Topsy Baby

 

This doll was made by 'Reliable' in the early 1960's and was sold as 'Topsy Baby' or 'Topsy Baby Darling'.

She has arrived for cleaning and repairs.

Her cloth in her legs is worn and has she has previous mends.

One arm has many mends too.

Quite a cute face!

Topsy Baby's owner wants her body kept original. Not totally replaced with a new fabric one. A couple of options are reviewed and it is decided to line her body with new fabric. This will keep her original cloth on the outside and strengthen it throughout the torn and holey areas.

So on to disassembly......

Topsy Baby's head has stuffing inside which is kept in with a wooden plug. This is a common finding in this vintage of doll.

That is a lot of stuffing!

But it needs to come out to clean her head well.

More disassembly.

Here is the front and back of her body....and a piece of muslin that I have dyed. The muslin will line her body.

On the right is one side of her body before it gets lined and mended.

On the left is the other side after getting lined and mended.

The lined body parts get sewn together along the previous seam lines.

And, after a bit of a fight (vinyl is not always easy to sew into cloth), the end is in sight.

One washed, lined and repaired body, several washed vinyl bits and a pile of stuffing that came out of the body are ready for the final reassembly.  The head has already been restuffed and plugged.

Done.

And dressed.