Attaching A Licca Body Tutorial

Dear Jill,

Adalind is beautiful! Congrats!! Lol she looks like she could be a handful!! And well done you for taking Coral out - I wish it was something I felt comfortable doing, but alas, I am a coward. Maybe someday!

Today I have for you the long awaited Licca to CCE body swap tutorial. I had totally forgotten I had the pictures for this, when I was reminded by Meester X on Flickr. Thank you for jogging my memory!

This is a tutorial about attaching a Licca Chan body to a CCE head, but it also works for attaching any body to a head where the neck hole is too big for the actual neck - including Pure Neemo body to Blythe head :)

Firstly...


This is the inside of a CCE dolls head. It's pretty similar to the Basaak/Blybes really - it has the same eye mech and spring. The thing that is very different is the neck hole. As you can see, it is very wide. That is because the neck of the CCE body...


... is also very wide. It's strange - the body is tiny but the neck's massive! Here is it compared with a Basaak/Blybe body...


Note the different neck shapes. If you tried attaching a Basaak/Blybe body, or even a Licca Chan (which has a similar neck to Basaak/Blybes) is will simply fall out of the head. The way round this...


Rubber bands! You just need to keep wrapping the bands around the part of the neck that has the little groove in it. This is how it fits onto the CCE head...


Keep adding bands until you get the sturdyness you want. The fewer bands, the wobblier the head will be. This can be a good thing, if you wanted to pose your dolls with their head slightly tipped.

When all's done, you can reattach the head, and you're done!



Pretty simple really :)

I hope this was of some help!

Sarah
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Blybe Vs CCE

Dear Jill,

Wow, looks like you and Lola had a great time! I'm so glad she's fitting in well! And I like Zooeys dress actually - very pretty colour combo!

Blybes and CCE's. Yep, they do seem to be the most Blythe like of the clones. Here is a comparion picture...


I found there to be a slightly wider nose bridge on the CCE than the Blybe. You can also see a slight difference in the eye shape - the CCE's are more oval. When I took the face apart I found the inner edge of the eye (where your tear ducts are) to be almost pointed.

The CCE also has extra plastic around the mouth - if you look closely you can see the mouth is actually shaped into a smile. I had to sand this away when I customised Lilith, as I didn't want her to be smiling.

The body's are totally different...


NSFW!! XD

The Blybe body is very much like Takara. Blythe clothes and shoes fit perfectly, but there is a stark colour difference. The Blybe is much more pink.

The CCE body is a tiny bit shorted than Takara, but as you can see it is very thin. Blythe clothes fit, but are very baggy. If you were customising a CCE and wanted her to wear Blythe clothes, I would change the body to a Licca Chan or Azone. Plus if you notice the top of the neck - it is completely different to Blybe and Blythe, which are pretty similar. For a Takara/Blybe/Azone/Licca body to fit a CCE head you need to make adjustments (tutorial to follow!)

Other notes:

. Blybe eyechips are a right pain to remove. You will need a Dremmel. And patience.

. Don't bank on Coolcat and Brainworm chips fitting Blybe/CCE. On all occasions I have had to make the eyechip wells bigger with the help of a dremmel.

. The face colour are both very similar, but both are more pink than Takara.

. My CCE's scalp was floppy. It is made of very thin plastic. It's easier to reroot than Blybe, but you will be left with a spongy head.

. There is a big margin from where the bottom of the scalp starts and the hair begins on the Blybe. I got over this by adding an extra row of plugs. You will also need to stick the Blybe scalp and dome down when you're finished - it lifts off very easily.

. Both eye mechs are the same, though the inside of the CCE's head has some extra bits of plastic where the screws hold the plates together. This doesn't get in the way of any customising though :)

In conclusion, I would say that the Blybe is more like a Takara. I have never customised a Blythe, so I am basing this mainly on what the dolls look like. But the difference is minimal, apart from the body, obviously :S

I hope this has helped!

Sarah
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Introducing Lilith

Dear Jill,

I'm so glad Lola arrived at yours safely and that you love her! It's great that she has found such a wonderful home, she's a lucky girl! And Zooey and Corals eyes look fab! What a pretty bunch of girls you have!

I had a new member join our little family last week, here's my custom CCE, Lilith!








