How to root fur - reborn Chihuahua - Complete UPDATED

I have found this kit on eBay of a sphynx cat and I want to try and make it into a Chihuahua as the shape is pretty much there. Only thing is I’ve never rooted a reborn, only doll reroots on Barbie type. Would rooting like that work but with mohair
instead of nylon hair ? If not, how exactly do you root fur all over? The kit is silicone vinyl, I’d like to make it realistically fluffy all over apart from paw pads and nose.

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There is no such thing as silicone vinyl. The kit you have seen is an illegal copy.
There is a real sphinx cat kit coming out. It has been hand sculpted by Jade Warner and is vinyl. To root vinyl you use mohair and root the hair one at a time u till the entire thing is covered. When I did the marbles cat kit it took me so long to get it thick enough like a cats.

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this is one of the cats I made. I rooted the limbs and head and used faux fur to make a body. You get rooting needles and tools to hold them to make it easier to root. It takes hours and hours and I’m not sure I would try it as a first go at rooting a reborn kit because it is not easy. Maybe buy a test head first and get the hang of rooting the hairs one at a time first.

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Thank you for that, your cat looks amazing! I think rooting one hair at a time is beyond both my capabilities and patience, it’ll take forever to fully cover it! Can you tell me if you can root soft vinyl using a doll needle and knot method that Barbies, AmericanGirl, Madame Alexander etc are re-rooted by? I know it’s not as tidy as micro rooting, but I don’t want fine baby hair, I want a long haired fluffy puppy :blush: .

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I suppose you could, but when rerooting there are already holes there. In a vinyl kit there aren’t. You’d have to drill holes or something.
I think if you want more hair in it’s easier to root from the middle of the mohair bundle and get a needle that can get more hair in at once.

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You could root hair more than one at a time. Just go for a larger needle and it should pick up more than one hair.
I do not know about doll needles and knot method sorry.

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Knot method is just a small plug of hair pulled through the holes already in the head, tie a knot in the end and pull the strands of hair back so the knot stops it pulling right back out. I thought if the vinyl is soft enough it wouldn’t need holes as the needle will make a hole to pull the hair through.

I don’t know much about rooting needles, what sort of size should be I be looking for to root a lot of hair at a time?

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Oh there are so many, type into the spy glass rooting needles and all the posts covering them should come up.

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@Leabelle recently rooted a really nice cat maybe she can tell you what she did :slight_smile:

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It takes a lot of work, a lot of mohair, a lot of needles, a lot of patience…
Few hairs at a time with a 40g or 42g 3 barbs needles. Some parts of the vinyl are harder to root, near the nose, the eyes and the end of limbs. Really not easy for a beginner but faisable.

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Here are a couple of videos for you. I use the root a loop method, kind of.


This one is even better for rooting fur!

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I would contact Donna Martin she did the puss in boots that was in the contests at ROSE. Her technique might suit you better for what you need

Thank you for replies. After watching those videos I’ve realized that rooting that way is far too advanced for me, I really don’t know what I’m doing with it and attempting to cover a whole dog when I’ve never even held a rooting needle is way too much.

I’ve gotten a reborn already that is soft vinyl and I reckon it’s possible to push/pull an ordinary doll needle through it and root in yarn/wool that I do Barbie reroots with (and am familiar with the methods of). The kit I saw was advertised as very soft and at under $20 I thought I may as well try it.

Yes I know the kit is not an authentic one, but the real one looks too much like a cat and I’m not going to sell it anyone. It 's just an experiment I want to try for myself.

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I’ve been thinking on this project and I’m wondering what can I use to colour the nose and paw pads? I can’t use heat set paints as I’ve no way of heating them for a one off, so I’m thinking air dry? Never used them but as I’d only need plain black, can I just brush it on and leave to dry a few hours like normal paint? Alternative is a “bleed-free micro eyebrow pen” I’ve found, would that work? I’m guessing a standard Sharpie won’t adhere to vinyl?

You can use craft air dry. You may need black, red, brown and maybe white. Noses are blacks but if you have a open mouth dark red is great. Paws pads can be dark brown and black.

Can you mix the air dry paints? Like maybe black and brown so it’s got more tone than one solid color? And do you have to deal them once painted on or will it stick permanently by itself?

You can mixes colors as you want !
Yes you have to seal and varnish.

How and what should I use to seal and varnish the paint? Apply it it, leave it to dry and then what? Is there any reason not to use ordinary acrylic paint?

Sorry for so many questions but this is really new, I’m not used to painting vinyl at all.

You have to varnish acrylic paint. You can use any Deco art or Americana or any craft varnish, depend on the finish you want.
Just apply with a bush and let it dry. 2-3coats.