Kukkii-san
OK, why post a wefting tutorial? And what IS wefting, anyway?
Wefts are what wigs are made of, basically. Wefts consist of loose hair sewn (or glued) together so they form a row of hairs ("like a hula skirt", quoting Gren) that can be sewn to the wig's undermesh. You can use them to revamp your wig, or to make your own from scratch. - This is what I decided to do for my Fran (FF XII) wig because her hairstyle is so unique I thought it could best be done with a custom-made wig. (I'll post progress pictures of the wig later.)
You can buy ready-made wefts (expensive) or rip them off of a purchased wig. However, if you need a custom color, your best bet would be to make them yourself using loose extensions. I used 48" Silky Straight Kanekalon extensions purchased at www.drlocks.com - Fran doesn't have plain white hair, so I decided to blend snow white with 3 different shades of ash blonde (colors no. 22, 24, and 12) to add depth to her 'do.
I owe a lot to a tutorial posted by Gren, which taught me the basics of wefting with a sewing machine.
http://images.cosplay.com/showphoto.php?photo=88260
I liked the method so much I decided to make an extensive tutorial with photos. Feel free to comment and contribute any ideas of your own.
Btw, if you'd like to make no-sew wefts using glue or caulk, Katie Bair has a tutorial on her site and you can find some more browsing the forums. I prefer sewn wefts, however. They are very durable, you can make many wefts at a time without having to wait for the caulk to set (perfect if you're making a whole wig), you can produce rather full wefts, and it's not quite as messy.
WEFTING - Step 0: GETTING STARTED
Lay out the loose extensions on a newspaper sheet (any smooth surface will do), pick up a strand of each color and blend them slightly. I'm very careful to avoid tangling and, above all, pulling on the hair or letting it slip from the bundle. Try to keep it laid out straight and parallel, ends even. Secure each bundle by tying a (cut-open!) rubber band around the end or middle when you're not using it. Grip the bundles of hair tightly when separating strands of hair so they don't slip.
Protect your work area from pets, wind, and other disturbances.
If you're using the extensions at full length (48"), you will need to remove the center fold by straigthening them. I recommend doing this after you're done wefting, because loose extensions get messed up quickly when you handle them.
The photos to the right show what the finished wefts will look like - on top is a short, doubled weft (we'll cover that later), below is a full-length weft that has short ends on one side (which will face the undermesh when sewn to the wig, so the short ends won't show.)
So, let's see how I got there^^ (Click on the photo to the left to continue the tutorial)
Wefts are what wigs are made of, basically. Wefts consist of loose hair sewn (or glued) together so they form a row of hairs ("like a hula skirt", quoting Gren) that can be sewn to the wig's undermesh. You can use them to revamp your wig, or to make your own from scratch. - This is what I decided to do for my Fran (FF XII) wig because her hairstyle is so unique I thought it could best be done with a custom-made wig. (I'll post progress pictures of the wig later.)
You can buy ready-made wefts (expensive) or rip them off of a purchased wig. However, if you need a custom color, your best bet would be to make them yourself using loose extensions. I used 48" Silky Straight Kanekalon extensions purchased at www.drlocks.com - Fran doesn't have plain white hair, so I decided to blend snow white with 3 different shades of ash blonde (colors no. 22, 24, and 12) to add depth to her 'do.
I owe a lot to a tutorial posted by Gren, which taught me the basics of wefting with a sewing machine.
http://images.cosplay.com/showphoto.php?photo=88260
I liked the method so much I decided to make an extensive tutorial with photos. Feel free to comment and contribute any ideas of your own.
Btw, if you'd like to make no-sew wefts using glue or caulk, Katie Bair has a tutorial on her site and you can find some more browsing the forums. I prefer sewn wefts, however. They are very durable, you can make many wefts at a time without having to wait for the caulk to set (perfect if you're making a whole wig), you can produce rather full wefts, and it's not quite as messy.
WEFTING - Step 0: GETTING STARTED
Lay out the loose extensions on a newspaper sheet (any smooth surface will do), pick up a strand of each color and blend them slightly. I'm very careful to avoid tangling and, above all, pulling on the hair or letting it slip from the bundle. Try to keep it laid out straight and parallel, ends even. Secure each bundle by tying a (cut-open!) rubber band around the end or middle when you're not using it. Grip the bundles of hair tightly when separating strands of hair so they don't slip.
Protect your work area from pets, wind, and other disturbances.
If you're using the extensions at full length (48"), you will need to remove the center fold by straigthening them. I recommend doing this after you're done wefting, because loose extensions get messed up quickly when you handle them.
The photos to the right show what the finished wefts will look like - on top is a short, doubled weft (we'll cover that later), below is a full-length weft that has short ends on one side (which will face the undermesh when sewn to the wig, so the short ends won't show.)
So, let's see how I got there^^ (Click on the photo to the left to continue the tutorial)