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Dread Wig How To: A sleek look with a mid-high quality wig

Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 6:24 pm
by Tanya.Lou
This tutorial was originally posted by VixenSingsBlack on the old HH board. Found in the google cache.
"What this tutorial can do:
Teach you how to make a quality wig which looks more like installed dreads, rather than hair falls. It also has section on transitionals, but it's not really good.

What this tutorial can't do:
-So I'm not sure if this tutorial will really apply to people with cheapy party wigs, because that's not what I'm working with. I'd say the wigs I use are mid-high quality, with a skin cap at part, lace at crown, stretch net at sides, and wefts in the back.
-This tutorial is also not for making those big/super full/gigantic wigs that look like big-ass hair falls on top of a wig base. I go for a more natural/sleek look, no unnecessary bulk.
- This tutorial is not for people in a HUGE rush.

#1 If you want to have long side pieces, the first thing you need to do is separate them away from the bulk of the hair, braid them, and bring them around to the wig-stand face.
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#2 Make sure this is nice and neat, because later it will be seen once you've got the dreads at the top. I like to use up about 1 inch of the skin cap part and go down the sides to the back of the side burn spot.
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#3 My wig-stand is a glass head with a stocking leg pulled over its head. When that wasn't enough grip, I made a temporary "strap" out of fabric and attach it to the wig via safety pins. This way you can pull and pull and pull all you want! I pin mine on either side of the wig at the side burn spot.
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#4 Once you've got it secured, it's time to section! I like to start at the bottom, and work my way up, that way I can be sure to fill in the bald spots. You'll see what I mean soon. So take the top half of the hair and get it out of the way. Then section neatly that bottom half into 4 or 5 horizontal rows, keeping the upper rows out of the way with clips, pins, etc.
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#5 In this pic I've already done the very bottom 3 dreads, now I have my next row pulled down. Here's the part about bald spot hiding. The 3 dreads on the bottom row leave bald spaces in between them. So on the row above, you make the dreadlocks go into those spaces. In the pic I have the hair loosely twisted for where I want it to eventually lay.
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#6 Remember, keep it neat! That way everything can fall into place without super-duper bulk. I use 3 to 4 wefts in each horizontal row.
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#7 I use the traditional transitional method here. Basically use 2 colors and back comb seperately, then make sure at the top one color eats the other, and at the bottom do the same thing. In the pic you can see I've added jumbo braid by slipping it through the netting.
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#8 I am also using my own latch hook method. Leave the bottom of the dread backcombed but unsealed and latch hook the second color of hair through it over and over until a strong bond is made. Backcomb, twist, seal!
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#9 Now just continue up the wig, up and up, and you should wind up with something like this:
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If you can see, I've got tri color and bi color transitionals. Look close for the tri colors> wig's dark blonde, to #613, to white.

#10 Here's some pics of day 2, continuing up the wig. In these pics you can see how it's starting to get thicker and have nice coverage. I'm still only using tri-color transitionals at this point, but I also introduced my 4th color. Now the wig is the base dark blonde, #22, #613, and white. It won't be until the very top layers that I'll start doing Quadsitionals (4 color transitionals).
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#11 The finished product.
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#12 Modeled, by moi!
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Re: Dread Wig How To: A sleek look with a mid-high quality wig

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 3:24 pm
by gorgoroth
Thank you for this :D

Re: Dread Wig How To: A sleek look with a mid-high quality wig

Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 2:15 pm
by *,meme,*
i wish we could see a finished project for this

Re: Dread Wig How To: A sleek look with a mid-high quality wig

Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 4:14 pm
by ~*Zombie Candycane~*
I think i might try this out! Thanks for re-posting it

Re: Dread Wig How To: A sleek look with a mid-high quality wig

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 3:54 am
by VixenSingsBlack
Oh thanks for saving this tut from the abyss!

Re: Dread Wig How To: A sleek look with a mid-high quality wig

Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 9:02 pm
by *,meme,*
oooooh thank you for letting s see the results
its fantastic :i2:

Re: Dread Wig How To: A sleek look with a mid-high quality wig

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:27 am
by Somber
Thanks so much for inboxing me. This is exactly what I was looking for!
:i2:

Re: Dread Wig How To: A sleek look with a mid-high quality wig

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:03 am
by VixenSingsBlack
No probs ;)

Re: Dread Wig How To: A sleek look with a mid-high quality wig

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:20 am
by rivetlicker_
Oh my gosh, the finished product is awesome!

Re: Dread Wig How To: A sleek look with a mid-high quality wig

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:11 pm
by Couture_Coiffure
I am so glad this thread got bumped up, as I was just musing if something like this was possible.

Obviously there will be gaps in the wig, and I am curious as to how you filled them in. The tut said you sewed in dreads, but did you do this all over the wig? And if so, did you have to attach mesh to all the gaps?

Re: Dread Wig How To: A sleek look with a mid-high quality wig

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 7:29 pm
by VixenSingsBlack
This wig works just like doing the brick pattern for an installation. The top dreads lay over and fill in the lower gaps. This means these kinds of wigs cannot be style any other way than how they already are (but that's most wigs anyways). If you look hard, you can tell which ones I sewed on because they do not have the dark blonde at the top of them. Usually sewing in dreads is only necessary for the top two layers of dreads. I don't even sew dreads on anymore, having figured out how to sort of divide and conquer the hair by adding in more KK with the wig hair.

Does that answer your question?

Re: Dread Wig How To: A sleek look with a mid-high quality wig

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:24 pm
by Couture_Coiffure
Yes ma'am, thanks so much!

Re: Dread Wig How To: A sleek look with a mid-high quality wig

Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 7:41 pm
by toxymoxy
Wow! How heavy was this to wear?

Re: Dread Wig How To: A sleek look with a mid-high quality wig

Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2010 9:25 pm
by VixenSingsBlack
Really not that bad actually since the weight is quite balanced.