Important Considerations When Making a Wig or Hairpiece Foundation - Part 2

One of the aspects of making wig foundations (caps) and hairpiece bases that I realised early on is: the necessity to think ahead, because what you make at the foundation/base stage, can have a massive impact on what you eventually achieve after all the hours of hard work. No one wants to waste lace, hair or other materials. It can be equally demoralising to realise you have wasted a lot of time and energy, making something that is not quite right. Of course in reality, no experience is wasted - we learn through our mistakes, or at least we should be striving to do so. Even in a taught situation, where one is receiving hands-on teaching and training from a tutor/teacher, we still learn through our own efforts and attempts at achieving what is being asked of us.

As part of your wig design and making, don't forget the above steps!

For me, the necessity to think ahead has been highlighted by my own wig making mistakes. I am at a point now where my mind is capable of thinking ahead to other stages in the wig making process, that are later down the line, and assessing whether there is 'going to be a problem'. This is a really good position to be in! If you are earlier in learning the wig making process, this is what you want to be aiming for, because in doing so you will reach the stage of being able to anticipate problems before they occur. The end result will be much better, and you will find your are making better use of materials (less waste) and your time and energy.

Being able to think ahead is closely linked to being able to honestly evaluate your own work. An example of this for me has been when I made my non-bonded galloon edge wig. Overall the cap design works well, but there are things I would change if I made one again. For example, I would not bother to make an extended nape. At the time I made the extended nape because I was curious as to how it would look, and whether it might be a good option for me. In reality, not only did it add on extra work in terms of making it and ventilating it (it adds another few inches of ventilation vertically, and goodness knows how much horiztontally), but it also is unnecessary for my daily wear needs. I learnt that I don't need it, but I also learnt that if I do need it one day (because I want a certain type of hair style), I will be sure to make it differently, and to make it only on a specific type of wig: one that I would wear for special occasions that required me to have my hair up.

I believe it is therefore important to not just keep making items, but to spend time noting what works and what doesn't. I know from a friend's experience that it is very easy to get trapped into the cycle of making more and more wig foundations for example, and finding that they don't fit the way you thought they were going to. Not only is this rather exhausting, but it is also a waste of resources. If something doesn't work, it can be very helpful to not just think: that didn't work, but to figure out why, and to learn from that experience too. Sometimes a bit of brainstorming and discussion with others can be really helpful.