Tutorial Hard cap wigs for small heads - Part 2

I am so going to try this! Thank You!

 

This, thank you. I didn't know why my cap was ''squishy''. I'll try adding more layers before adding the hair.
Really, this guide is VERY USEFUL!

 

Hey guys, popping in with a question! I usually use plastic bags under the pantyhose for my head caps, but it usually doesn’t peel out well. What do you all use? I use the E6000 glue, so that might have something to do with it. I’m trying to make more professional looking wig caps, instead of ones with the Kroger label on the inside

 

@zomjirate I usually use cling film underneath the cap, and sometimes reuse it if it's still good.

I mostly make wigs with silicone caulk, but have done it with PVA/white glue as well.

 

I think E6000 will adhere to pretty much anything, I've had trouble getting it off of the porcelain tile I use to glue wefts. You won't be able to reuse the cling film, if you're wanting a more eco-friendly option, but I think it would look better than a grocery bag.

 

Thanks for the input! I will see how the cling film looks. I should probably try another glue, I just love how fast it dries! And it's waterproof, though I have never tried soaking it. I'll have to do some experimentation ^^ Anyone have any wig projects that they're working on?

 

I use Titebond III Wood glue that I buy at a hardware store for my wig caps, it makes a nice base for wig making and it's waterproof. I use it on a stretchy knit mesh ( Like they use in the crotch of swimsuits) which is stretched tightly over cling wrap. For attaching wefts, I use Fabri-Tac By Beacon, which I buy at Joanns. They all work well together and I can wet down my wigs if needed. Good luck!

 

That's an interesting idea, to use the heat and bond...

 

I finally made another attempt at a hard cap wig. I should have chosen a simpler style. The hairline needs a little refining but overall I am pleased with this attempt.

For this cap I used hot glue over mesh after watching Emilia Couture's videos on Youtube. She has a three part tutorial you should go and take a peek at if you haven't already

Hard cap wig by LyanneNZ, on Flickr

 

That looks very classy! I'll have to go look up the tutorial.

I've made three failure wigs in a row.....and started a forth anyway. I could use some new ideas!

 

Don't give up. I would have made more advances by now if I didn't leave it so long in between attempts. I have been trying for a long time I need to get some tiny, fine but very sharp scissors to work on the hairline but I wanted a slight widow's peak area.

I am even more motivated to be able to wig my own dolls now that Monique have gone. I will share when I have made another attempt

 

I use Fabric Fusion, a clear PVA stuff that dries waterproof, and it used to work great but for some reason the wig caps i make now are all shrinking drastically as they age. This is worrying. I'd hate to have to try other stuff but a lot of people have mentioned some kinds of wood glue.

 

I made a wig from natural fiber for the first time!
First Mohair Wig by Skyealloway, on Flickr

I'm pretty happy with it. I used the same hard cap technique I had been using with my yarn wigs - four way stretch fabric and wood glue. I purchased the mohair from Fiber to Yarn, its the Mohair Kid hand dyed locks. The fibers are very soft and I like the little curls, but the dye isn't very even. luckily since its a light color it isn't too bad.

I used Antique Lilac sewn weft idea, but I sewed the mohair to wash away embroidery stabilizer instead of paper. and I followed through with hot glueing the wefts. I'm still not 100% sure how this will hold up over time, but I really liked that it wasn't a glue disaster and I could finish the wig quickly.

I went ahead and purchased more fiber from BackCornerFarm on Etsy. I wanted a dark fiber and I felt it wouldn't look right with uneven dye. BackCornerFarm's fiber is much more evenly dyed, and a lot less dirty. It isn't as curly though, it just has a gentle wave. The doll that will get dark hair already has a faceup and eyelashes so I couldn't pull fabric tight around her head to make the wig cap. So I'll revert to antiquelilac's methods again and I crocheted a wig cap. Pictures when I finish!

 

Thanks! Definitely going to save this.

 

Your wig came out awesomeLoved that tutorial I didn't think to try Katsilk! No trouble with the katsilk melting? What glue gun did you use? I am in the market for a new one

2nd question did you add any material to give the hair the bump lift so its not flat against the head?

