Wigs Hand-made Wigs

The wig tutorial of Lidiya Snul/BJtales on Flickr is really helpful. No text, photos only, but it's not hard to understand what she's doing if you take a good look. Thanks to Lidiya's tutorial I've got lots of great-looking homemade wefts (I'll use them as soon as my doll arrives). And the best part: you can use different kinds of wool instead of fur. Natural, beautiful, cheap and no animals are harmed.

 

Wigs are my current crafting addiction Sadly I don't have much time ... these are my latest:


The short wig is brushed-out yarn and liquid latex, the long one is wefted suri alpaca sewn to a crocheted cap.
('scuse the crappy quality, my ancient camera doesn't fancy artificial light. )

 

I love making wigs for my dolls. I'm far from being any good at it but it gives me the chance to give my dolls custom hair that isn't as
thick and/or puffy as most doll wigs tend to be. I have learned a lot from making the few wigs I've made so far, I still have a long
way to go but I am at least comfortable making my own wefts now. I only work with synthetic fibers (I'm vegan and a bit iffy about human hair).


These are a few of the wigs I've made thus far for my on topic dolls, from newest to oldest:

I don't have a good photo of the back but it's ankle length, I tried adding a soft widow's peak; the bangs are terrible!



This is a larger version of the one above. The bangs are a pain in the gut, I've restyled them so many times and I still can't get them right.









The first wig I tried adding darker roots to, he's the only character that needs it so I haven't tried again on another "BJD" wig.



My second wig ever and my first and only attempt at anime hair; at least it doesn't look as horrible as it did when I first made it. DX





Very nice looking wigs Jany! Brushed out yarn is such a great inexpensive resource for doll wigs, I think. (:


- Enzyme ^ ^

 

Great wigs. Can you please tell me how you managed to get darker roots? It looks very natural and I didn't expect you could somehow paint synthetic fibers...

 

Thank you Taysikuu. I've learned that synthetic hair is hard to dye but it can be easily stained (if it is light enough)!
I used a mixture of acrylics, mostly black and a lot of red and a little help from a brown permanent marker.
I first applied the acrylics, washed them out, let the hair dry and repeated as needed; it took many tries to make
the hair dark enough. Lastly for added depth I applied a tiny bit of the maker using a cotton swab
dipped in alcohol after it had been coated in a bit of the maker. Then used a clean cotton swab with more alcohol
to soften the edge of the roots to create a gradient effect. I was scared of the marker staining but I wanted the roots
to be a little darker/richer so I used just a tiny bit. The color doesn't bleed or come off, so I'm happy with the results and my doll isn't stained. I hope it helps. (:


- Enzyme

 

Wow, very recourceful. Enzyme, thanks a lot.

 

I make fur wigs all the time...I learned how a few years ago and kind of went cray. I don't sell them though, I just make them for my dolls.

This green/purple one was the first one I made. I've made it several times since XD

The orange one is relatively new....

Here it is again in SD size...still needs work IMO


mutlicolored


This is one of my favorites and one of the better ones I've made


I have way more than that but my photos aren't public and I can't seem to post them until they are XD

one last pic of the one and only fiber wig I ever made from scratch. It was a learning experience. Most days I think I will NEVER do it again, and some days I think I have more of that hair, I could give it another go....(AGH! NO!)



It actually looks better than that now. I gave the shorter side another trim (it should be even shorter, but I have to stop....) and then washed it so all the crazy flyaways are mostly gone now. I need to restyle it, but it's held that shape pretty damn good!

Hm. My pictures are huge now. Getting used to the new flickr has not been easy....

 

I tried making one recently, just got some yarn to try (cos I figured it'll be easier to do and cheaper if it turns out bad than if I buy fibre). The wig cap wasn't very well done (too small after adjusting and hemming :/) and it's bald in some areas but I'm probably going to give it another try if I have time.







I love the colour though.

 

Wow. there are some great wigs in here. What a talented bunch we are.

Right, adding to the pile.

My first wig was a lambskin pelt one. Easy to make, but a bit wild and frizzy. Thankfully that suit the character.



Next wig attempt was a dread wig, which is lengths of roving yarn sewn to a stretchy wig cap. Another easy one, if time-consuming.



Then I got into hard cap wigs. These are A LOT more difficult to master than the other two types, but I enjoy making them. I am still learning on these, and these are my first few attempts.

This is my first hard cap wig, for a ChicLine. Sorry it is not a very clear picture. I get all carried away with the lighting and forget that I am suposed to be taking a picture where people can actually see something useful. It isn't perfect and the edges are all , but it still suits him better than any of the commerical wigs I tried on him. It is straightened mohair fibre.



