Another Double Post! Wig Making Supplies - Foundation Bases and Galloon

Yes, I finally ordered my base materials and galloon. It took me long enough!

When I think back to starting this journey in September 2010, it seems to have been a lengthy process to even get to this point. One of the big factors for me has been finances. Proper wig making is not cheap! Initially one of my reasons for wanting to make my own hair pieces and wigs was because I felt that I could get a good quality and better fitting product by making it myself for a lot less cost than if I bought one from a sheitel macher (Jewish wig maker) or other custom wig maker. The reality is somewhat different.

Of course the actual monetary cost of the equipment and consumable products such as the hair, the foundation materials and the galloon is less than you would pay for a fully customised, fully hand tied, good quality human hair wig. However, there is a value to one's time and by not taking into account the man-power hours it will have taken me to make the finished product, I am not accounting for some of the wig's value. Part of the cost of this type of wig is the hours spent making the cap, fitting it properly and then ventilating the hair. Certainly at my novice level the number of hours taken to make a wig will be significantly more than a seasoned professional. For me, this is not such an issue, as I have finished my studies and some of my freelance work has tailed off for the summer, however, for other people I can see that the spare time needed would be really hard to come by if working and perhaps raising a family. For a lot of people, I guess it really would be easier and more cost-effective to purchase a wig.

Coming back to the cost - so, yes, the cost was a big factor and is one of the reasons it has taken me some time to get to this point in the learning process. I took from September 2010 through till May 2011 to save up the 'spare' money to be able to invest in these products. I am glad I waited and did not put the purchases on a credit card, as by waiting I have actually learnt a lot more as I have spent the time doing research, watching other people's videos on YouTube and also getting hold of books.

Ordering the foundation materials felt very good; as if I have finally reached a significant point and am not just dreaming of an abstract concept. I must say, I really advocate bothering to order, and possibly having to pay for, samples of the nets and meshes if you are planning on making anything other than a full lace wig. The reason I say this is because wig making suppliers tend to assume a level of knowledge that in a novice is just not there. Their descriptions of products are generally very vague; as are the colours they refer to with the laces and other foundation materials. If I had ordered these products based on their descriptions alone, I would definitely have ended up with either the wrong products or, perhaps a better way of putting it, laces and other base materials that were not optimal/the best for my personal needs and situation. By ordering the samples, even though it cost me a lot of money to do so, I ended up being able to really look at, feel, and place against my skin the different options available. Some of them I immediately could see were unsuitable for my needs at this time and others were not a good colour match or were completely different to how I had imagined.

Now I just have to wait for the order to be delivered. I think it will probably come sometime in the early part of next week. I shall share what I receive on this blog. In the meantime, I continue to work on my prototype wig foundation cap - I will be taking more pictures as I go along and will post another update on here soon.

Double Post Today - Finished The Top and Ordered Samples

This is my second post today as I answered a query about wig springs in my first, which you can find here:

http://makingwigs.blogspot.com/2011/06/wig-springs.html

I finally finished my practice top piece, which would constitute the area of a topper or a large closure or the top of a wig. I am quite pleased with it as I feel that I achieved the flow of the corners  and the crown hair falling down the back, which is why I wanted to make this - to learn how to do that. Here is the finished item:

I have now finished with the styrofoam head and moved onto using the canvas wig block. The other day I covered most of it in blue tape. If you want to know about this tape, you can read about it here: http://makingwigs.blogspot.com/2011/05/beginning-what-you-need-to-get-started.html

Bizarrely, I found covering the canvas wig head with the tape to be quite difficult as the head is rounded and the tape is straight and it's hard to cover it without making 'bubbles' and 'pleats' in it. In the end, I made a few slits in the tape where it wanted to make a pleat and this seemed to help to avoid lots of bumping.

The finished product - this photo shows the front; the back has the blue tape extending down the entire length of it.

My next project is to make more of a regular-style wig cap (foundation). To do this you need galloon, which I don't have yet. So I am utilising some ribbon that I have in my sewing supplies and which I will not be using for anything else. I prefer to use things up that I already have as I am only learning and I would rather not waste good money on things I end up chucking away. At some point, I will post a new entry about the process of making a regular-style wig cap. I am trying to take photos as I go along so that it is helpful to others who may wish to have a go at making something similar.

In the meantime, I managed to order my set of samples from another wig making supplies company; these samples are all types of foundation materials and ribbons. Ordering them has cost me quite a bit of money, as I have to pay to get them from abroad, but it is a necessary step and expense. If I was going to make a lace wig - full or lace front, I would only need lace. However, because I want to make a regular-style wig that is fully hand tied, I need to see what other materials are available so that I can design a custom wig cap that will suit me and my needs.