Wig Quest

Didn't think I was done going on the quest for making the perfect wig, did ya?

Okay, not really 'perfect'. Perfection is an idea I rightfully murdered long ago. The best for my ideals is plenty, but I digress.

Came up with this:

Well, these. The first came out taller than I wanted and a little shabby at the part. I've since hot glued the part a bit more flush, but she's going end up with some sort of crown to cover the mess. As for the redhead, it did turn out beautifully, but I originally intended it to just be bangs and a ponytail. The seams were too visible so I ended up laying braids over the spot I didn't like. Turned out very well, even if it wasn't what I set out for.

What's next? Well, I said 'quest', so that's not all I had in mind.

I bought some pre sewn wig caps to sew wefts. I've seen some interesting tutorials on blanket stitching wefts and using a hand sewing machine, so naturally, I ordered what I need for both to try at a later date. AliExpress can be slow but it's worth it to buy crafts there. Amazon overcharges and I'm just not a brick and mortar shopper.

Resting for the remainder of the day since I work the next couple of days but more projects to come!

Wig Sadomasochism

So I finished one wild woman's wig...

Though it's longer than the source pic, the color and style are absolutely perfect, so I'm thrilled it turned out so well.

But it didn't end there...

Oh no.

Because I wasn't done punishing synthetic hair wefts while being beaten by glue. So I started another. This time, I have sewn the first row underneath and around. Many finger stabs. Then I coated the top with silicone and spun the hair wefts onto the silicone like a pottery wheel.

I have no actual clue how it will turn out. Once it dries, I'm poking a hole in the leftover space, jamming hair through to iron down and cover the remaining wefts, and beseeching the universe to reward my insanity. Will it work?

Pics or it didn't happen! Stay tuned!

Glue, Yarn, and Madness

Crafting!

Fucking crafting...

I love it, all trials be damned, because successes are as big as the obstacles. Today, I did exactly what I hoped to do.

Sort of.

I started by making a wig cap for the new 1/4 girl I don't really have plans for yet. No sweat, just the usual glue and power mesh.

Then came Rienna's wig.

I love/hate it. Insofar, I've yet to find a glue that doesn't piss me off for wefting but sewing wouldn't exactly be easy either. With the tacky glue, ugh, it just never wants to hold right away so I've taken to just squirting a bunch of glue down, waiting about a half hour for it to firm a bit then sticking the hair on, just so I'm not playing weft chicken as they try to slither away from the wet glue. E6000 was not better. I've yet to figure out how to keep that bitch from oozing away when not in use. I managed, over the course of the day, to get the wefts on until the hair's off-center part so I'm leaving it to dry and I'll tackle it again tomorrow after work.

Crochet... What. The hell. Did I do. With the rest of the polyfill? I'll have to buy some more anyway, but I once again hid it from myself so I've yet to finish the cupcake. So on to the Ezio plushie. Wonderful world of flying by the seat of my pants. Masochist... I crocheted eyelash yarn into a crocheted head to make facial hair. Looks fantastic, total pain in the ass. Then I started sculpting the neck, body and an arm. Again, looking great, but yarn sculpting is one of those things where you kind of hold your breath and hope you don't fuck up. I haven't, so far, and I can undo mistakes, but that doesn't make it less precarious.

So yes, productive day, and hoping for more of those this week. Writing? Drawing? Who knows? I rather like this thing I do where I'm just working on what I'm in the mood for. And there's always something. ADHD is a mental playground. Mixed with talent, it's a whole carnival. Or circus. Either way, it's a wild ride full of imagination, anxiety and victory. I'll run with it.

Making a BJD Wig Part 3

Forgive my lackluster picture taking skill on this gloomy day, but let's start with where I ended up on the last wig...

As you can see, there's still some work to do to finish the braids and style, but it did hold together. I ended up hot-gluing the braids but tacky glue would have driven me up a wall...

But enough about that one!

I've started doing the first of the big ones. This time around, I'm actually sewing in the first row on the underside of the cap. This will make it so if the hair is gathered, there won't be any visible hair around the cap edges.

