Just a quick iPhone video to show my (very slow) progress on the synthetic full cap wig.
The great quality synthetic hair, along with light (80%) density and the single strand ventilation are all working together to give an incredibly natural result!
Click on the link below to view the video:
You Tube video
Hi, it's looking great! Can't believe it! I was wondering if you could do an updated density chart for a lace of smaller 15-20 denier? I can work easily on that size lace, but having another persons opinion in density means I won't freak out as much and can pick up a bit of speed and confidence! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks, I'm really happy with it so far! To be honest, I have pretty much abandoned the idea of ventilation patterns. They were really slowing down my progress, and I have realized that there is a much easier way to approach density.
DeleteI now work in straight lines, in the direction of the 'weave' of the lace, rather than the sort of zig-zag pattern I was doing before. As I am working on a density of 80%, I knot four holes out of every five. On the top I might drop it to 75%, so I will knot 3 holes out of 4. I try to stagger the rows so that the unknotted holes appear randomly and don't all line up to make bald stripes.
As far as density and denier, it won't make any difference at all. Knotting on a 15 denier lace is exactly the same as knotting on a 40 denier lace, provided the holes are the same size.
I have begun thinking of density not so much as a 'percentage' but rather as number of knots per square centimetre. Most wig laces have around 10 holes to a centimetre, so that means 100 holes per square centimetre. My '80%' is actually 80 knots per square centimetre, so on standard lace that means 8 holes out of 10 will be knotted (or 4 out of 5... same thing.) However if the holes in the lace are bigger, there will be fewer knots per square centimetre, so you have to compensate accordingly. Hope that makes sense...?
Super Wig Maker made a great video about density that probably explains things better than I can:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4heqmTndEY&list=UUB9_pmyRjgrIRygdtajg3nA
But I would definitely suggest trying the 'straight line' approach rather than the complex patterns I was attempting before!
Thanks! That does help! And I was just wondering if the hair looks a little ginger or is that just the photo? Could you link a picture from the web of the color it looks in real life? Sorry if that seems a lot of work, but thinking about buying some, it's beautiful!
DeleteNo, it's definitely not ginger at all, just a very natural ashy blonde. If anything I would say it tends towards a very slight green (as ash hair seems to do) but definitely no red. The photo of the small test piece on my previous post is an accurate representation, at least on my computer. This one:
Deletehttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rUSG11nYycE/U1Ka95G561I/AAAAAAAAARI/FuUQMZ8L7cI/s1600/synthetic.JPG
Brilliant! Thank you so much! And it even looks like is has natural high and low lights, not one block 'wiggy' color!
DeleteYou're right, it has beautiful variety in the colour. It doesn't appear to be a 'mixed' colour as such, but the hair reflects the light in a way that gives it natural high and low lights. Not sure what they have done that is different from usual synthetic hair, but it still amazes me whenever I see it!
DeleteMy god that is awesome looking! The flow in the hair is astonishing! How do you shape the lace fabric to match the shape of your head? - Jorn.
DeleteThanks Jorn! If you look at my previous post called Full Cap Lace Base, you will see the bare lace cap. This was the first one that I made, so it's not great, but the idea behind it is the same as the blonde wig - essentially three separate pieces of lace, with 'darts' sewn in to make it conform to the rounded head shape.
Deletehttp://hairsay514.blogspot.ca/2013/03/full-cap-lace-base.html