This is another hard cap wig, made with Teesewater wool. This is for my wig thread, so I added the stages of processing the wool.



This one was made with mohair crepe, which works better for a short wig that suri apaca, which is too fine.



I am still working on hard cap wigs, so will add if I make anything worth showing.

 

Those look great to me, MadamMauMau! (And I absolutely love Palladino He made me fall for the Bernard sculpt.)

 

Wow, I'm in handmade wig heaven here! ♥ All of the wigs shown in this thread are fantastic!

I'll add some of mine to the growing list~

Here is a multicolored mohawk I made from Tibetan Lambskin fur, cut off the plate and applied to a hard cap.


This is my "feather test", but I'll be making her wig with them soon.



This one is made from Cotswold wool locks:



This one is off-topic, but it's a hard cap fur wig, with different colors incorporated.

Link

 

Here's my first big hard cap wig, and the first (and so far only) one I made with Suri alpaca hair... It's actually short on both sides, sort of a long, flowing mohawk style. I can tie it back, or have it hang down on both sides, or have it off to one side, like this.



I'm still pretty happy with it for one of my first wigs. the short sides have actually been trimmed a bit since this was taken, so it looks a little more natural.

 

Recently, I failed to find a wig with a nice style and the right size so I made my own. It is hard cap wig with heat resistant fibers.

It is the only one I've done so far but as it was a rather positive experience, I'd like too try to do more in the future. Sorry for the nakedness but I'm still in the process of sewing it's clothes.

 

From my own personal experience, I can say that faux fur is the easiest method for wig making,
it is also very easy to make wigs out of store bought wefts and readymade stretchy caps. I like making my own
wefts and caps because I own unpopular dolls with sometimes annoying measurements and I also I like
thinner hair but making fiber wigs with readymade materials is just as easy as making fur wigs if not easier.

Hard cap wigs for me are a pain in the gut. I've only made five so far but I can't say I find the experience
or results worth it. However, I might still try again since I need a few wigs with a noticeable hairline and widow's peak,
otherwise I would just give up. Gluing hair is just so messy and kind of intimidating for me, I wouldn't recommend it unless
you want a very short hair, unique hair-cut that can't be done any other way or a strong/unusual visible hairline. DX


Pros and cons will be very personal I think, since I am biased and don't like thick hair (and I'm vegan) I am not too fond of the look
of (faux) fur. However, I think fur wigs are amongst the most popular wigs in the hobby, I see a lot of them everywhere. They are
also inexpensive and easy to style. I love fiber but it depends on the type, some feel plastic-like and can be easily damaged
with heat. Fiber also tends to be super shiny (again plastic-like), not something I'm a huge fan of. Heat resisting fiber feels
a little weird but are obviously safe to style with heat styling tools. I prefer stretchy caps over hard caps only because they
are a lot less of a pain to make. If I was willing to pay someone else to make one for me, I might prefer hard caps. DX
One actual con of hard cap wigs might be that they might only fit the doll you've made it for since the cap is "sculpted"
on the head you're making the wig on. However, this might not be true of all hard caps, it might just be the ones I've made.


- Enzyme

 

I am with Enzyme. Only go down the hard cap route if you have no alternatives or like a challenge. It takes A LOT of practice, which can be frustrating and, depending on where you get your fibres from, costly.

And, as Enzyme says, fake fur wigs are the easiest, by far. If they suit your needs, go for that. Pelt wigs are also relatively easy, but pattern-making, cutting and sewing are rather trickier than with fake fur. Also, you might have issues with using animal products (although it is possible to buy ethically-source lamb's pelt).

Sewing stuff (dreads or wefts) on stretchy wigs is also relatively easy. However, this is how commercial wigs are made, so why not just get one of those, if you can find the style you need, and save yourself the time and effort? It would almost certainly be better than a home made version.

 

Just wanted to share an example of a feather wig I made yesterday.
It went much faster than the other hard cap wigs I've done.

Doll is off topic, so here is just the link: Linky

 

I recently made a wig out of Alpaca! It's so soft and natural.
It took... um like almost 5 hours and there was a point were I realized how long and tedious it was to create and almost gave up! But I'm really glad I didn't because in the end, it was so worth it. I definitely hope to make more in the future. I've always been really frustrated with the wigs available, especially boy wigs, so this has been a fantastic solution!!

