Need help repairing a 1992 My Very Soft Baby

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

One of the most precious members of my toy collection is Baby Doll, a Playskool My Very Soft Baby (blue version) that I've had since shortly after I was born. But of course, being with me so long has been rough on her. I did a somewhat amateurish restoration a while ago, but it didn't hold up long-term. And there were some things I couldn't do right.

One of those things is fixing her face properly. It split along the mouth line, and trying to glue it with superglue refused to hold up. I eventually resorted to sewing it crudely together with thread (dark thread, to make matters worse). Can anyone tell me how to fix a probably-vinyl doll face when it's split like that?

Another thing is sourcing a replacement squeaker. Now, her squeaker failed well before any of the falling-apart started. It melted in the dryer when I was little... Thing is, I don't want to use just any old squeaker for her. Her squeaker was unusual, it made this light, soft squeak. So I want the replacement to be similarly light and soft in sound. Does anyone have advice on this?

The other thing I have a question about is replacement stuffing, since some of her internal fluff is long since gone. Do cotton balls make acceptable material for the job?

[Shaz]

You can buy toy stuffing on eBay, the stuff I use (can't remember the exact name but I bought a big bag of it for a reasonable price) has a somewhat fluffier and less dense feel than cotton wool balls.

I don't know much about squeakers, but maybe look for a vintage squeaker? I wonder if that might have a softer squeak than a brand new one.

I'm not sure about the face without seeing it....perhaps look for a glue that's designed especially for vinyl, there are such glues around (again, my first stop would be eBay).

Good luck with your restoration of your childhood chum

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

I was asking about cotton balls because we have them on hand so it would be quick to do

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Here's a pic for ya.

[Shaz]

You can certainly give cotton wool balls a try then.
I kind of like the stitched look, reminds me of Monster High Frankie Stein! I think some vinyl glue would be the thing for a longer lasting repair, though I don't have much experience with it (I have mended a few splits in ponies with PVA glue, though it takes forever to dry. They were much smaller though).
Looks like you'll need to get in some extra fabric to patch up the body too.

[Aeryala]

Liquid fusion is wonderful for repairing vinyl dolls, I would highly recommend it.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

I'll have to check that out then. As for patching up the body... luckily, I still have fabric from the original restoration attempt.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

I would really suggest picking up some fiberfill. You can get it at fabric and craft stores. I've found that there's not really any easy way to replicate the feeling with other materials, but if it's a repair on a budget, then feel free to use whats on hand. You can also try cutting up scraps of fabric to put in as well.

[pixiemouse]

If you want the same squeaker you'll probably need to get another of the same type of doll and retrieve that squeaker. I don't know how sought after these are but if you got another one in better condition it could also help you make a pattern to recreate the body of your doll.

Although there's always the urge to hurry and get stuff done, it is better in the long run to wait to get the proper thungs you'll need. Like if you are adamant about getting a squeaker, I'd not bother trying to fix the body because you'd have to unpick it somewhere so you could put the squaker in.

[banditpony]

They do have doll hospitals where people fix up dolls. I oddly enough have at least 2 within 40 minutes of me, so it's worth looking into.The split / needle holes are what I think would be the hardest to fix at this point. If it's really something you want done right, then I suggest that's the way to go.

At the very least, don't use cotton balls.. You would need a ton, and the doll still probably would end up lumpy and not full feeling.  At least source stuffing from a pillow if you can't afford filling from a craft store.