 

I am trying to remember now what I did because I haven't done any more since apart from preparing some more hair for the next wig. The hot glue didn't melt the fibres but the hot glue gun will. I found it quite difficult to control the hot glue. Emilia controls it with the tip of the glue gun but she is working with natural fibres in her tutorials. I have re-watched her tutorials and she is a magician with that hot glue gun

I didn't use anything to give the hair more volume underneath it but this has been a question that I have always had...some styes need it and I am certain many of the hard cap wigs I own have a material under the hair to give it some shape. I have no idea what they would use...a foam perhaps, it would have to be something able to be shaped quite precisely but not be too heavy. I have tried cotton wool but that's not easy to give a precise shape to. With this wig there was just plenty of hair to give it that shape.

Have fun!

 

Thank you -Well I guess I just have to try- I am with you she is amazing with the glue gun, I did a basic natural fiber one came out decent, but would love to do it with the synthetics too so you are very inspiring :-) can I ask, do you know what is a good “glue” is used to shape curls, I imagine I would shape the curls and glue in place..thanks again!

 

I honestly think we learn more by just getting in there and doing it. I think this is the first wig where I was really happy with the result.

I wish I had an answer for you on setting curls but I haven't done any with curls just yet. I have actually just curled some hair for my next wig (using stainless steel drinking straws) but that was as far as I got. I think the curls I did came out too large for the scale I want so I was going to boil straighten them again. I hadn't intended to set them in place but with saran I know the curls can drop out quite quickly.

Perhaps if you are using a natural fibre you could just use a hair product to keep them in place? I'd love to see your results however they turn out.

Hopefully I will have some new trials to share soon

 

About to try another wigmaking attempt for a tiny headed SD with a swept back sidepart 1920s-ish male hairstyle... Suri Alpaca fiber again, and I think this time I shall use nonstretch fabric in a paper mache technique to make the cap.

 

I ended up making a hard cap wig for a doll with a head circumference of approx. 3cm, so I thought I'd pop in and share the results. It was a challenge but I'm excited to try again soon, since I'm not super satisfied with the wig as it is now


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Well done! So tiny!

Re-visiting this thread makes me realise how little I have done since my last wig. I did finish a curled one but it's for a fashion BJD that doesn't fit criteria here so I couldn't share the results. I still intend to make more for my FID sized dolls. Must get onto that!

 

Has anyone tried using natural latex milk for hard cap wigs?

 

@aliquotiens There's a few threads where people talk about using liquid latex.
/threads/the-right-kind-of-liquid-latex.874069/
/threads/latex-base-for-wigs.815983/
/threads/making-wigs-help-meeee-base-make-from-latex.16586/

 

Thank you so much for the links!

 

I am experimenting making a wig cap on a mini sized doll. (If it does not work out, that's okay.)
I think the lace that I used for the base might be lycra. Next, a sheet of thin tulle. Then, a folded sheet of thin tulle. (I think the holes in the lace is twice as big as normal tulle and the holes in the thin tulle are three times as big as normal tulle.) I am thinking about laying another piece of thin tulle, instead of the lycra lace. Does anyone think that this might not be enough layers for the cap?
I have been using PVA glue. I am not sure if I should switch anything out. (I think I may have fabric glue.) I am also applying the glue in front of the ears and down to the eyeline. Once I get to the last layer, I want to reshape the fabric on the back of the neck and glue that down, all of the way to the shoulder. The lace is 2 way stretch and the tulle is 4 way stretch.

I would like the knowledge of doing this because I have an OTD that's a wig size 3-4 and another doll with wig size 8 (I will never be able to buy a wig off the shelf wig that would be the perfect fit).
The wig for the OTD will be made with just the thin tulle. The other dolls will use a mesh lace and possibly the thin tulle.

All of the styles that I am currently thinking to make would be would have long hair. Once I get the hang of this, I might create an extremely short style or possibly a wig with a side cut, for one doll.

 

I'm not an expert wig maker by far, but I have made many hard cap tiny wigs for many OT and one on-topic tiny doll. I had issues with my wigs shrinking over time in the past, but maybe that's a me problem, because I keep my resin dolls nude and wig-less inside their boxes inside my closet. So, I have slowly stayed away from stretchy fabric, because I feel that's why the eventually shrink. I haven't seen any shrinking since moving away to less stretchy or no stretch at all, fabrics. I do make head forms as well now, so it might be a combination of both and not just the not using stretchy fabric that is keeping the caps from shrinking.

I have used tulle in the past as well for a very tiny headed OT 1:6 action figure hybrid, and it worked rather well, but it also had zero stretch and has tiny little holes. I layered the fabric once, but it probably wasn't necessary. I even gave that doll an extreme under shave, although that could have used some cleaning or just be redone entirely.