Kapugen by denaliwind, on Flickr

 

DenaliWind, Wow, what an adorable wig! The little wavy parts look so cute. I'm glad you didn't give up, because you did a very nice job~

 

So..
I wasn't really sold on the fur wigs-but after looking at this thread-I can now say I'd be willing to get a fur wig
I love all the wigs on this thread and it really makes me want to learn how to do my own now lol

 

I have several 30+ year old fur coats that I am using as source material for wigs. So far I have made several sheepskin wigs. They were really easy once I figured out the simple pattern.
so I made a few and sold a couple.
Then started experimenting.
Cut one short.

Then dyed and added wool yarn to make an exotic wig out of another. (sorry for the BIG pix)

Then I moved onto to fake fur which I found to be almost as easy with the same pattern. The problem with fake fur is the base of the platform, no matter what color the fur there always seems to be white in the base that shows somewhere.
These were samples I got from the UK, just enough to make one wig each. The length wasn't consistent one color was longer or shorter so it made for strange wigs.




I haven't tried a hard cap but it sounds like a challenge so I might just try it.
And I haven't tried making a wig from the dark brown sheared beaver sleeve I inherited. I am hoping it makes a good short hair wig.

 

I've made quite a few wigs for my dolls, usually because what I want doesn't exist outside of my head. I have done faux fur as well as real fur (fox or rabbit).

Kysmirhea in an overdyed red fox fur. The backs of the ears are fox fur as well while the while insides are ultra-short shorn velvet


Sleet is wearing a faux fur wig I made with thin strands of synthetic hair sewn through the fabric of the faux fur and knotted on the inside of the wig. Each individual hair knot has a dot of krazy glue on it to keep it knotted and the entire inside of the wig is coated with clear silicone caulking to help keep the knots in place as well as provide a little "grip" for the wig. I did the synthetic strand addition process to a purchased ankle-length wig as well for one of my MSD's.

 

SteamWitch, What a neat source for wig fiber! They look fantastic~


Iron_Dog, Love the fox fur wig! wow!! With the ears it's even cuter. ♥
Great technique for adding in the longer hairs on the white wig.

 

I made some fur wigs in the past, here is my newest:




And 2012 I made this dreadlock-wig:









This is my newest attempt: a hard cap wig with mohair, made two weeks ago.





(sorry for the background)

Wig making is really fun

 

Shchel, your wigs looks awesome too! The dreadlock one and your newest red one are super-snazzy! ♥

 

this was my very first wig!) very interesting experience

 

Well, as the kind of wigs cannot be bought, I started to make my own wigs. This is my latest try: Took me about 2 weeks, very time-consuming, but well worth the effort, IMO.

 

I only have two hand-made wigs I have pictures of, though I've made some more.
This is my most recent one; it's bamboo-fibers on a hard-cap made of gauze.





I also made this one a couple of weeks ago; it's soy-fibers on a hard-cap made from plaster strips.

 

Loving all the wigs posted recently! I've heard bamboo can be a great medium to work with for wigs.

Here is a feather wig I finished recently:

 

That feather wig is so awesome!

I really hope I can get some material and learn how to make some mohair wigs or some sort of fur wigs in the future. All these wig pictures are amazing

 

sevenfawm, thank you!
You can totally do it!! ♥

 

I made my tiny's wig by myself following a tutorial I got online! printed out the pattern and went from that It definitely wasn't as scary as I thought it would be~

 

I wish I've time to do more wigs but these are the ones I've to show for now =P


✨This was the second wig I ever made. Info on the process here



✨This is my last that I made in a couple of hours, a feather wig. I recommend washing the feathers first because they stain. The way I made this wig allowed me to wash it later though.


✨And this is the first I ever made, this is my unoa chibi head on my unoa lusis/sist body back when I didn't have a body for my chibi. This wig's made from tibetan lamb with extensions:

 

Great wigs, Ibumi. How did you do the flocking on the first one? Works really well.

 

Thank you!!!
The flocking is a little trick that my friend Batchix told me. You can grab the same tibetan lamb (in my case) or hair fiber you are using for the rest of the wig as Batchix said "cut the hell out of it!". You just cut it a lot over and over till it gets so small it works. I recommend if you have allergies like me to use a mask and gloves, it itches like hell. I added white glue on the base of my wigcap, a thin layer and started adding the flocking, you can push it at first but try not to push it too much because it would be more flock+glue that comes out that stays in. The first layer I mainly sprinkled it on top of the glue and then i added more glue and flock to fix the patches and even it. I flocked it half way of the head before putting the rest of the hair, that way you are safe if it sees trough you'll see flocking. This works wonders because of color match and if you live in a place where flocking is not easily found like where I do. It was a very smart recommendation ^^

 

Now THAT is a good idea. We have a company here that flocks action figure heads, and someone had a hard cap flocked by them. I might give them a go and, if that falls flat, have a go at that method. It turned out very well.

