Esmeralda’s Dream

Esmeralda had a dream…

That all her sisters had special eyes, just like she…

Esmeralda (Princess a la Mode) is the only Blythe that comes with ready-done sleep eyes. I had always wanted to give my existing girls sleep eyes, but lacked the courage. Thoughts of breaking them or otherwise maiming them were inescapable, deterring me from taking up that steel crochet hook and prising their little noggins apart. Oh, but how I still longed for sleep eyes, made worse ever since I received Esmeralda in January. They’re just so sweet!

So, this week I decided to take the plunge, and armed with a 1.25mm crochet hook, some sturdy nylon cord and an assortment of pull string charms appropriate to each girl (Gwendolina has got yellow glow-in-the-dark stars), I set about performing open Blythe surgery, with impressive results.

To be honest, it was very, very easy and I don’t know why I was so worried. So, in the spirit of Blythe love, I though I’d share with you my method for giving Blythe sleep eyes. A couple of notes. All my girls are RBLs (the newer version with three screws and no glue), which makes opening them up a complete doddle. I’m pretty certain that the method will work for other Blythe types (BL, EBL, SBL, ADG), but you will have to open the head appropriate the the mold in question, and I take no responsibility for any mistakes! Another thing is that in my haste, I completely forgot to take any photos, so my notes are the best I have to offer. I hope they are understandable, but leave a comment if you want help. Having said that, if I were to receive another girl (cough, Ichigo Heaven, cough), I will be doing the procedure again in an instant, and promise to take pictures this time!

Here goes…
1. Disconnect the spring with a crochet hook by wiggling it until you get a grip.
2. Undo all three screws
3. Gently pull the back face plates off. They connect at the ears with little flaps, so squeeze gently here. You will also need to gently prise the plate off where the bottom screw holes are, as there are connectors here. This step is tricky as the plates can be stiff, but just be patient.
4. See where the spring is still connected to the eyemech? Thread your cord through that little hole and *back through the spring* before you tie the string in a knot above it (thus holding the spring in place). This anchors the spring in place, means you won’t lose it, stops it rattling inside the head, and means that you still have everything in place, should you want to reverse the procedure.
5. Thread the other end of the string back out of the face plate through the square hole where the spring was formerly anchored.
6. Reattach the back face plate, again being gentle on each of the four spots. It will *click* at each ear – do not be alarmed!
7. Put the screws back in
8. Add a pull charm
9. Existing string closes the eyes (and makes them change colour). New string does the job of the spring and re-opens the eyes.

Et voila! Use the original string to change the eyes as normal (thus closing the eyes) and the new string to open the eyelids back up. All the new string is doing is replacing the function of the spring you disconnected, which opened the eyelids up automatically after an eye change. Just think about how long your girls have gone without a sleep – surely they deserve a well-earned rest?