Newborning - the art of beautiful baby dolls

Welcome to Realistic Reborn Dolls

As you browse through our pages of incredible dolls created through newborning or reborning, you may find yourself having to do double-takes, to see if the doll in the picture really might be a real baby. This is the art of newborning or reborning. I'm going to explain the differences between the two terms as they are both rather unique if you're not familiar with the art and it's terminology.

What is Reborning?

Reborning a doll is the term used when you use a factory doll such as a Berenguer. These dolls can be found easily at toy stores and WalMarts and have very lifelike faces and hands and feet. They were commonly used when the art first got started. However, because they are factory made, they have molded and painted hair lines, painted faces and hands and feet. When properly reborned they make incredibly lifelike dolls and have some of the most adorable faces and expressions. They take more time to do because you need to dismantle the doll, remove all of the factory paint and blushing, sand off the molded hairlines and wash everything before you even begin. The heads are also made of very hard vinyl, so it takes heating the head, an incredible amount of patience and strong needles if you wish to do micro-rooted hair.

What is Newborning then?

Newborning is an artform, from start to finish. It involves using a very detailed, lifelike doll sculpt to create your doll, rather than taking apart an existing doll. Sculptors have made more and more lifelike molds for reborners to use that are produced into vinyl doll kits by various companies from around the world. Secrist dolls coined the term 'newborning' I believe, but generally reborning is still the accepted term whether a kit or a doll is used in the process. Berenguer Dolls has even started selling some reborn doll kits of their popular "La Baby" line of face molds now due to the popularity of the art.

A reborn doll kit usually consists of a head and limbs, although some also come with tummy or tushie plates. Usually though, a doe suede body slip is used in order to give the doll a softer more cuddly feel. The vinyl used is soft and flexible, allowing for easier movement and a more realistic feel to the doll. Doll kits come in different shades of vinyl ranging from pink to orange to ethnic allowing for a lot of diversity in the doll making. There are also limb options, some doll kits have full length arms and legs, some have 3/4 limbs and others 1/4 or a mix of both.

For the reborn doll artist, newborning allows you to start with a completely blank canvas to paint. You can also mix and match favorite heads with differnt limbs to create your perfect reborn doll. It saves you having to undo anything as the kit is just that, a kit. No eyes, no hair and no color. They do look a little odd when not completed but watching them come to life as you work is what makes this art so fascinating.