ETA: The company, in case anyone else has a need of it. They send internationally. http://www.flocktastic.co/

 

Ha. I actually have a flocking machine over here. We use it in my business to do five o clock shadow beards on humans, and yes we make them hold the ground...

got a few wigs here. Few zillion.
Two different types of wool
Precious by stellamaris61, on Flickr
also wool
Phoenix best by stellamaris61, on Flickr
wool
Rhiannon needs fix by stellamaris61, on Flickr

 

This is a nice thread especially since I found some beautiful teasling and mohair at a fiber festival today. I'm planning to make some wigs using a combination of mohair and horse hair from my palomino's mane. And I found some intricately woven yarn that should make good dreadlocks mixed with curly mohair. The wigs in this thread are wonderful!

 

Lovely ! May I ask what kind of wool this is ? Is it dyed or natural color ?

I have made a lot of experiments myself, with suri alpaca, kid and adult mohair and some wensleydale.

Here is the wensleydale wig I made (those locks were sheared from a young animal, not adult fiber) :


It is very curly, pretty soft and was pretty easy to glue on a hard cap. It also took dye very well !

 

My favorite materials so far are liquid latex for glue and suri alpaca fiber.


The part doesn't go all the way down, it wasn't supposed to be braided - but it's possible

 

Marlequeen, it is a combination of Teesdale locks and I think Romney? Dyed with Jacquard Acid dyes.
Here is one I made last night, usually I don't work with skin mohair, but this was from a bag of scraps I was gifted, it would have gone to the trash anyway.
Vienna closer by stellamaris61, on Flickr

 

Was it seriously made from yarn? It looks niiicee . The color is awesome.

 

Thank you! It's not yarn, I have a friend who makes mohair skin wigs. A certain amount of the pelt will be scrapped, and usually thrown away, but she saves it for me because she knows I will use the excess fur for spinning. This wig however was just made right from a little scrap.
I like to make things out of stuff that would be discarded usually. My version of upcyling.

 

I'm looking into different fiber options for my grail doll's magenta wig. Could you give me a rundown or your thoughts on bamboo and soy fibers? How would you compare them to each other, or other fibers? Also, can I ask where you got them?

 

The thing about bamboo and soy fibers is that they will come in a roving style and then you will have to spin them or something into "hair"

 

These are two hardcap wigs I made this weekend using brushed yarn! I have some suri in the mail that I plan on using in the future. I'd also like to experiment with ramie .3. This thread is so interesting! I love to see everyone's wigs





The bottom wig was a bit of a bust...mostly on my part =A=; I didn't make the wig cap big enough, so I've gotta redo it, but it works...from the front xD.

Question: Does anyone have another suggestion for glue to use when making the hardcap?? I've been using PVA but they're still kinda flexible before the hair is glued on. I'd like them to be a little more rigid.

 

So far, I do hard caps, using ira_scargeer's cap method (and a variation on zir rooting method.) I'm playing with pieces of an IKEA sheepskin right now, trying to get dyes and thickness worked out, but so far, I don't have anything worth documenting. (Though I can attest that human hair dye does work, but it takes about 3x the recommended human time to get to desired shade. As an FYI for anyone who ever wanted to dye a sheep.)

This is Rien's, made primarily from dollyhair.com acetate -- which is fabulous for rooting. Long term, I don't know -- acetate is fragile, but it looks and feels lovely and it styles beautifully with human product. Quin's head, in wig cap, is photobombing over her shoulder. That wig is currently about knee length; it needs a trim since it's supposed to be hip length, but we had good weather and I found her better eyes, so she's in faceup clinic again.
Rien and Quin by cezannetere, on Flickr

This is Quin's, from three shades of saran, and this is an in-progress shot, from just before I did his hairline.
Quin - Blushing, wig in progress. by cezannetere, on Flickr

 

I use Liquid Fusion for my wigs, since I expect eventually they will need to be washed. I really like it for flexibility and durability. (Michael's, but cheaper from Amazon and is an add-on item). Downside -- if you get it on your clothing, it does not wash out.

 

Thanks! I'll look into that! Does it eat through plastic wrap or anything??

 

Oh this is interesting !
I use liquid latex, but the strong ammonia odour and the lack of real washability (I mean it won't dissolve, but you can't really soak it or shampoo it) are a downside. But I love the stretchiness of the material, and if I can find a product that can do both, that is a win !
Would you please care to explain your method and show us a pic of the headcap ?

