Yarn Wig :: Tutorial

 I love when a project you imagine in your mind materializes just the way you want it to. I am so excited about this wig! It's a little bit ridiculous, but perfect for a Halloween costume.

Here's how I did it:

Post Edit: I've recently realized this tutorial has been viewed and used by lots of people, and I also realize it needs some updating since I made it three years ago.

Hopefully these updates will answer some questions you may have...

1. Measure your child's head from the middle of the forehead to the middle of the neck - ours was about 16 inches.

2. Cut out a base strip of felt 16 inches long, 4-5 inches wide. This will be the "spine" of the wig. (Preferably you should use the same color of felt as the color of your yarn, but I was too excited to start this project, and I didn't have red. So I used light blue. You can see mine is only 1.5 inches wide in the picture, but I think wider would be better. )

3. Cut the yarn into "hair". I cut it about 55 inches long. This is a generous length, but you want to ensure that there is plenty of wiggle room. Don't worry about lining the hairs exactly side by side. Just make sure there is a good amount so there aren't any bald spots.

4. Center the hairs over the the spine.

 5. In order to transfer the hair to the sewing machine, I placed another felt strip on top, sandwiching the hair. Pin the two felt strips together.

6. Now you are going to sew the hair to the spine using a zigzag stitch.

7. As you go, press the yarn/hair flat and taut as you feed it into the sewing machine. Peal back the top felt piece as you go.

Here is what the underside of the wig will look like.

 Here is the top.

8. Take the wig into the bathroom and put it on your own head to straiten and braid. (Trust me, do not use your little girl's head; she will be way too excited and won't hold still). Trim off the uneven ends.

So...how does the wig stay on your head? Good question. Braiding it into two braids helps balance it, but what worked for us is wearing a hat on top. Some people have sewed in the crotch/waistband area of pantyhose (new of course haha). 

Here is a picture of the final ensemble.

The hat really anchors the wig into place. 

Here is another example of what you can do with the wig.

Mary (who also posts amazing things on this blog) created this whole Raggedy Anne costume.

She ended up sewing the wig onto the bonnet and giving it a hair cut.

That costume deserves a post of its own though, am I right?