When you're first starting out, it seems that reborn dolls are not very expensive to make. You think, "I can get that doll for $59.95?" Not quite. That baby sold on eBay for £1320. Still, to make your own, you're going to have to buy much more than that $59.95 doll kit. $59.95 only gets you the head arms and legs. The rest of the goodies add up. Up $200 just in raw materials. To find out how much your doll will cost to make, use my checklist to make sure you have everything you need! (Note: This article assumes that you already have tools and paints. We'll talk about startup costs in another article. :) Kim's Shopping ListEvery time I get a new custom order, I run through this list. There are some things that you always have to buy - like the vinyl doll kit and the cloth body. Other things are order-specific, such as eyes depending on whether the doll is awake or not. Read your doll kit specs carefully to make sure everything you order is compatible with your doll kit. This list will help you cover all your bases. Example from a Custom OrderI use a home-grown inventory management system that I built to keep track of the supplies I buy and the supplies I've used. On this particular custom order, I spent $175 just on raw materials! That doesn't even include the little outfit I send home with the doll baby. So if your clients complain about how much money you require upfront, now you have the tools to explain why. :) How to Inspect Your InventoryOnce you've purchased everything and the shipment has arrived, it is critical to carefully inspect your parts to make sure that
Make sure you do this as quickly as possible so that if you find an issue, you can work with the supplier to get it fixed before the return period has ended (7 - 30 days depending on the supplier). It is normal for find grease and dust on a doll kit. But the following issues have to worked out with the supplier:
Where to Buy Reborning SuppliesNot sure where to start? Be sure to check out my Go To Doll Kit Suppliers!
23 Comments
Karen McCann
1/28/2016 08:51:33 am
I have a question, on the mohair how much "hair" do I need to root on the head? Is one package enough? I saw you only had one for a doll in your video. I am new at reborning and have made 4 dolls but only have painted one doll with hair. I'm scared to make mistakes and have only sold one doll. I am an artist, but have done drawing and painting with oils and acrylics. I do find the genesis paints to be very good. I also like the primacolor pencils too. Can you advise me on the mohair?
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1/28/2016 12:25:52 pm
Hi Karen! That's an excellent question. I know you've got a lot of art experience, so I want to encourage you to never fear making mistakes. The doll's I've "messed up" are among the most charming and most loved. Besides, it's all part of the learning process. :)
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Geneva
8/7/2017 08:13:03 pm
Hi Kim, I'm just adding my little bit. You sound very knowledgable and experienced, even though I don't personally know you, but then I'm in the UK and haven't managed any doll shows in three years. I'm surprised that you aren't 'microrooting' what you call the collectors dolls. I find a large hair plug to be very off putting (and the sign of a beginner or someone rushing-never ever rush, tell your customers the doll will likely take longer than you actually believe because they're so excited when it arrives before they're thinking so it's positive from the first instant) Myself and two of my reborning friends were recently discussing rooting versus microrooting, and we all would rather receive a bald doll or one with quality painted hair, that hair which is 'rooted' as opposed to 'microrooted'. I know many reborners don't realise there's a difference between rooting and microrooting and a friend recent bought a ready made doll purely because it was a LE and she hadn't managed to buy one in just kit form. She said it looked alright on the eBay photo 's but if when it came, it was undesirable, then she was going to strip it with acetone and start again to her own style. Thankfully the doll was painted quite nicely and wasn't going to be undergoing an acetone attack, however her dark hair, very thick dark hair wasn't microrooted but looked more like it had been machined in a Chinese factory but by someone either with poor eyesight it with arthritis as it was so uneven. We were appalled, my friend was fuming as it's not so easy to fix as an acetone strip and repaint is to do. So anyway she got to work, firstly inside the dolls head removing glue which was quite a job as fibre fill has been put inside the head before the Mod Podge dried...at this point, the head was on the verge of being launched across her workshop. Jen decided the best way was to take a razor and scalpel and shave off the plugs of hair from the outside, rendering the hair useless for this particular project. Scraping away gently but every few minutes boiling up and her anger was showing as she got rougher. Once it was removed, the scalp damage was evident. I wish I had photographs, I think Jen only took some pix afterwards. As there had been so much hair in each 'follicle', giant holes were left, big enough to put a sharpened pencil in a hole and for the tip to go inside and vanish taking around 3/4 of the exposed unpainted wood of the pencil tip, inside the head. Jen had left the hair on the inside of the scalp where it was. Now ...what to do about the head? She couldn't microroot due to the holes in the head which were unable to hold anything and there was not really a way of getting inside the head amongst the glued fibre fill to hold anything in from the inside. So Jen's idea was to try and fill in the holes working glue into them, but it wasn't going to work properly. Next she found a good idea. Liquid Latex which was in my craft box and is what I use making my fantasy, horror, zombie, gothic ghoulish ooak dolls for making wounds and adding to prosthetics, which my husband who works in the film industry uses and makes bullet holes etc for my dolls. Jen brushed on several layers of liquid latex and they were viscous so held strongly to rebuild the head. It