Hard cap wigs for small heads

Thank you. ^_^

I had a problem with the hairline gaping.
But that was all on me as I was worried that the wig would turn out too small.

 

Has anyone tried this technique for small wig making? It seems much faster than ventilating the mohair, I wonder if it would work for BJD... Brushed Mohair Cap Hair | Instructions | Waldorf Doll Making | Weir Crafts

It involves crocheting a mohair cap then teasing out and brushing the loose fibers

 

I missed seeing this before @Elysion gear--that wig looks SO good!! Teach me your ways... hahaha. Slicked back hair is hard...!!

 

@Idoru: It is! This is my second try with this hairstyle. there are some tips that worked better for the second try
Put less hair in the back. Focus on the hair in the front and sides. Too much hair = too much bulk.
I dampened the hair while combing and styling and I 'set' the style using a very watered down mod podge "hair-spray".

 

Well done, its really nice! Great masculine looking style. Did you use anything under the hair at the front to add shape to the style? Very inspiring!

 

@LyanneNZ, Actually no. I did back comb just a little so that I had the right amount of 'poof' with the watered down modge podge and hair product it was more difficult to get the hair to stay flat, I used a flat iron to help with that. (Try to get one with a dial that lets you adjust the temperature of the iron so that you don't burn the hair.

 

Thanks for your reply! I need to look at flat irons. I have two - my own one has a temperature dial but even at the lowest setting I think it would be too hot. Then I was given a mini one but I think that's just a cheapy with one setting. I've always been curious what the wig artists use to sculpt the shape - ie at the front of the hairline or even on the crown. If you look at Chewin's wigs or even Ilaria's a lot of them have a sculpted shape to them. I've looked at art supply websites but I guess I would just have to try some different products and experiment.

 

LyanneNZ, if you are working with synthetic fibers, you can heat set the hairline or any part of the hair, by submerging the wig in hot/boiling water. If you are not using water proof glue, you can place the wig in a plastic bag, then submerge it in the water and leave it there until the water is completely cool. You'll have to create a shape that's similar to your doll's head, because otherwise the wig will deform in the hot water. I usually make tiny wigs for OT figures and dolls, because I don't own that many tiny BJD, so I just leave the wig on the heads (since they are not made out of resin, I don't worry about them warping/yellowing with the heat). You can style the wig before submerging it in the water, and keep the hair in place with a hair net, or a piece of plastic wrap tightly around the wig and head/form. Here's the most recent wig I made for a tiny OT head, out of synthetic hair and I used that method to set the hair (the head is a 1:6 female action figure HS). I kind of changed my mind about how I wanted the hair to be styled so it's a bit crappy right now but I have plans to redo it or try to fix it soon (also having problems with achieving a realistic under-shave, but that's another story). Hope it helps. (:

 

You and me both! Not satisfied with flocking, and Tibetan wool on the pelt is fine looking shaved but the skin is far too thick...

I am wondering now whether ventilating some mohair onto mesh and then shaving that, but oh how long it would take, since I don’t have practice with it.

Do please share if you make any headway with the shaved hair look

 

I think flocking works for stylized dolls, but most of my tiny-headed OT dolls are somewhat realistic, so I want their hair styles to be equally realistic as well (depending on the character). I am vegan though, so I don't think I'll try the animal stuff, ever. ^^;; The head sculpt I posted about has a cap made out of stockings, and I think it was going to work due to the slight texture it had when dry. However, I was a scaredy-numbskull and went for two layers of fabric instead of one. It ended up too thick for his scale (as I had feared from the beginning). The actual trouble I'm having is creating a realistic looking fade; I could have left the cap black (the original color of the stockings), and I believe it would have looked okay, but I wanted to have the darned fading... that's one of the ways I made it crappier than it had already turned out. DX I will keep trying however, I'm stubborn! I will try to remember to post here, if I find anything useful. (:

 

Thanks @Enzyme your tiny guy wig is very detailed...I think you did a great job emulating the fade. I think the male wigs are the biggest challenge in this small scale.

Thanks for your comments on setting the wig. I will try to show you what I mean with an OT fashion doll wig if its ok to add a link here...see how the high ponytail is sitting...that is hard to the touch. Its not just hair making up the volume. See also how there is a "bump" at the front hairline...that is also hard to the touch so I am guessing the wig cap itself is sculpted so that when the hair is glued over the top there is the suggestion of the shape of the style already...

Ficon Ivette

I had a fashion doll wig with the little hair "horns" once that I removed so that I'd get more use from the wig and inside them it looked like foam perhaps, or packing material of some sort.

I have wondered about using air drying or polymer clay but that might make the wig too heavy. I need to experiment

 

@Enzyme I’ve heard Dollmore do a synthetic mohair that’s quite soft, that would be vegan, or some plant fibres can be ventilated I’m sure, though i am not very knowledgeable so just making an assumption! no idea how a fade would look on a ventilated wig though, cut it too short and you’d maybe see the knots?

I saw that wig tutorial on deviantart where each individual hair is sewn into a cap and then the profile would be very low with no knots, it seems like a monstrous amount of work, good thing our dolls are so small!
I had a thought it could be done (for very short hair) with a tiny improvised punch embroidery needle, from the reverse side, and then the loops on the right side cut with a curved sewing unpicker once the inside is glued...

