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You will need a section
of viscose fibre in your
choice of colors..
Start by dividing your
hank of hair in two fairly
even strands.
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The first step is to
comb out the "junk"
from one strand.
Very firmly grasp the
end of the strand with
one hand, and comb thru
the hair with the other
hand. You have to
hold on tight to one end,
or you will pull out ALL
of the hair instead of
just the short wiry pieces
that we are trying to
remove.; Notice
the big ball of junk that
has been combed out?
That's from just one stroke
with the comb. Comb thru
several times till the
hair is smooth and shiny
looking.
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Pull off a tiny strand
from your just combed
length of hair.
It is really hard to describe
how small this strand
is. If you held it clumped
tightly together, it would
probably be as big around
as a piece of rug yarn.
No bigger.
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Dip the strand
of hair into your bowl of
water. I usually hold one
end of the hair in each
hand and dip and remove,
but that doesn't leave any
hands left to operate the
camera.....
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Pull the strand out of
the water and hold one
end against the curling
rod and begin winding
the hair around the rod.
Your curling rods can
be small double ended
knitting needles, like
mine, or you can use pieces
of piano wire, or straightened
paper clips, or pieces
of coat hanger wire...you
just want the surface
of the rod to be smooth
and something that will
not rust when it gets
wet.
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Wrap the strand completely
around the rod from one
end of the hair to the
other. When I do
the wrapping, I actually
hold the strand against
my fingers as shown in
the photo above, and turn
the rod, not the hair,
positioning the hair flat
and evenly against the
rod as it is turned.
This makes for a flatter,
less spiral looking curl.
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Here are several
rods with hair all wrapped
and ready to go. Notice
that i have a couple of
rods that are considerably
thinner, these little curls
will be used for bangs.
You can use a corsage pin
to wind the tiny curls around,
as it is about the right
thickness for tiny curls.
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I prop my
rods in a disposable pie
tin. Place the curls
in a 150 degree oven for
20 minutes to dry and set
the curls. Don't over
cook. After 20 minutes,
feel the curls, if they
are still damp, put them
back in the oven for a few
more minutes. They
need to be completely dry
before removing from the
rods, or you will loose
your lovely curl. |
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Here is a
pile of curls just removed
from the rods. Set
them aside for now. |
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Doing hair
is just plain messy.
No getting around it.
And I hate picking viscose
strands from my lovely laces
for weeks afterwards....
So take a plastic sandwich
bag and cut off the corner,
making an opening just
big enough to push the
head thru. Put the doll
in the bag, with head
poking out thru the hole.
This will protect your
clothing while you work
her hair.
Note: I always save the
wigging for AFTER I have
finished all of the costuming,
If you do the wig first,
it may end up as a frizzy
mess by the time you are
finished fitting all of
the clothing.
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Here is a
piece of hair measuring
2" in length and 1/2"
wide after combing out. |
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Apply glue
to the back of the head,
beginning at the center
top of the head and down
the center section of the
back of the head as shown. |
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Place the
strand of hair into the
glue and press down firmly.
The glue should NOT seep
thru the hair. Use
the thickest tacky glue
you have available when
making your wig. I
prefer designer tacky glue.
When the hair is well
anchored to the head,
trim off to above the
neck as shown.
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Here is another
strand of hair, 2"
long and 3/4" wide.
We are going to make a center
part in this piece of hair.
Actually, we are going to
make one half of a center
part...
Hold the hair taut between
your fingers as shown.
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In the center
of the strand, apply a coating
of thick glue, and spread
evenly across as shown. |
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Place a straight
pin across the strand, in
the glued area as shown. |
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Carefully
fold the strand in half,
with the straight pin in
the center, pulling taut
against the pin as you fold
over. |
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Trim away
any fuzzy hair that pops
up from the folded edge
of the hair. Allow
this to dry for just a couple
of minutes, then gently
pull the straight pin out
of the hair while grasping
tightly as shown. Grasp
the hair as closely to the
pin as possible before removing
the pin. |
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Repeat so
that you have two folded
sections of hair, one for
each side of the center
part. |
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Find the center
part line on your doll and
apply glue on that line,
and over one side of the
doll's head, extending all
the way back to the edge
of the existing strand of
hair that was applied in
the back. |
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Place one
of your folded sections
into the glue and press
down firmly. Be sure
to make sure that your folded
edge of the strand is exactly
where you want your center
part to be. |
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At the back,
where this new strand and
the existing strand meet,
comb thru gently with a
straight pin to blend the
two pieces of hair together
smoothly. |
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Trim off the
new strand of hair just
above the jawline.
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Apply a small
amount of glue to the lower
1/4" of the hair and
press down firmly.
You want the hair to lay
flat, and form a base on
which to apply your curls.
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Repeat the
previous steps for the remaining
half of the head, applying
the remaining section of
folded hair to the opposite
front. |
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See how lovely
the center part looks?? |
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When the hair
has been glued down around
the bottom edges, you can
trim it to just above the
jaw line all the way around
as shown. |
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Cut off the
little scraggly ends of
each curl. Don't throw
them out, they are great
for soft tendrils or curls
on a baby doll.....
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We will use
curls approx 1 1/2"
long. You can make them
shorter if desired, by trimming
after they have been applied.
For now, just cut all of
your curls to the same length. |
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Curls all
ready. Note that they
are all about the same size
around. This is from
using the same size rod
on all of them, but also
as important, is to use
strands of hair that are
as close in thickness as
possible when wrapping your
curls. If you use
a thicker strand, it will
result in a much fatter
curl..... A matched
set is always nice.
A dozen curls should be
plenty for this doll. |
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Apply glue
to the upper 1/2" of
one curl. When putting
on the glue, turn the curl
till you find the side where
the cut end is, and put
the glue on that side of
the curl so that the cut
end will be anchored. |
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Place the
first curl on the side of
the doll's face. It
is very difficult
to see the curl on top of
matching hair, so I have
drawn a line here to show
you the level of the top
of the curl. |
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Apply glue
to another curl and place
on head, right next to the
first. Keep the tops
of the curls level around
the head. |
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No, your eyes
are not blurry... Sorry!!!
This shows the back
of the head with curls
lined up across in a straight
row. Continue gluing curls
till you get all the way
around to the other side
of the face.
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You can stop
here if you wish, as her
hair is very lovely just
as it is. The part
is nice, and the top hair
is very smooth and even. |
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If you want
to add curly bangs, take
one of your smaller curls,
(one that was made on a
small rod or corsage pin)
and cut it into 1/8"
lengths as shown. |
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Apply glue
over the face as shown. |
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Pick up the
tiny curls using pointed
tweezers. Try to grab
the little curls in the
center of the length of
hair and press firmly down
into the glue. Do
not try to place the curls
all lined up straight in
a row. Have them positioned
at different angles and
pointing different directions.
It will look much softer
and more natural.
Let these curls dry well,
then take a small straight
pin and gently comb out
and pick out a few of the
curls to soften |
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Here is my
finished wig. |