 

@ byke stegosaurs: In my experience, I have not found anything that Liquid Fusion finds edible -- the plastic wrap actually becomes part of the headcap in the cap making process. (I think I can peel it off, but I don't bother trying because I trim the edges and it's a thin layer of stability.) It peels off of skin or resin once dry (though with resin, it takes a little wiggling with a toothpick, but doesn't damage either the sealant layer or faceup). It just really likes fibers. (And I fibbed -- it does eventually wear/wash out of fabric, but we're talking 6 or 8 times through the laundry cycle.) It does have a longish dry time (2-3 hours), though it can be hurried some with judicious application of a heat gun. And while wet, it does wash off skin or resin with no issues.

Liquid Fusion is odorless as far as I can tell -- very mild lemon if anything, but not citrus based. It is not *stretchy* like the latex I used when doing costume makeup, but it is flexible. Because there's a tiny bit of loss in size during rooting, I end up cutting a couple of small godots, one at center back nape and tiny ones just behind the ears.

I don't have any in progress shots of making the cap (it gets messy) but here's one before I got started rooting. I use water-soluable graphite to mark hair lines.

Rien and Quin by cezannetere, on Flickr

I used Ira_Scargeear's tutorial, found here: http://fav.me/d5kfz1n. (I'll take detail photos when my Dai gets here and tutorial.) My only possible alterations in her method was I used fashion tulle cut into 1 cm strips with a rotary cutter. In brief, the first layer of strips runs temple to temple, the second layer runs from brow to nape, and the third runs at an oblique X.

ETA: I have one other alteration to IS's tutorial. The first couple times, I found that just doing the rooting curled the edges of the cap. I now reinforce the edges with very light silk bias strips that are ultimately mostly cut off once I've got the hairline established. I may try to make the cap with just silk strips next time I have 5 momme china silk on hand.

(I think this thread is supposed to be for reference, not discussion. I'm happy to move it to crafting.)

 

[MENTION=69401]Cezanne[/MENTION] : Thanks for your input and the tutorial link !
I will give it a try ! Rooting does also sound very interesting, but such a lonnnng process

To keep this on topic, here is one of the latest wig I made. It is made of (sheared) adult angora goat mohair, dyed with "old gold" color food dye, (headcap is in latex and the wefts were glued with liquid latex too).

 

Ah, wigs. I've been obsessively making wigs for the past month or two and I played with SO many different fibres, its been all sorts of ridiculous but I found my new favourite hobby! The doll hobby has been largely about doll wigs for a long long time, so now, getting the chance to make my own gets me so excited > u <


You can see a bunch of info about my discoveries on my flickr account or blog if you're interested.

Here's a few finished things though.

Soy fibre~

Boy Cut by ✄Frappzilla, on Flickr

This one is still in progress

Mini test by ✄Frappzilla, on Flickr

Milk Protein (casein) & Banana fibre mix. A really gorgeous combo but really really difficult to dye them to match since they take completely different dyes. Though I've got something in mind that might work out. I'll be giving it a try later on in the week.
= A =

Baby wig in progress by ✄Frappzilla, on Flickr

One more layer to go. by ✄Frappzilla, on Flickr

More wigs by ✄Frappzilla, on Flickr

Currently working on a rainbow suri alpaca wig so i'll update once its finished * U *

 

[MENTION=23177]Aves[/MENTION] Your work looks great ! I love the little guy with the short pinkish hair on top

 

Right now, it takes me Avengers, CA:TWS, and GotG to get through everything but hairline after I've got the cap finished, so about 7.5-8 hours. (Usually broken over 3 nights, as my timekeeping shows.) The trick is 5 packets (60 total) of #12 embroidery needles and a very large pin cushion that can sit on my lap. I thread all of the needles, take one stitch with each, then re-thread. With the acetate hair, this is very simple because it threads in 5-7 fiber clusters very easily. With Saran/nylon, threading takes a little longer because the clusters are a little different. I'm working on a tutorial. I find rooting meditative, so it is a nice activity on grumpy days. I do not root as finely as Ira_scargeer. My nearsighted eyes and patience would give out first.

I love that angora wig. It's absolutely gorgeous.

 

I finished Teagan's alpaca wig this morning

 

I didn't know that yarn could be combed out. Both wigs look like hair. Good job!

 

Enzyme,
The silver highlights on the first one are cool! And the dark roots look very realistic. What did you use to make them dark?