TUTORIAL: Tightening Loose ArtiBabs Hips

ArtiBabs' hip tightness is maintained by an elastic strap or a rubber "dog bone" that draws the tops of the thighs together through the pelvic piece. Sometimes, this strap, especially when elastic, gets stretched and loses the ability to maintain a rigid pose at the hip. This procedure will allow you to replace the old loose strap with a new tighter one. And, if and when that strap wears out, you can do it again. [Caution: try at your own risk; no method is 100% foolproof.]

Materials you will need:
Beading Cord Elastic,
A cardboard form about ¾" wide,
Hobby knife,
4- 4"x1/8" cable ties,
Wire cutters [or something to cut the cable ties.]

First, cut the strap.

Pull one of the thighs away from the pelvis and cut the exposed strap. At this point the legs will separate from each other and fall off of the body. Using your knife, cut out all remaining pieces of the strap being careful not to damage the anchor pins in each thigh. Set the legs and body aside.

Forming the new strap.

Wrap the elastic cord around the cardboard form about five or six times applying some tension as you do and tie it off with a square knot.

Loosely tie two cable ties in the positions shown above.

Place cable tie #3 as shown and pull tie #1 tight. You can now clip the tail of tie #1.

Place cable tie #4 as shown and pull tie #2 tight. You can now clip the tail of tie #2. Remove this rig from the cardboard form.

Reconnecting the legs

Feed tail #3 under the right leg anchor as shown and loosely close the loop of tie #3.

Feed tail #4 through the pelvis, then under the left leg anchor as above. Be careful; make sure the feet are facing in the opposite direction of the rear end.

Once you are sure of this, you may close the loop of tie #4 and tighten both remaining ties. (Hint: if you leave a little play in these final loops, it may resolve the range of movement problem detailed below.) Cut the last two tails as far down as you can and your patient is ready to resume her posing duties.

Prognosis
I have performed two of these surgeries successfully and the only limitations of pose that I have seen is the patient can no longer do the splits. She can only draw her knees apart about 60° from side to side. I have seen no limitation in forward/backward positioning.

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Prior URLs
http://www.geocities.com/s6xtiliana/Babs/Loose-Hips.htm
http://babs-poser.u.yuku.com/blog/post/id/1274
http://babs-poser.u.yuku.com/bloggy/post/pid/1274