I use pva glue for all my hard cap wigs, and wefts with zero issues so far. Other than the obvious not being water proof or resistant. Hope that is of some help. Good luck! (:

 

This is good advice. The 1:6 OTD has two heads. So, maybe I will use one as a head stand whenever I decide to rotate the doll out. I might be able to store the one large doll with the wig on his head. The other large doll, the long hair will be the challenge to store away, if it does shrink. But, that is the doll with the borderline size 8 head. And, I love the doll enough to go through that with him. I'm using my Limhwa doll as the test subject. It's fun to have her out of the box.
Thank you.

 

I don't know if it is something that only happens with my wigs, but if I leave a glued-together-hard-cap-wig on a doll for long enough, it kind of gets stuck on the head. You can remove it with a decent amount of force, but if your caps are super thin (the way I like my caps to be for my tinier dolls), they will get warped a bit. If you are leaving the wig on the doll indefinitely, I would also suggest using a piece of light-colored tissue paper, or plastic wrap in between the wig and the doll's head, so that it doesn't get stuck on there, more than you'd want it to be. Or at least, so the wig won't be damaged once you want to actually remove it. Good luck, once again! (:

 

All the best with your wig making. I am still experimenting and am very slow but at the moment am making my caps from stocking fabric but yes, I imagine if removing them and storing them they might need to be "stuffed" somehow to keep their shape. I use clear PVA glue for now but am always open to experimenting with other materials.

I did make a blond saran hair wig in January and have just finished two in tibetan lambskin (I removed the fibres from the backing and glued them onto hard caps.)

Iplehouse FID Isabel by LyanneNZ, on Flickr

I'd still like to try different styles and layered short styles because ultimately I would love to get my men-dolls some nice shorter hair.

 

My second attempt at making a hard cap wig. It needs some trimming, but I'm pretty stoked with how it turned out.

 

What a lovely wig! It looks very natural, not too thick or thin, and the color looks great with her faceup.

 

I love the layers in it. I am guessing it's natural fibres like alpaca? I still haven't got my hands on any alpaca to try

 

Thank you both! It's a little more full on one side than I would prefer, but I'm hoping trimming and styling will help thin them out. This one is made with mohair!

In the process of making wig #3 now. This one will be my first pulled back style, so looking forward to figuring out how to best do hairlines.

 

Still tweaking how everything looks, but here's wig #3. I still need to learn how to braid so I can give him all of the braids that he needs, and I'm going to forever be refining his hairline, but the wefts seem to be just fine with all of the work I keep doing to it.

 

Great job! Love the hairline. Thank you for showing us.

 

That's incredible work! I'm also following Emilia's tutorial, with an ambitions first time attempt at a 1960's-esque updo. I figure that since hairstyles from that period were basically constructed through bump-its etc. it'll be somewhat simple. But I more than may be wrong!

It's a shame that Ilaria from TimeOfDoll has all but retired, because she really was the queen of classical updos for dolls.

 

@Aragogo I hope you can get the results you want and share here. I'd love to see. I haven't used hot glue since the ponytail wig. I'm using wood glue at the moment and I like the smooth, firmer cap I can get with it.

Ah is that what has happened to Ilaria. I thought she must just be so busy with the smaller doll manufacturers and had no time for commissions. She makes beautiful wigs. I haven't attempted an updo yet aside from the ponytail one. I just need to keep trying more wigs.

 

We'll see. Thus far I decided to do the stuffing with cotton balls encased in aluminum foil. It's lightweight and yet surprisingly malleable, so it should be a good base for a pageant-like updo. For glue, at least when it comes to the wig-cap, I'm using Aleene's OK To Wash fabric glue, it dries clear and kinda sturdy. I don't know what I'll use for wefts yet - I need something washable and heat resistant, because I'll need to make some curls. It also needs to be relatively fast-drying, because Aleene's takes a bit to dry and the wefts can get displaced.

I think she either retired or is taking a prolonged break, due to a hand surgery. AFAIK she's only been making wigs for Ficon as of late, and her latest release besides that is the controversial Frankenrecast that is Queen Couture Doll. The only other option is Chewin, but they have a lot to learn still - their hairlines aren't as neat, the wigs don't fit even when made for a specific head and they lack the eye for proportion that Ilaria has.