Category: Baby Making: Reborn Dolls

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.

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.

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.