Adding Realistic Weight to Your Doll by S. Sullivan
First I want to discuss the various materials people use to add weight to their reborn/newborn dolls. It is NEVER acceptable to use biodegradable materials or foodstuffs (corn, dried peas or beans, uncooked rice, buckwheat kernels, sawdust, cat litter, etc) to weight your dolls. If it can rot, or become food for insects, or break down in any way, do not use it.
Only use inert, non-biodegradable materials such as: clean dry sand, glass pellets or beads, plastic pellets and beads. Some people are using steel shot, but I don’t agree with that. I suspect that any steel product could eventually rust in a humid climate and for that reason – because you don’t know where your doll may end up “living” – I don’t think that’s a wise choice.
Personally, I use only glass beads (2 different sizes) or plastic pellets. I used to use clean, sterilized children’s playsand but because some countries will not allow sand-filled items across their borders, I stopped using it.
I’ve seen and used several different types of plastic pellets. I have some concerns about the crystal-looking plastic pellets (far right view). I’ve seen them break down into a sand-like substance. I’m also wary about them having rather sharp edges. They are ok in a pinch, but I wouldn’t use them if I had something else to use instead.
The soft rounded plastic “lentil” type beads (center view) are not very dense or heavy, but they have been used for years by doll manufacturers and are proven safe.
“Baby Fat pellets” are actually a product called thermoplastic elastomer. They are very soft and squishy. They can only be used encased inside a fabric bag and used inside the cloth body slip. NEVER use them directly inside the vinyl limbs of a doll, and especially never, ever inside the limbs or head of a “silicone vinyl” doll. The material reacts badly with those vinyls and begins to degrade and weep an oily substance. The resulting mess can destroy a doll or it’s clothing. Not to mention your reputation as a dollmaker….
I still use them on occasion. They are perfectly safe when you encase them in a nylon knee-high and use to weight the torso only such as I demonstrate below.
I prefer glass beads/pellets. I have two sources. The smaller ones on the left, I get from a distributor of sandblasting materials. They are almost but not quite as fine as sand. They are actually tiny rounded beads, not sharp little splinters of glass. I get the largest size I can from that seller, which is #5. This size will sift right through the kneehighs, so if I want to use them in the head, I put them inside a double ziplock bag. I use them inside the limbs also, and seal them tightly, as you will see in the photo demonstration below.
On the right you see the poppyseed sized beads which I get from an online reborn supply vendor. These will not sift through the kneehighs that I use so I use them in the body only. Both materials add a really good amount of weight for volume.
Ok, now let me show you how it’s done.
I’m using the smaller #5 beads here. I’ve switched to using plastic ziplock bags because I found that the smaller beads can still sift out of the kneehighs if you press on them. But, you can use them if you want, I know many reborners do.
I love cheap knee-high stockings! Whenever I find a good sale, I buy lots of them!
I use a mug to hold the opening of the knee-high open. I pour the beads into the knee-high..
Remove from the mug
Tie a small knot just a little way above the beads (don’t pack them in there really tight), and then fold the rest of the knee-high back over the pellets, forming a double layer. You really need the double layer to hold the smaller beads inside!
Tie another knot to finish the bag ~ Finished weight bag for use in the head
Insert the finished weight bag into the neck opening
Pack in a lot of polyfill so that the weight bag doesn’t shake around.
The head should not make any noise when you shake it!
I save all the nice, thin white cardboard I find inside baby clothing and other places, for use in sealing my heads and limbs. Just cut a circle out, trim to fit and glue in place with a strong,quick drying very thick, non-drippy glue like E6000.
It should be allowed to dry for at least 24 hours.
Now I’m going to use the larger beads (poppyseed size) to fill a body weighting bag. Basically the same steps as before.
Fill the knee-high with a pound or two of beads, and knot Fold over and tie the second knot
I use about 2 lbs of beads inside the body,but it’s entirely up to you. Finished
I make sure there is a small pad of polyfill pushed down into the tushy area first…then
Insert the bag through the neck opening of the cloth body slip
Make sure it’s snuggled down into the lower part of the body
Now work small flat pieces of polyfill around the bag to hold it in place and give the cloth body some softness, but don’t stuff it too tightly. The softer you stuff it, the more the finished “baby” can bend at the waist and be cuddly to hold.
Finished!
Time to do the limbs:
Fill each of the limbs with the beads (I use the smaller beads for limbs)
Don’t fill it to the top, leave about an inch or so
Stuff the top very tightly with a plug of polyfill. The polyfill should be just below the rim of vinyl,not sticking out over the top edges.
Cut one disk for each limb.
Check the size of each disk to make sure it fits Apply E6000 glue around the vinyl rim
Apply the disks and press down Allow to dry for at least 24 hours
Now you may assemble your doll!