took quite some time and a few swear words from her but in the end, was at a point whereby nothing would make it any better. Deciding what was next wasn't too difficult as the scalp wasn't brilliant so Jen didn't want to microroot after such a chore and didn't want it painted as wasn't smooth enough so looked around her workshop, or should I say her work area and storage units and saw a Kemper Cassidy blonde mohair wig she bought absolutely yonks ago for a doll only to find that blonde didn't suit her skintone and eyes so she was cast aside for a situation like she was in. The baby had meant to be dark brown but the auction pictures had quite well fitting hats except a tiny bit of fringe showing, I wonder why? So the wig was put onto 'Trixie', I don't think she's even attached it yet though, she still feels cautious due to the permanency, or near of with hair put on/in the way it was. So bad bad bad! When all three of us are doing hair on other dolls, as we share a workshop, we have the radio on and we microroot together, one hair at a time and not even having a piece of hair folded in half, we tweezle it through to only one hair is to be poking through the follicle. It gives us plenty of opportunity to give a thin or lusciously thick head of hair depending how closely we put the follicles (holes) with the rooting needle. I simply cannot bring myself to 'root' with clumps but just ensure that every hair is glued in as some can slip through. I'm certain with your interesting website and ace checklists to help people out, that you wouldn't be so daft as to stuff the head fibre filling into moist glue and then stuff the weight in too!!one way in which I like to ensure a head has what look
Geneva
8/7/2017 09:44:27 pm
2) (this is continued as it only posted half of my massive message...I'm just online trying to find the best reborners limb drying rack)
Ardell
2/7/2016 03:30:23 pm
Hello I was just wondering...where would you recommend purchasing the doll kits from?
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2/9/2016 11:37:11 am
Excellent question! There are a lot of great suppliers out there. I just dropped a list of my go-to suppliers on my blog:
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ola
2/12/2017 06:34:44 pm
I would like to paint a AA baby, what colors would I use. my porcelain door is beautiful, so I would like to use air dry paint. thank you.
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2/15/2017 12:47:04 pm
Hi Ola,
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wendy scullion
6/23/2017 02:04:21 pm
Do you need an oven or do you just buy the kit and start painting it
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Jay
6/28/2018 12:42:05 pm
I don't really make reborns but usually if your selling reborns and want them to be realistic you should use an oven
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Melanie
10/16/2017 09:03:08 am
Hi. Do you have a site up yet for a doing reborns if you are just starting out with NOTHING?! This was the only site I found. I want to get started but have NO IDEA where to even begin! I am retired and need to do something to make money. Thank you!
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Bobbie
11/7/2017 03:35:57 pm
Just want to learn don't know where to start
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Ausha Potts
3/13/2021 08:29:40 am
Hello, I know this post was made several years ago but I am now in your previous position. Did you ever find a good starting point to learn how to reborn? I really want to learn and I’m open to any resources you may have used. Thank you!
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kayla
4/23/2018 07:13:15 pm
how much money would it be to make an averge rebornn
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Natalie A Hevrin
6/12/2018 02:15:31 pm
I have question for u can I get a full silicone body baby doll that drink and wet?
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Tasha
11/9/2018 11:12:47 am
Dose my reborn have to look like the kite I got or can I change things around like the skin color and eye color and hair color this is my first time doing this my daughter and my sister asked me to make them one so I want to try and surprise them and make on for them please help me and what is the easys way to do hair they want a baby with lots of hair
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Cindy
7/9/2020 06:00:38 am
Hi my friend has been practicing on a vinyl head with heat paints. She removed the paint with acetone. The paint will now not adhere to the vinyl head and it has gone shiny so she is giving up. Is there something she can put on the head as a base before she paints. I suggested a varnish but don't know which to use. Can you help please she is doing so well.
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Cindy Jansik
9/15/2020 07:17:16 am
Hi Kim - I have been watching your tutorials and thank you for being so generous with the information you are providing. I noticed there are no rings for the arms and legs. Is this something that is not required? I am getting ready to put together my first reborn and ordered a neck ring but I'm not sure whether or not the limbs need the same thing. I do have plugs for all. Also do you root your eyelashes? I am wanting to do that but not sure what is the best type of mohair for that. Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.
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Joules
2/14/2021 12:28:18 am
Hi I’ve just started reborning. Hard work and long hours but I’m amazed how real mine look.My question is I bought my kits from eBay or Amazon for about £36..I’ve noticed that people put a name of the kit.How do I find it.I don’t want to Advertise them on eBay wrongly
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9/12/2021 01:59:30 am
if you press on it and go down to the informaion i think it is there.
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AuthorHi! I am Kim. I've been creating dolls all my life. I started stuffing cotton balls into my mom's pantyhose when I was a little girl. Now I hand-craft dolls that look and feel like real babies. Archives
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