u/TackleCommon4125

Hi all, I bought this lamp and determined that it doesn't turn on because of the key shaft free spinning. However, because it's free spinning, I also can't get it to unscrew and it being enclosed in a notch means I have no idea how I would get the inner socket out to replace said inner socket. I'm incredibly confused. Help?

I already tried using pliers as leverage as some tutorials suggested and it didn't do anything.

So, I posted this flirty eyed AM 370 about a month ago when I first got her. Since the handwritten note on her stand said she had "composition lower arms" I took it at face value and thought her arms were just kind of ugly. I looked closer last night and realized someone painted over them. I removed all the paint with isopropyl alcohol, q tips and a few toothpicks. Turns out one lower arm was replaced and whoever did the repair wanted to conceal the minor difference in color. I much prefer them non painted, they match enough that I think someone who didn't know to look for it wouldn't notice 😅

So, I'm mainly posting this because I had trouble finding any kind of tutorial on how to reattach jointed composition lower arms to a kid leather body. Not sure if I just suck at Googling or if the uncommon combination is the culprit, but here's what I did!

I really wish I had some scrap white kid to use for patches, like a pair of old gloves or something, but since I don't, I had to reinforce it with random scrap cloth and then make a removable "sleeve" like I did for my other doll to protect the area from further damage. I'm kind of glossing over this part because it wasn't hard.

Anyway, with the lower arm being on a wire, I had to unbend one end with small pliers to get the button off to be able to re-insert it. I kept running into the kid being too weak to support the wire without tearing, so I also reinforced that area (I know it's ugly, but you can't see it from the front and it works!) with cloth and a lot of cotton thread to keep the wire in place until I can patch the area.

Then, I put the button back on the end I didn't unbend (it popped off during all this), held the wire all the way tight to that end to give me wiggle room, and re-bent the opposite end to put the button back on.

Everything is secure. Once I get some kid to patch it, I'll wedge the ball part of the arm in tighter/adjust the thick paper that was on it before because it feels looser than the other side even though it presents well.

This was my first antique doll ever. I now have four!

When I snagged this girl at Goodwill, she had a synthetic wig that was too big for her head (and despite photographing well here, it's a super shiny, ugly mess), tons of tape on her arms and one foot had popped seams and was falling off.

Previously, I made a post showing my amateur repairs. "Sleeves" out of cloth to prevent further stuffing loss from her arms, and I sewed her foot back on.

I ended up finding a wig that fits better (and is a nicer quality even though it's also synthetic!) for cheap, and I made her new dress myself (my third sewing project ever, the first two being a chemise and drawers for her) as well as decorated her hat. All materials were thrifted aside from the pink ribbon, so there's some yellowing to the lace and areas of sun fading on the blue fabric, but I think it adds vintage charm. I did purchase the shoes new but they were under $5.

I also cleaned all the old glue off her head and got a surprising amount of grime off her face. Her wig is now held on with sticky wax since she isn't going to be played with. I bought her a pate but I'm going to have to shave some off it off to fit her wig, and her hat covers the back of her head being flat, so I haven't bothered yet 😅

It's a 1950s dress I grabbed today because I've been looking for one in this color for ages. It doesn't have a lining and appears like it was probably handmade. I think the boning also needs replacing because it clearly isn't doing much for the bodice, but maybe that's just because it's not tight enough in the bust and needs a steam...?

I also want to potentially turn the garment hanging straps into actual straps since they miiiiight be long enough, but I don't think that will fix the issue of it being a little too big in just the bust area. The waist is perfect right now but it could come in if I can't alter the bust without altering that.

Some of you might remember my post about getting a 28" Kley & Hahn Walküre for a really good price. Well, today I woke up super early and braved weather that got into the 100s to walk around an antique fair, and it was well worth it! I got this 17" Armand Marseille 370 with flirty eyes for an absolute steal. I never thought I'd actually acquire a flirty eye doll with how much they go for online. I think I've probably exhausted my luck for the next 5 years. I don't know if her wig is original, but it's gorgeous (other than a little shedding) and definitely vintage. She has absolutely stunning antique undergarments beneath the reproduction dress, and her body is in amazing shape, a bit of the usual wear but no real issues. Her hands are composition even though the rest of her body is kid leather, which I found interesting.

She's my first doll to actually come with a stand, which has a note taped to it from one of her previous owners. The seller told me she was given to her daughter by her husband's grandmother, but they were afraid said daughter would break her. I hope the grandmother would be happy about her going to a collector who really loves her even if she didn't stay in the family 😅

I don't understand why this has two different lines on the top edge/side. If it's going to be folded while cutting, does that mean I cut the section in front smaller to follow the inside set of lines? Sorry if this is a silly question, Google wasn't helpful

I thrifted this little 14" inch Armand Marseille for around $5 at Goodwill around 6 months ago. She came with a terrible modern outfit that was hiding a LOT of tape on her arms and I knew her foot was falling off because she didn't have any shoes, but for that cheap I couldn't pass her up. I finally got around to hand sewing her foot back on and removing the tape. I re-stuffed the areas that were missing stuffing with some modern plushie stuffing I had laying around, and tightly hand sewed sort of bandages around her arms (not TO her arms, they'll be easily removable later) since I didn't have any leather to make proper patches. I have been told her body is an antique replacement from a different doll, but I don't know which maker. I'm learning machine sewing to make a better, time period correct outfit for her! So far I just made stockings from an adult human sock, which are obviously not accurate since they have elastic, but I really just wanted her legs nicely covered to protect the repaired foot since it's a little delicate

She's a 28" Klay & Hahn Walküre and I'm obsessed! I've been wanting a big girl with earrings and didn't think I'd score one for a great price anytime soon, but I did 😊

Last pic is her with my tiny Armand Marseille (can't remember what size that one actually is)