On this page we show how to revise two of the Berenguer doll bodies. The 22" Special Edition LaBABY DOLL is on the left, and a 20" Special Edition LOTS TO CUDDLE DOLL is on the right. This photo shows the doll in their original bodies. AND, here are two ways to revise the arms on those bodies...
This is the large Special Edition doll with the jointed hips. You can also make the arms jointed if you want to. First, cut off the arm below the shoulder. The extra fabric will be tucked in and stitched shut, as shown below.
The head and some of the stuffings were removed. I used the sewing machine to topstitch with a zigzag stitch. You can also do the sewing by hand with strong thread.
Then, I made new cloth arms for the doll using my PATTERN J jointed doll body pattern. The new arms are attached with PLASTIC DOLL JOINTS
. Then the body is restuffed and the head is attached with a CABLE TIE STRAP. Now the doll is much more poseable with her new arms.
This Lots to Cuddle doll is posing with her new armature inside the arms. Doll armature looks like this:
I opened up the back seam on the doll's body and removed some of the stuffing so I could insert the armature. The vinyl hands of the doll have holes in the inside, so I just needed to insert the armature beads inside the holes. The hole was a little small for the big armature that I used, so I made one small cut on one side of the hole so the armature would fit in. If I used a smaller size armature I wouldn't need to cut it, I could just pop the armature through the hole. But this is a big doll and I thought the larger size armature would work better.
I didn't use glue or anything to hold the armature in place, it's not necessary as long as the armature is long enough and at least two of the links are pushed through inside the hands. I hand-stitched the armature to the center back seam on the doll's body to help secure it. Then I restuffed the doll and hand-stitched the back seam shut.
As you can see, the doll holds positions very well. The poseable armature gives the doll more personality because she can do things, such as show "How Big" she is, or wave at you.
