end joint of the other arm. Double this measurement and tie a knot in the end to form a loop. Cut away excess elastic.
- 6
  Hook the elastic loop on one arm joint.
- 7
  Push the crochet hook through one of the arm openings, through the torso and out the other arm. Grab the elastic with the hook and pull through the torso, hooking it to the other arm. Again, the elastic should feel snug, but not too tight.

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