Using Doll Joints Safely
At the end of last week’s discussion, my cloth dolls Kitty and Twinkle were waiting for their arms and legs. Kitty is eighteen inches ( 46 cm). Her pattern is found in my new book, Sewing for Large Dolls. Twinkle is six and one half inches (16.5 cm). Her pattern is found in my book, Sewing for Mini Dolls. If you are interested in finding out more about these books you can read about them on My Books page by clicking here.
I blogged about the safety of doll joints once before, but I think that the topic is worth more discussion. I looked up choking hazard size on Google. In the United States a cylinder tube that is 1.25 inches in diameter and between 1 and 2.25 inches deep is used to test toy safety. If an object fits inside the cylinder, it is considered unsafe for children three years old and under.
An assembled 35 mm doll joint will not fit into the cylinder and so it should be safe for a young child. Here is a doll joint that is about to be assembled.
I did not push the lock washer down the shaft, because I would not be able to get it off again. Here is the doll joint before it has been assembled.
The washer and the lock washer are both choking hazards. I have never been able to disassemble a doll joint once I had pushed the lock washer down the locking shaft. I have had to cut the joint apart using wire cutters when I incorrectly placed a leg on a doll. I believe that doll 35 mm joints are safe if they have been correctly assembled in the doll.
I used 35 mm doll joints to connect this Kitty’s arms as well as her legs, even though my pattern called for 30 mm arm joints. The 30 mm joint would be a chocking hazard even when it is assembled. I am going to explain doll joints to the parents of Kitty’s future owner. If they are concerned, Kitty will need to wait a few years to become a play doll.
Twinkle is a choking hazard and should not be given to a young child.
This discussion took longer than I expected. I’ll show you the assembled dolls next week.
