Baby Making: Reborn Dolls - Creations By Lynanne

Posted on August 2, 2021November 9, 2021 by Anne

Baby Making – Unreal Babies

My new favourite thing to do is to create reborn dolls or as we call them unreal babies. Watching them come to life as you work is something pretty special. You start with a vinyl kit that comprises a head and the limbs that are unpainted and look nothing like they do when after months of work they are finished.

Reborn dolls, often referred to as reborn babies are life-like and life-size. They come in the sizes of preemies right up to toddlers. Personally, my preference is for the preemies up to around newborn size (20 – 21-inch range).

Then there are the fantasy babies that can be fairies, elves, etc. They are absolutely gorgeous to create. They can be as small as 10 inches up to full size babies. One type of elf is the manor house elves one of which reminds me of Dobby from Harry Potter.

Most people don’t realise their hair is rooted by hand, one strand at a time. That alone takes a considerable amount of time. However, I find it to be very relaxing and stress relieving to simply sit and work on their hair. I tend to zone out.

So not only am I creating these babies, but I’m also making their clothes. I knit them using mostly vintage hand-knitted layettes from around the 1920’s to the 1940’s and even as late as the 1960’s. I am also knitting designer romper sets designed by a lady called Caroline Richards from the UK. These patterns are fantastic. Caroline has a shop on Etsy (Unique Knits by Caroline) and the patterns come in PDF files that are downloaded once they are paid for. They are designed for both real and unreal babies. The reviews are excellent with almost all of them being 5 star. As well she continues to add more items to her shop.

Currently I have six completed babies. Three are for my personal collection and three are currently available for adoption, Willow, Michaela and a little boy called Charlie. They are all 20 – 21 inches. I love creating these babies, but you can’t keep them all. I am also working on more babies that will be available for adoption in due course.

My personal collection comprises of Faelyn who is a little woodland elf, the first of my fantasy babies. Her name in English is Beautiful Baby and she truly is that. Faelyn is a 16-inch baby. Molly is a preemie at only 14 inches. She is absolutely adorable with a really cheeky little face. Then there is Sabrina Rose at 20 inches who has the sweetest, most serene expression. It’s so nice to just simply sit and cuddle them. They are all weighted and feel just like a real baby in your arms.

A Little Woodland Elf - Faelyn — **Unreal Baby, a Little Woodland Elf – Faelyn**

Unreal babies are indeed lifelike and one of a kind. They are often mistaken for the real babies they appear to be. Some people find them creepy, but they can be a comfort when cuddled. They are popular with nursing homes, especially for the old men with dementia who can become quite violent. When they have a baby, they love and care for them and it settles them down and makes them easier to manage.

One of the really amazing things about creating these unreal babies is that you can’t get create two or more babies the same even when they are from the identical kit. When you have two or more people doing the same kit they too will all be very different. One thing I will say is unreal baby making is very addictive and you cannot stop at just one or two or three or even more.

Posted on June 14, 2022June 14, 2022 by Anne

The Art of Reborning

Reborning i.e., Reborn Dolls hasn’t been around all that long. It developed some twenty to twenty-five years ago with the first dolls not being made from the wonderful kits that are available today.

As a child growing up in the sixties, I loved my dolls with one of my favourites being a hard plastic baby doll with movable eyes and limbs for which my mother knitted the clothes. These dolls weren’t made to last unfortunately, and one drop and her eyes were floating around in her head. It was very upsetting at the time. She was not the sort to be reborn.

Over the years the plastic softened, and the dolls became suitable for the reborning process with the very first reborn doll artists purchasing complete dolls from toy stores, supermarkets, variety stores or anywhere suitable dolls were sold.

The artists would undress and pull the dolls apart and would then strip the existing paint off these dolls and remove any wigs before beginning to repaint the dolls.

Over time, the dolls began to be sculpted into moulds by sculptors. These moulds were then sent off to be manufactured in either vinyl or silicon. After the manufacturing process was completed, the various parts were sorted into kits containing a head, two arms and two legs. The kits also contain the name of the sculptor together with the name of the kit and if the kit is a limited edition, the number made.

The kits are then purchased by the reborn artists to turn into these beautiful lifelike babies. There are two types of reborn dolls, or three if you include the fantasy dolls. Firstly there are the reborn dolls that are just simply a sculpt that is then turned into kits and then there are the realborns which are sculpts where a photo of a real baby is used to create a kit for the artists, like myself, to use to create our babies.

Creating a reborn baby is a very satisfying activity. They take many months to create and many, many layers of paint. Once the painting is completed including the blushing and highlighting of features, rooting the hair is next. This too takes time. During all of this you watch your baby take on “life” and when you put her together, dress her including a nappy and hold her in your arms for the first time it is really exciting. These babies are weighted so they feel real and if you wish you can even add an heartbeat.

Posted on June 14, 2022June 14, 2022 by Anne

A New Look Faelyn

I love the look of my fairy I called Faelyn, but I decided I did not love her hair. It was time to change it.

So, I beheaded her, pulled out her brains storing them in a Ziploc bag, removed her hair and washed her scalp to remove any bits left behind.