So for this one you need:

• Sharp scissors
• Synthetic wefts
• Saran wrap
• Clover Black and Gold needles
• Thread (go with either white or one to match the hair)
• Glue (tacky or hot glue or whatever you prefer)
• Rubber bands
• Wig cap

This is assuming you have a wig cap made from before. I'm using the harder tacky glue one I made since it's much easier to pierce a needle through it.

I specified Clover Black and Gold needles for a reason. These tiny evil samurai swords will pierce through anything. And yes, they slip through skin like it's made of Jello so be careful.

Cut the first weft the length of the bottom neck base to start.

You don't have to be a seamstress and no one is going to see these stitches so just line the weft up, about 1\8 from the bottom on the underside and do a running stitch into the area between the two stitches anchoring the hairs in the weft. Running is a simple through the front to back, back to front stitch.

Now because I'm doing an off center part, I'm going to use a diagram to show how i mapped the head for this one. The hair will be glued on accordingly, but I think I'm going to go for the E6000 on this one. I didn't mention it before but it's an industrial glue that I'm familiar with so I know how it works out. What makes it a favorite is that it's a quick grip but a slow cure. So it holds on contact but you can nudge things around. It doesn't fully cure for 24 hours, but it does hold tight about an hour or less after setting. It's a bit messy, like hot glue, but you can touch it and it does wipe right off of skin. You can always opt to use a paint brush or wooden stick to smear it on like tacky glue though.

I'm going to have to treat you to yet another of my diagrams to kind of explain how the off-center wig will work.

It's very similar to the braid wig at first, just laying down rows of wefts until you reach the crown. On the crown, you'll have made a cut line, which I wouldn't bother actually cutting until the bottom hair is dry and you can lift the wig off of the head/stand again. Go ahead and lay out vertical rows that radiate away from the cut line, but leave about a 1/8" edge away from it. Once those are dry, go ahead and lift the wig from the base and carefully make the cut.

You're actually going to lay the next wefts with the sewn edge on the inside with the hair radiating outside the wig. Hot glue might be a bit too puffy, but if you want the quick glue, you can go for it, just carefully smear it down with a wooden stick. When you're ready to seal it back, the best solution is to use a piece of power mesh made the same way as the wig, one large enough to cover the hair and affix to the underside of the wig there and glue it in securely to hold the part together.

Since this is just a play by play that I haven't finished yet, there isn't a picture to go with it (yet), but I'll be back once that's done to say how it went. I'm nervous because I've actually got to cut/style this one, since the hair I'm going for is short and wavy, but I'll study up on that before I take the plunge.

I hope you found this helpful! Stay tuned for pics and possibly a start on the next wig, which will involve a ponytail and bangs.

Making BJD Wigs Part 1.5?

While digging through some craft bins, I came across what was left of some GE Clear Silicone Sealant and some cheap nylon wig caps so I'm running some more experiments. I used one of my smaller, much cheaper heads to lay out some of the sealant on power mesh. Not only did it only take a few hours to dry completely, but it peeled right off of the Saran Wrap and doesn't slide around on the head. However it is stretchy, which may or may not be ideal for all styles and I don't know if other glue will adhere to silicone. The package makes it clear that you can't paint on the sealant. It may be possible to use more of the sealant to weft hair, but it's very thick and could get messy. Silicone tends to only adhere to other silicone, if that, but more experiments to come...

Currently waiting for the nylon stocking/silicone one to dry to see how it holds up with material even thinner than power mesh. Even if these don't work well for working with wefts, they look like they might be a cheap fix for non-skid caps under the wig anyway.

This isn't a formal addition to the tutorials, just some brain-picking thoughts since it's always good to look for alternatives that can be used for a multitude of projects. 

That being said, the power mesh/tacky glue ones turned out great. I slipped a silicone cap onto the head and the wig cap I made was able to fit on snugly over that. Which looks like it would be the best solution for a heavier updo wig since it doesn't slide around easily once settled on. Next up will be some wefting tests on the silicone, see if we can get it to cooperate as a wig or not.