My dolls heads finally came in the mail yesterday! So I can begin the work of headcap making and try out some of these techniques you have all so generously shared

 

Thank you very much! My wigs are craptastic, but at least I have fun making them and get to learn a few things during the process as well. I see what you mean now, with the fashion doll wig! I have never attempted to make, nor owned a wig that would be completely hard, even parts of the hair. I am sorry to say I wouldn't be able to help you there. I don't collect too many fashion dolls like Tonner or Integrity toys, that tend to wear fancier styled wigs. I would assume if they are using materials other than hair to make certain parts of the wig bulkier, like the bump on that wig you linked, it would probably not add too much weight to a larger scale wig. If it was foam at least, polymer clay would probably add too much heft depending on the size of the doll. Good luck with your wig experimenting, and sorry I couldn't be more of more help! n__n




@psycholily, I thought about ventilated wigs before, or at least the front pieces, but just the amount of work that it would involve (and the tools I would need), keep me from giving it any real consideration. I am not sure it would work with a 1:6 scale head. It would probably work for larger headed dolls, because of scale alone. I attempted to make the cap for my wig out of small-holed tulle originally, but I could easily see the mesh pattern, so I opted for the stockings even though the wigs shrink for me when I use that material. The easier route (for me) would be to paint or sculpt the fade, but my head was originally rooted, so I would first have to repair the rooting holes, and I'm a too lazy to try that. I rather just have a full wig regardless, instead of trying to glue the "mohawk" in place. I'm not a huge fan of gluing wigs down, I prefer being able to change the hair style whenever I want to. I would love to get my hands on some synthetic mohair for sure, I love the texture and thickness of the fiber, for smaller scaled dolls -- I think Dollmore only ships via EMS though, so that's why I haven't gotten it from them. Congratulations on your new arrivals, and good luck with your wigs. (:

 

@Enzyme your wigs are fantastic don’t put yourself down! I love the blue one in the other thread the shaved part looks pretty good in the photos, I think when we make something we scrutinise it too much and see the faults that nobody else sees.

I’m determined to give ventilating a try, with a fluffy hair it will hopefully puff out and not need to be super dense, only one way to find out! Waiting on supplies to arrive for that. In the meantime, it’s stockings and glue lol!

 

Thank You so much for this tutorial, I learned so much! I am curious if anyone has ever ordered Mohair from

ShangriLaRanch ?

 

I have. Their mohair is nice.

 

Yes, it is very nice but it is alpaca not mohair. It is straighter than mohair and not quite as soft.

 

@Enzyme Your OT guy is SO HANDSOME!! I love that wig, actually, I think you did a really good job with the undercut. I usually settle for a longer undercut but I've tried it quite a few times... This is my most recent version but I might have to try using stockings. I've been using a very very thin knit jersey material.



(Apologies for the sort of weird angle picture, I haven't taken that many of the new wig because I decided I needed to add hair to the front and haven't decided how to do it yet...)

This reminds me, does anyone know what happened to TreasuresDolls? They were an Italian seller who sold 18" viscose (it's what I used for the red). I absolutely love that fiber even if it's a nightmare to work with, but the shop disappeared with no warning! I haven't been able to find another source of the viscose at that length either... Though that might be what the Dollmore synthetic mohair is. This stuff is INCREDIBLY soft (and incredibly slippery....).

 

I'm not sure what happened to TreasuresDolls. My last purchase from her before the shop disappeared was rather negative. I never got my viscose.

 

@Idoru I've ordered viscose from EcoHobbyWool on Etsy and it is really nice. I'm not sure what the exact length is, but it is really long, at least 12 inches. It's pretty shiny, but I think it looks pretty realistic.

 

Has anyone used Aleene's "Fabric Fushion" to make a hard cap wig base?
It is wasahable after drying 48 hours.

 

I have instructions that use Fabritac. But you need to use two layers of plastic wrap as it does not play well with resin.

 

What I'm asking about is "Fabric Fushion" which I think is a different Aleene's product than "Fabrictac".

I do appreciate the heads up for "Fabrictack".

Please give me your link to "Fabrictack" instructions.

 

Until a few years ago, I had been using Aleene’s Fabric Fusion for both my wig caps (2 layers pantyhose, 2 layers of glue) and attaching the hair. The caps were waterproof, strong and flexible but popped crisply back into shape after being bent. Perfection. Then I bought a fresh bottle of the glue and found it refused to set up properly! The caps were all mushy like the glue wasn’t completely dry—even after sitting for over a month.

To this day I am uncertain if they changed their formula or if the bottle I purchased was a dud. Or maybe my original bottle was the fluke. Maybe it was so old the glue set extra stiff upon drying and if I aged my current bottle long enough or left it out on a hot day it might turn awesome like the first one.

All I can really say is it’s still a good strong waterproof option for attaching hair, but use it for caps at your own risk.

 

@Havra
Thanks ever so for your information. Guess I'll have to test the bottle I have.
Question - did you use 2 layers of "cling
wrap " or only 1 layer when you had your successful wig cap with your bottle of "Aleene's Fabric Fushion" product?

 

I have only ever used one layer and never had a problem with this glue eating through. The second bottle that refused to set up, however, was also difficult to peel off the plastic, (so with some of them I just cut the plastic film and left it inside) whereas the nicer caps I made in the past came off the film without too much effort. Could be a clue in your tests as to what sort of bottle you have.

Best of luck.