Hard Cap wigging and rooting with Acetate -- tutorial part 1

[Czanne]

Hi, everyone. I promised a wig cap tutorial/tips for acetate and while I'm a little late, here's part one. (We'll get to hairline in the next one.)

The tutorial is a linked album at flickr, here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/129794154 ... 442501011/

My comments are in the description, so follow each image at your leisure.

Tools and materials:
-- 1 prepped hard cap for your doll. These are custom to the doll. I am happy to provide pointers on how I do it, but there are a ton of methods out there. I started with Ira_Scargeer's anatomical wig tutorial at Deviant art and refined her methods to suit me.
-- Needles -- at least one, I prefer 4-5 dozen. I use embroidery needles. They have a sharp point and a large eye. Mostly, I use size 7-9. I do not recommend going bigger than a size 5 (the larger the needle, the smaller the number, since the sizing is based on wire gauge) nor finer than a size 12. A large bore needle will make large holes in the cap that won't heal and will be obvious; a small one is likely to bend or break. Caps are tough. I strongly recommend using the very best needles you can afford -- French or English made Clovers, John James or Bohin. Your needles must have polished eyes rather than just being hot pulled and twisted (as cheaper needles are.) One packet of Bohin's are $5 and will probably not be local products for you, but unpolished eyes will do nothing other than tear up the hair strands, no matter what material you're using. Also, that packet of Bohins will last for years. Dritz, Singer and Michaels' house brand are useless for almost all sewing, not just rooting. (Off soapbox.) Use very good needles. (As much as I hate to give them any credit at all, Hobby Lobby's house brand of embroidery needles are very good needles.)

-- 1 hank of hair, divided per your length. I do not suggest using this method for very short styles unless you want to significantly cut your doll's hair after you've rooted it. You need about 15cm of strand to successfully root, which is shoulder length on most 1/3 scale, mid back on 1/4. Rule of thumb for 1/3 scale: 1/4 of a hank is 23 cm, and roots to about bra strap length. 1/3 hank is about waist length. 1/2 hank is low butt to mid-thigh length. 1 hank of hair will root 1 full 1/3 cap if the hank is cut in thirds, so one hank will make a waist length wig.

-- Urethane glue -- I use a urethane because you need it to be waterproof when dry, to have no acetone anywhere in it -- acetone eats acetate -- and flexible so you can get the cap on and off. I like liquid fusion because it's relatively inexpensive, has minimal odor, cleans up while wet with water and soap, and dries in a couple hours. If you have another waterproof, non-acetone, flexible glue that you prefer, please experiment and update us!

-- Thimble -- whatever type you use, you will need it to push the needle through the cap.

-- Comb, brush, spray bottle of water, commercial detangler (without silicones or oils). For styling.

Tips and tricks:

This process looks like hell on rusty wheels in progress. It gets better. Just accept that now and move on, or you will be anxious the entire time you're doing this.

This is a long process. It's repetitive. This is a project for sun/cold/rain/snow avoidance, or while recovering from injury or illness. It takes me about 10 hours of steady rooting and threading to fully root a cap, without doing the hairline. Normally, a wig cap is a week long, evening project. For your first cap, expect longer. You have a learning curve and your fingers may hurt until you build up the calluses you'll need.

You will curl the sideburns of the cap, and probably a hairline, either at nape or forehead. Don't worry about it. We'll fix it.

Acetate has the same tensile strength as fine human hair. That means it is strong, but if you yank on it, it will splinter and break. Treat it like you treat your own or a loved one's hair -- brush gently, comb carefully, be extra careful when it's wet.

Acetate and acetone are mortal enemies. If you get acetone on an acetate wig, it will become a blob of plastic before you can wash it off. No acetone. Ever.

Acetate will take a dye, under specific circumstances. It does dye with human hair dye, if you leave the dye on it for at least 5 hours. You'll get a color close to the box sample. Rinse carefully to avoid resin staining. I have no idea of dye permanence or if it will do long-term damage. Probably, on the latter. But hair dye is the only commonly available dye I've found that will dye Dollyhair's acetate fiber. Acid dye rinses right off; fiber reactive dye does not react, and alcohol-based ink dye (the stuff used for piñatas) only lasts one wash.

Acetate fiber is normally dyed at the flake stage, before it is even turned into filament. That means that you may be able to find custom colors of dead stock -- Start with thrift stores and estate sales. I don't guarantee you'll find it, and old cone fiber is not the same stuff. Acetate is still in use in the garment industry, but it's not as strong as rayon, deteriorates faster, requires more delicate treatment, and is more industrially difficult and environmentally destructive to make. Spun rayon fiber should work similarly to Acetate, but I haven't found a good source yet for it. Rayon roving would be annoying for this purpose, but if you also spin, it might work.

Dollyhair's acetate is stranded. This is to your advantage. Don't separate the strands; we do that after rooting.

I honestly don't know if stranded acetate will hold up to vinyl rooting. My suspicion is not well, if at all. I'd suggest if you want an acetate wig for a vinyl doll that you create a custom cap, root that, then secure it. Vinyl requires significantly more force to pull the needle than does organza and glue. Every gram of force on the needle is a gram of force on the strand, and acetate does break. Also, for very small heads, getting one's fingers and needle in and around a hard cap is much easier than trying to needle through a neck hole. I've done nothing with 1/6 scale for this, but the principles should apply.

Root thinly. You can always go back and add extra strands to fill in, but it's a huge pain to thin a rooted wig. Most people have thinner rather than thicker hair. What feels thin for us at 1/3 scale is actually pretty thick for the dolls, so go thin. My suggested density is about 15 stitches per square centimeter. You also want to root randomly, because hair on the head swirls and meanders. We'll go a little thicker at hairline, and thinner on sideburns.

For your first, use a smooth hairline, not a widow's peak or receding entradas. Be patient with yourself whilst learning.

If you get frustrated, put it down. Pet a pet or a loved one, go for a walk, stretch, drink, eat something. It's a wig, not the formula for cold fusion.

The basics are at the album -- more text tomorrow.

[Czanne]

Reserved for subsequent parts.

[Czanne]

Reserved for subsequent parts.

[Czanne]

Reserved for subsequent parts.