Reborn Supplies Incorporated - How to Root Hair

Reborn Supplies Incorporated Reborning Tutorial Copyrighted 2005 Reborn Supplies Inc. All Rights Reserved. - This tutorial is free of charge for view and printing for personal use only. The unauthorized reprinting or copying of this tutorial for monetary gain is in violation of domestic and international copyright laws. "How To" Step by Step on Rooting Hair Make your very own One of a kind OOAK (One Of A Kind) Reborn Berenguer Doll No two babies are ever alike. These reborn instructions show how to root hair into your reborn doll's head. Rooting hair can be tedious but is often worth it when your doll is finished. If you are selling your reborns, it will be worth more money to have rooted hair verses dolls with wigs.

Step 1: Cutting ties		Cut the head of your reborn off of its cloth body with a pair of cable tie cutters or a precision utility knife (mind your fingers!)

Step 2: Removing the head		Pull the plastic thing out of the neck and discard it or keep it if pointy plastic things are your fancy. But you won't need it for your reborn.

Step 3: Warming the head		Warm the head under a lamp of some sort. You can nuke your head in the microwave for a few seconds as well, or throw it in the dryer, or sit in direct sunlight to root, but who wants to do that every 5 minutes? The easiest way is to stick it under a lamp. Any lamp will do, but the flexible neck lamps are the best. Depending on how hot your lamp is, you should heat the head somewhere between 30 seconds and 3 minutes, with the head about 2 inches from the bulb. Don't leave the head under the light too long, because it will start to smoke and eventually burn a big black hole in the head (yes, I've done it many a time!) But usually you can save it. Just watch it the first few times until you get a feel for how long it takes.

Step 4: Measuring the mohair		Take your strip of straight or wavy mohair and cut a piece off one end of it. You want the strip of hair to be twice as long as the finished product. When you root hair, the hair gets bent in half. So if you want your baby's hair to be 1.5" long, then cut a 3" section of hair.

Step 5: Getting ready		Take your 36 or 38 gauge felting needle for rooting. If you don't have a fancy tool to hold it in, don't worry! I never use anything but a trusty rubber band to hold my felting needles. Wrap the top part of the needle with 1-5 generic rubber bands (thick ones are good) so that you have something to grip when you root. Wrap it around the needle as if you were putting your hair into a ponytail.
Step 5: Getting ready		When it looks something like this, you're ready to begin rooting!

Step 6: Splitting hairs		Separate your cut strip of straight or wavy mohair into two sections. This mohair has a distinct splitting point, so it's easy to know where you should split it. You can leave it intact, but chances are you will waste less hair if you divide it up.

Step 7: Holding your hair		Pinch the strip of mohair between your index and middle fingers of your left hand (assuming you are right-handed) or in your right hand if you are left-handed.

Step 8: Positioning		Lay the strip of hair down flat onto the head somewhere towards the base of the hairline. The middle of the strip of hair is where the roots will be, and the bottom of the strip of hair is where the hair will end. I like to make the hair hang down low onto the face, but you don't have to. A good point of reference is the hairline that is already on the doll. Place the middle of the strip of hair directly over the edge of the doll's hairline. Hold the bottom part of the strip of hair down with your thumb.

Step 9: Using the needle		Place your needle in the center of the hair strip and press it into the vinyl until it stops. You've just rooted a hair! If you were to pull away your strip of hair you would see it, but I would wait until you've made a few more pokes before you survey your work. You will want to keep poking, generally in that area. It is recommended that you hold your needle at an upward angle (point the needle towards the top of the head) so that the hairs will lie flat. If you hold your needle at a straight angle perpendicular to the head, the hairs will stick straight out and you will have a time trying to get them to lie flat again.

Step 10: Poke!!		Poke poke poke! I usually make about 30-50 pokes in one spot before moving on. This is up to you, of course. Remember to poke only where you want the hairs to be rooted. See how in the photo above, the poke-holes follow the natural hairline of the doll. If you mess up and root too low on the head, you can always yank the hairs out and start over. You can poke wherever you want, but if you poke holes too far apart, you'll never get enough coverage of hair. I usually make 30-50 pokes in a 1 inch strip across the piece of hair I'm holding.

Step 11: Proper release		Release your thumb off the head and pinch the top of the strip of hair even tighter. Then pull the strip of hair towards you and down, so that the hair will lie flat. Pull the strip of hair all the way off (don't let go of it pinched between your fingers) and survey your handy work.

Step 12: Checking your work		You should see something like this (above) but don't worry if yours doesn't look like this. The roots don't always take holes and you may end up with 20 rooted hairs and 20 holes. But don't worry, because you can just lay the strip of hair down again and root it again if it isn't enough.

Step 13: Re-Warm		Warm your head under the lamp again in a new spot. It doesn't matter where you start or in which direction you root, as long as you are working in towards the crown and not away from it. If you start at the crown and work out, you will end up re-rooting hairs that have already been rooted, and you will get a sporadic mess of hair. So work from the base of the hairline in towards the crown.

Step 14: Taking the time		Lay the hair down in a new spot, either next to the old rooted part, or on top of it. It's okay if you overlap--there's lots of room for error in hair rooting.
		Here is what it should look like after you have rooted two or more sections. If you have rooted any parts too thick, you can pull out some of the hairs with your fingers to thin it out. Or if you are good at styling hair, you can use thinning shears.
		After four or five rounds of rooting, your strip of hair will start to get ragged, with lots of split ends and knots. It is very normal to end up throwing away as much hair as you actually root, so don't worry. It usually takes about an ounce of hair to root one head, even when you factor in the wasted hair.
		Here is one row of rooted hair around the front of the doll's face. Don't worry if yours looks different. You can do whatever you like as far as creating a hairline. Sometimes it's fun to create a widow's peak in the front by rooting in a small V, and sometimes it's fun to make a straight hairline. You can experiment. If you don't like it, pull out the part you don't like and start over.

Step 15: Proper placement		Lay a new strip of hair down on top of the old layer. Notice where the hairs end on your strip of hair, because that's where the rooted hairs will end as well.

Step 16: Proper placement (back of head)		Root a layer around the back just like you did the front. Be careful not to root hairs in the doll's ears. It's supposed to be a baby, after all, not an old man! And don't worry if the hairline is crooked--it's only going to get covered up by more hair on top of it.

Step 17: Finishing up!		Root more and more spots, one layer on top of another, always working towards the crown. Pay attention to he grooves in the head so you know which direction to hold your needle to get the most realistic look.
		View from above, looking at the top of the unfinished head.
		Continue rooting towards the crown until you fill the head completely. If you like, root some shorter hairs directly onto the crown to give that baby spiked look. Your finished head should look something like the photo to the right.
		Top of head should look something like this when you are all finished.
		Side view of finished head,
		When you are finished you can make the hair lie flatter by wetting it and then covering the head with a nylon stocking. The nylon will hold the hair down while it dries. You can also smear some glue on the inside of the head where the roots stick through. This will secure the rooted hair to the head as well, but it's not absolutely necessary.