She's a CCE on a Licca Chan body, with BrainWorm eyechips. The body didn't quit fit the head socket, so I needed to improvise (tute coming soon). But apart from that she was quite easy going, I would definitely take on a CCE again. On many levels she was alot simpler than the Basaak. The only thing I wasn't keen on was the scalp, which is still to this day very floppy and big. But she has so much hair you can't really tell!

Here's a before and after:


I still have some tutes to post, plus them patterns for Blythe hats that I promised ages ago. Hopefully all this will be done in November :)

Sarah
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Tutorial: Yarn ReRoot

Dear Jill,

Finally, I have my pictures uploaded, so here is my Yarn ReRoot tute!


You will need:
. Yarn - For this method of yarn reroot I like to use quite thick yarn, like Aran weight. You could also use Worsted Weight. I found I could do a whole head reroot with as little as 50g.

. Yarn needle - Should be as thin as you can make it, whilst still being able to slip the yarn through the eye of the needle. And it should be quite sharp so you can make new holes in the scalp.

. Ruler

. Scissors


Decide how long you want the hair, than double it (We will be using the Knot Method, with the knot in the middle). Cut loads of lengths of yarn at this length. I usually make it abit longer than I really need it so I can trim it down later.


Next you need to split the yarn. The aran yarn I use 'splits' into 3 individual lengths of yarn. I think WW split into 4, I'm not too sure...

I do this by teasing the yarn apart at the top of a piece, seperating 1 strand, then whilst holding the other 2 strands, pull the strand downwards. Do it slowly! And don't pull it too hard or it'll break.

It takes a bit of getting used to, but it is do-able :)


Do the same with the strands that are left, so you end up with individual, thin, wavy lengths of yarn.


Continue with the rest of your yarn lengths, until you have a nice pile of strands.


Next: You need to figure out how many strands are going to make up 1 plug. This bit is totally up to you - it all depends on how thick you want the hair. I usually do 2 strands per plug.

Take your 2 strands (or how ever many you are using) and tie a knot in roughly the middle of the length. Thread one end through a yarn needle.

In this picture I have already done the parting, which is where I would start. After the parting I work from the top of the head downwards.

Take the needle and thread it through either an existing hole, or make a new one. You might need to make new holes if you are changing the parting line.

Pull the needle and yarn through the hole until you hit the knot.


Thread the other end of the plug through the needle and repeat, so you end up with 2 plugs for the price of one lol In my case, I used 2 strands of yarn for each plug, and there's 2 plugs, so that makes 4 strands of yarn/hair. Confused?! Lol!

Repeat along the part line and then the rest of the head. I space the plugs quite close to each other, to avoid gaps where you can see the scalp. It is quite time consuming - my first yarn reroot took a week. But with practice you can cut the time right down - I got my latest done in 2 days hehe!


Plat sections of the hair as you go, to avoid getting it all tangled up.

When you have completed the whole scalp, you need to un-plat it and thatch the parting.


Your end result!

I cut Liliths hair into a bob - it's very thick! It is great if you leave it long too - you can do all sorts of styles with it :)


I hope this was useful! :D

Sarah
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Lillith and a Spaceman Suit

Dear Jill,

Wow, that is one cool Blythe! You're right - it's so me!! I took a good look at that shop too and they do some amazing items. I love the little ties, and the Smiling Spaceman Suit looks like Vince Noir's Mirror Ball Suit from The Mighty Boosh!!


I MUST OWN ONE OF THEM!!!

And I can't get over how great Coral looks!! Those chips really suit her - especially the yellow ones! Yay!!

In other news, I have started a new girl! I know, I know...

This time she is going to be just for me, and her name is Lilith. Here she is emerging from her box...


She has a bit of a story - I bought her back in August from the fab Ninabella9 on Ebay. I thought I was purchasing 3 Basaak Blybe dolls, but when I examined them all I found one, Lilith, was different. You might be able to see in the picture that her face is ever so slightly different, and her body is alot thinner. I wouldn't mind but Blythe clothes come up massive on her. Hmmm...

I later found out that I had actually bought 2 Basaak Blybes and a CCE doll. It was totally my fault - I didn't read the listing properly. Ninabella9 was nice enough to offer me a full refund, and I was all ready to send her back when I suddenly felt sorry for her! It's like she was the odd one out that no one loved. Poor thing! So I decided at the last minute to keep her :)

I also thought that it would be nice to make some photo tutorials of the different customising stages as I make Lilith over. So that's what I'll be doing! The first will be How To Do A Yarn Reroot. Coming soon!

Sarah
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