Troubleshooting my button jointed waldorf doll *pics*

[StoriesInTheSoil]

I made a 16" waldorf doll for DS for Christmas from the Joy's button child pattern.  It's all finished and dandy except that the shoulders are incredibly broad and the hips are ridiculous-looking in their wideness.  I can't get them any tighter.  What is going on here?

Also, how on earth would one make a t-shirt or pants that would fit one of these dolls?  The pants I've tried to put on him make the "hips" look even more silly.

Help!

[E.V. Lowi]

I think it looks cute, but a bit overstuffed, especially through the limbs. The strings need to pull tighter in the hips, too.

[StoriesInTheSoil]

So maybe I will unstuff the limbs some and the body too.  I can't get my strings tighter for some reason- do you think I should try the buttons on the outside of the limbs or something like that?

I'm using unwaxed dental floss for the stringing because the cotton thread from Weir was too thick to pull through the material.

[E.V. Lowi]

I have never used the floss as it is so slippery but are you sure you haven't caught the floss on itself coming or going through the body and limbs? You should be able to pull it tight enough to exert a lot of pressure on the body so that the strings stay taught and create friction between the limbs and the body. It should not be floppy. I like the string from A Child's Dream and you can see it here if you scroll about 1/2 way down the page -

http://www.achildsdream.com/doll_making/dollmaking_supplies.htm

I don't like to put the buttons on the outside. It deforms the shape of the limbs and the buttons are a potential choking hazard. If the string breaks in rough play and the doll comes apart, at least the buttons are hidden inside the limb. I would try re-stuffing the limbs and body, if it bothers you or just cut the clothes a little bigger. Once your baby in dressed in a sleeper, no one notice the hips.

[StoriesInTheSoil]

The floss isn't caught- it moved freely as I tightened.  The limbs were tight enough to stay positioned at first but they've loosened a smidge and can't pose well now, maybe it's the floss being slippery?  I'll try that string.  Is it thinner than the string at Weir?  That string was, I maintain, too large to go through the fabric in the way the pattern is written.

The way the Joy's pattern had me do the buttons they are still loose, not inside the limbs.  They are between the limb and the body.  I can say this, the next few dolls I make will NOT be jointed! 

I think I've WAY overstuffed because when I said I couldn't pull the limbs tighter, I meant that the body was too firm

Thanks so much for your help!

[E.V. Lowi]

The string from ACDCT is thin craft thread. It looks similar to kite string and it is thin enough to thread the doll maker's needles. I use it for all the head tying and doll jointing because it doesn't slip when you tie it and doesn't stretch much as all, so it won't loosen over time. I double it for head tying and double-double it for jointing.

The buttons should not be on the outside, between the limb and the body. The buttons purpose is to keep the string from ripping through the skin tone knit and wool, over time. It is a reinforcement so you want to be sure that it is placed at both end of the joining string where it turns to go back through in the circular loop. You cut a slot in the middle of the wool batting, at the top of the limb where it is left open to stuff. Then once your stringing is done, you fill this slot with a bit more wool to fill and then close the opening in the skin knit.