Mei

[Kirah]

I have to be honest - I'm rather disappointed in my Mei, Lorilei. I'm sending her out this week for a faceup and body blushing in the hopes it will help us bond. Right now, I can't find any clothing or shoes to fit her and the string she was originally strung with is soooo bad that even after having paid someone to restring her, she started flopping over 2 days later. So I'm going to have to invest in new string now. I hope we can bond. She's so pretty, but right now I'm almost tempted to just put her up for adoption . . . .

[fieraentara]

I totally know what you mean! I love my Mei (Thea) to death, but even after buying new string, and hot glue sueding she still is floppy. One thing that helped me was taking pictures of her in "new" areas. Clothing and shoes are hard, shoes especially. If you can get your hand on a needle and thread sock clothes are always going to fit lol

[leopardessmoon]

I have a BBB ariel on the RS body. you definately have to totally restring her ( I used an SD kit) suede and Wire her. even then she is a bit tempermental. look for clothes lables Slim Mini. there was a person on DOA doing like $10 packs of clothes for slim minis and I have seen pics of RS msd's wearing them and they look good. shoes on the other hand....lets just say, I have resorted to makeing my own. I am thinkin of making up a bunch and seeing if they would sell. I would urge you to give her another chance after doing all the tricks to her before decideing to let her go. I love mine, even when she is being ornery about standing!

edit: the person on doa is named Shin-z0

[Kirahfaye]

I'm a bit confused because I've been told I should order the elastic string from a doll supply company only (i.e., overseas) and I've been told I can get the string from local hobby/sewing stores . . . What is best?

Also, the lady who restrung Lorilei for me (and warned me she might need a total restring) suggested some disks that you can get from Coolcat or Volks. She says they can take the place of sueding. Has anyone here used them? I might need to make a new thread about them to get comments . . .

[DinobotDen]

I'm a bit confused because I've been told I should order the elastic string from a doll supply company only (i.e., overseas) and I've been told I can get the string from local hobby/sewing stores . . . What is best?

Whoever told you that was wrong about buying the elastics from a doll company only. You can get decent elastics from the sewing stores, or you can get it from Emory at the Junkyspot (if you want to stay within the US).

[Greyhaunt]

I'm a bit confused because I've been told I should order the elastic string from a doll supply company only (i.e., overseas) and I've been told I can get the string from local hobby/sewing stores . . . What is best?

Also, the lady who restrung Lorilei for me (and warned me she might need a total restring) suggested some disks that you can get from Coolcat or Volks. She says they can take the place of sueding. Has anyone here used them? I might need to make a new thread about them to get comments . . .

You can get good doll elastic either by buying a kit from Emory at junkyspot (if he has some in stock) or from [url http://www.crscraft.com/]CRs Crafts[/url] online - you can also get a restringer from them which I highly recommend!

The discs they are talking about are a sticky silicone. I've heard of them, and I have a sheet of the stuff that needs to be cut by myself that I got from Pupapa. Haven't tried it yet, but Ive heard good stuff from others. I think it basically works the same way as hot glue sueding does.

[-T2P-]

One thing I found that really helped my Rs Lu (same body as mei) was using SD size elastic for the legs and MSD size for the arms. Even so she is still very kicky, in one leg especially. I think it' just a flaw of the mold

[zirconmermaid]

A friends' Mei is currently in my house, and she wears Goodreau shoes perfectly! Also, some ebay sellers, especially Mimi-Woo (Mimi Collection) will tell the dimensions of a doll shoe in their listings. Look for ones that say Unoa or Goodreau because these dolls also have smaller feet.

Tonner 16" fashion doll clothes fit perfectly, except for the shoes. Gracefaerie patterns also make patterns that will fit her too.

MSD size elastic stringing kits from Emory will work fine and NOT have the too loose problem. However, you can also get elastic at fabric stores. You want round elastic and you should get it about the same or a little thicker than the elastic that comes with Mei. The elastic that the doll is sent with stretches too much but will look identical until you actually pull on it to the fabric store stuff.

Low temp hot glue is a cheap and easy alternative to Kips, which do work.

Using a needle nose pliers and a large paperclip, you can make hooks for your Mei's hands, which will also help you.

Learning to pose the doll is usefull too - Kiki has some tutorials on that too. I have actually seen her pose floppy dolls and get them to stay!

If you love the look of the doll, and just need to get her working correctly, don't give up on her.

And I also have a Lu, and yes, we did restring her. I am personally opposed to wiring the dolls, because I have one that was damaged by wire (but I was able to get her really cheap because of it), and also I pose mine too often and wire tends to need to be replaced after it has been bent and unbent too many times. I can usually get Lyre to cooperate in posing, but she is a slippery mermaid and has a tendency to wiggle at times.

[Mary Kathryn]

My Mei is still tight as a virgin on her....well, let's just say she's a bit kicky. The rest of my Resinsoul/BBBs had to be tightened up.
I think once she has her face on and the personality starts to shine through you'll find you enjoy her more.
Also - Tonner Ellowyne Wilde sized clothes fit on the RS body very well.

[victoriavictrix]

The Tonner Narnia clothes for Susan and Edmund all fit very well too.