i did make progress on a few things – but it was mostly endless hours of sanding. which has to be done, but doesn’t make for an entertaining blog post.
however, i did get a package from my mom with both ramie and bamboo fibre to make wigs – so that was my other main project this week.
i’ve got wigs in process now for both amaterasu and kame and it’s been slow but fun. i’ve made wigs in the past, but usually either out of faux fur or sewing premade wefts and… well, lets say my skills with wefts leaves a lot to be desired.
so this time around i’m making a “hard” cap – normally this style of wigs is hard, but i discovered a nice surprise – using the aileene’s tacky glue allowed the stocking material to retain some stretch, so my wigs actually do have a little give to them. that will be helpful for getting them on and off.
okay – so to start i made my wig cap base – plastic wrap and then a bit of stocking (i’m using an old pair i don’t wear any more, cut a snip off and actually laid it on the head so that it was 2 layers) and then cover in a generous coat of glue. i wanted to experiment slightly here, so i did 2 layers on amaterasu and then one thick layer on kame. both have the same amount of stretch and stiffness, but doing it in two layers allowed me to create a smoother cap.
once dried, i traced out the desired hairline and cut the cap to that shape. then stick back on head and draw out where i want my wefts to go and the directions they should lay.



while this was going on, of course i started out making my wefts. for both wigs i’m using the bamboo fibre, cut to a 6 inch length. so far i’ve used 2 chunks (so 12 inches total) and i have kame’s wig about 30% done and amaterasu’s wig about 80% done.
to make my wefts, i lay down a line of glue and carefully press the ends of the hair along the glue. i don’t lay it down thick, otherwise the wefts will be too bulky and most of the hair will come out. once the first line of glue is dry, i actually do a second line of glue on top of it so the fibre is sandwiched between the glue.
let it dry again – then using a soft toothbrush that i have specifically for taming wigs, i gently brushed out stray hair. this process can seem disheartening as you’ll easily pull out a LOT of hair – but if you go slow, you can actually pull it out in nice straight clumps you can then use to make the next weft. (i also later discovered i can make dreadlocks using the not so nice clumps of hair… so for me it became a zero-loss process)
once it’s been brushed, i trimmed the glued edge so that i had just a thin strip of a glue “seam” – this would be the part i attach to the wig cap.

so then comes the fun process of fitting wefts, cutting wefts, gluing wefts, making more wefts… blah blah blah, it becomes a mindless task after awhile to tell the truth…
so this is where amaterasu’s wig ended up – though i did actually add more to it, i was just too lazy to take pictures… her wig will actually be pulled back and up into a hairstyle inspired by the traditional ones worn by geisha and maiko.


oh, and those dreadlocks i mentioned? yeah – kame’s getting a wig made from them. it seemed appropriate for a spirit of the forest to have slightly matted/untamed hair. it does take a lot more fibre to make the dreadlocks than the wefts, but i still have quite a bit of the bamboo left so i’m not worried about running out. plus now that i know that i can use the throw-away hair from making wefts to make dreadlocks, i’m not wasting anything.
this is the last pic i did of kame’s wig – she has since gotten the start of bangs and one side partially filled in.

and while it may seem strange to say this – but working with this fibre makes me anxious to finish my current batch of dolls in process so i can start a new one off of donglai pei from “detective dee and the mystery of the phantom flame”. what can i say, i’m a sucker for a cute albino, especially when he can wield a totally kick-ass ax.