It was then time to consider what sort of hair I wanted her to have. I decided I would use young goat which is lovely and curly. The next thing to consider was what colour would suit her. I decided on a blend of blond and light brown to give depth to the colour that makes it more realistic.

I was really pleased with the result and decided I needed to make a new headband, bracelet, and a necklace to hang her silver unicorn off.

Harking back to my beading skills, I decided to make her headband etc on a beading loom. The results were fantastic, and the overall result was simply stunning.

Now I love everything about my beautiful and cheeky little fairy.

A job well done!

Posted on September 3, 2021June 14, 2022 by Anne

A Little Woodland Elf

Like so many good stories, this story begins with once upon a time when fairies and elves and all sorts of magical creatures wandered freely over the land.

In this case, in a woodland not too far away a small elf baby was born. Her name was Faelyn, which means beautiful baby in English, and she really was a beautiful baby. Her parents adored her and took every care of her until one fateful day.

It began as all the previous days began but shortly after sunrise, the woodland showed signs of untoward movement and all the creatures living within its shelter became agitated. Even the birds were fluttering around in confusion.

Suddenly. The sky darkened and a terrible noise was all around them.

Faelyn’s mother, Lindalie turned to her husband Forrest, “what’s happening?”

“I don’t know” answered Forrest. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. We need to place Faelyn somewhere safe.”

“But where?” Lindalie wrung her hands in despair. The fear she felt for her baby made it difficult to breathe.

“I know,” Forrest said, “we’ll swap her for a human baby. She will be safe there. The humans will not notice. Then when everything is back to normal, we can go and get our baby and return the human one.”

Lindalie was shocked. “How can we give our beautiful Faelyn away to strangers?”

“In our world it is done all the time. It is used to keep our heritage strong and our children safe from harm. The humans think they are their babies and care for them as if they were their own.”

Lindalie still looked confused as she tried to make sense of her husband’s words. “Why can’t we look after her ourselves? Surely we can keep her safe if we can keep a human baby safe?”

“It doesn’t work out that way Lindalie, our baby is magical, the human baby is not. Where harm could be done to our precious Faelyn, the human baby would not be affected.”

Lindalie thought about what her husband said and thought about losing her precious baby. The pain she felt at that was just too much to bear. It would be better to lose her for a short time than to lose her forever. “

Alright Forrest, I will agree to your suggestion and send her away for a short time, but only for as long as it takes for our world to return to normal.”

Forrest sighed, he hadn’t thought that Lindalie would agree this easily, but the relief was enormous. “The sooner we find somewhere for our little girl, the better. Come on, let’s get her and go now.”

Lindalie sighed and went off to the hollow tree where they lived. She picked Faelyn up from the cradle she slept in. She carried the sleeping infant out to where Forrest waited for them, and they set off for the human world.

They walked through the silent and heavy forest until they came to the human world. Forrest carried his baby daughter while Lindalie clung to his arm. “It’s the best and safest thing to do for our little one and that’s what matters. She will be well cared for by the humans.”

“Look”, said Lindalie pointing, “There’s a pram in that yard over there. Maybe this could be the place for our little treasure.”

Forrest handed the baby to his wife, “Wait here while I go and take a look around.”

Lindalie stood in the shelter of a tree and watched him go to scope out the area. She hugged her baby tightly and crooned softly to her.

Soon he was back and with a gentle smile he held out his hands and removed the baby form her arms. Taking Lindalie’s hand, he led her over to where the human baby was sleeping in her pram. Lindalie picked up the human baby while Forrest placed their beloved Faelyn in the pram. He placed a gentle kiss on her brow and stepped back while taking the human baby from his wife. Lindalie stepped closer to the pram and bent over speaking softly to her child and kissed her farewell for now.

“Come”, said Forrest. “We need to leave

before we are seen by the humans.”

They left the property quietly and went home with broken hearts. They were determined to look after this baby just like their own.

Posted on August 26, 2021August 31, 2021 by Anne

Reborn Doll Painting Stand

A Reborn doll painting stand is one of the handy tools used for creating reborn dolls. The stand is made from timber and will not tip when it’s placed on a hard surface. It is portable enough to carry to classes. This stand, as shown, was made by Lyn especially for me for the babies I am still at the painting stage with. It will hold two reborn doll kits, with each kit containing a head, two arms and two legs. I am often seen carrying a stand with at least one head on it while I am rooting its hair. Normally, however, the dolls themselves travel in pillowcases.

The large painting stands come in a larger size than mine and these are currently available. Many of the fantasy babies are only 10 inches and they don’t fit on the dowel rods of the larger stands. To contend with this problem Lyn is now making a small painting stand with the smaller dowel needed for these babies. The single painting stands are now also available for purchase.

Over time as we work with our painting stands, changes will be made as needed. Additionally, now we also have a small stand with only one dowel in the centre that can be used for holding the head in place whilst rooting the hair. There is enough weight in it that it doesn’t slide about on the surface of the table you are working on. It also includes a smaller dowel that can be placed in the hole on the side of the stand for those smaller heads. These small single dowel stands are also useful when you’re painting the doll parts.

Both sizes of the painting stands, and the single dowel stand can be purchased directly from our website or can be found at the Knick Knackery located at 58 Wentworth Street in beautiful Glen Innes.