ripping side seam

[Octavias]

I recently bought a pm kirsten, (My first 18 inch doll! [img]smile.gif[/img] ) but her side seam is coming undone. [img]frown.gif[/img] I've looked at it, and it's about an inch long and I can see a hint of white under the tan, I'm guessing it's her stuffing. What should I do? Take a needle and thread to her? I'm not a very good seamstress at all, but could manage that, I just don't want to drop her value at all.

[American_Mommy]

This may be more complicated than what you are looking for. If she were mine, I would remove her head, unstuff her, and repair her with tan thread from the inside.
Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I have always understood that most of the things that decrease the value of a doll are irreversible changes and/or repairs. If someone did not like your repair, they could remove the stitches.

[thepidget]

I think there are two ways to go about fixing your doll.

The easiest way to properly fix your Kirsten is to whipstitch the seam shut from her exterior. Even if you make the stitches small, they may still be visible, so this option may only be good if you plan to keep Kirsten for yourself.

The neater way of doing this is what American_Mommy suggested--taking her head off, removing her stuffing, turning her torso inside out, and repairing the seam from the inside. By doing it this way, I believe your stitches will be far less visible.

I doubt that such a small repair will drop her value, especially if it's just a one-inch seam split. That sounds minor compared to other very damaged AG's I've seen--like dolls with drastic haircuts, broken fingers, ratty snarled hair, nail polish painted on their faces, etc.

[Octavias]

Thanks guys.
I'm so new at this and this is my very fist dolly, just didn't want to make any mistakes. I've watched to much road show it would seem. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

I'm gonna just take a needle and thread to her side and call it good. I may pass out if I try to remove her head. hehe Might have to wait until I get a super inexpensive one to learn that tecnique on... [img]wink.gif[/img]

Oct

[Avione]

There is a stitch you can do from the outside that shouldn't show at all. I think it's called the ladder stitch, but I'm not sure. [img]tongue.gif[/img] I know how to do it but I don't know it's name. I hope that whatever you try works wonderfully. [img]smile.gif[/img]

http://www.embroiderersguild.com/sti...es/ladder.html Here's a link that explains the stitch a little.

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ July 06, 2006 12:02 PM: Message edited by: Avione ]</font>

[Katie from IL]

You can always send her to the doll hospital.