Friday, June 26, 2015

Cal's New Wig

I created a stocking cap for Cal soon after his arrival a year ago to conceal his unsightly hair loss.

Because his original human hair wig has several missing hair plugs, making a wig for Cal has been on my to-do list since his arrival with his sister, Tuesday, almost a year ago to this date.

Profile photos illustrate Cal's multiple missing hair plugs.
The original plan had been to maintain the artist's hair color choice, so I devised a plan to use hair clippings saved from my first grandson's first haircut*.  The clippings, unfortunately, were no where to be found.  I looked high and low to no avail.

Instead, I used strands from the Lock Twist braiding hair leftover from the locs fashioned for Tonner's Jon.  What was done to create the wig  is outlined below in the following photos and captions.

Cal's head is covered with two plastic twist tie bags that are secured with a rubber band around his neck.

A piece of brown cloth is placed over the plastic bags and secured in place with another rubber band.

A white ink pen marks what will become Cal's hairline in front.


The above photo and the next two illustrate an application of Aleene's Tacky Glue that covers the surface of the cloth  that will become the wig cap where the hair will be applied.



Overnight, the glue dries and stiffens that area of the cloth.

The extra fabric is trimmed away from the glued area to create the wig cap.  Cal tries it on for size.

The wig cap is trimmed a bit more. The braiding hair used, prior to clipping tiny portions of it, is shown above.

The strands of hair are clipped into small pieces.  (Not shown, another layer of Aleene's Tacky Glue is smeared over the wig cap before the cut pieces of hair are immediately applied to cover the surface.)

Small pieces of hair are applied over glue onto to the wig cap and allowed to dry overnight.

Cal wears his new wig, the color of which closely matches his original hair color.  Since it is a wig, it is removable, although chances of Cal wanting me to remove it are slim to none.

Close-up of Cal with his healthy head of auburn hair.

Tuesday joins her brother and is amazed by the amount of hair growth he has experienced in less than 48 hours.  Just like a typical teasing brother, Cal plans to keep his alopecia recovery treatment a secret from Tuesday, at least for a while. 
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*By the time I completed the draft of this post, I remembered using Grandson's first haircut clippings on two small Berenguer baby dolls in approximately 2008 (next photo).  It pleases me to have remembered what happened to the hair saved from his very first haircut.

LaNewborn Berenguer dolls have rooted hair courtesy of me and hair saved from my first Grandson's first haircut.  The girl has a ponytail with bangs and spiral curls on the sides.  The boy has a short Afro.



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14 comments:

  1. Wonderful job on Cal's new wig, I love it! Such a handsome little guy. :)

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    1. Thank you, Farrah Lily. Hair makes the man. In Cal's case, it really improves his appearance.

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  2. You did an amazing job. Cal looks so cute with his new wig.

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    1. Thanks Thammie... one doll project down, several more to tackle.

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  3. Great job Debbie! This is the exact way that I do to flock a doll's hair. The only difference is that I cut up the pieces of hair much smaller. Cal looks very happy.

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    1. I have never tried flocking, but I might try it soon. Will need to find a specimen. :-)

      Do you use synthetic hair or some other fibers for flocking?

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    1. Thanks, Muff. Not sure if it is crafty or frugal. I'd rather make it than pay for it, if I already have the materials on hand. :-)

      I also enjoy the feeling of accomplishment that results from making things on my own.

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  5. Nice job of Cal's wig. I see DBG Urgent Care Clinic is in full swing. I never tried making a wig before so this was easy technique to read about. The way your recycled your grandson hair is amazing too. I have a lock of my son's hair in locket and I never would of thought to put in on a doll.

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    1. This technique is pretty easy, Brini.

      I guess you know those two babies with my grandson's hair will be in my collection forever, unless I remove the hair first. :-)

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    2. I have a small doll that has my saved hair, Brini. I recently began saving the hair I shed with each shampoo for another doll that I plan to complete whenever time permits. So far I have a couple of snack-size Ziploc bags full, which is more than enough.

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  6. Oooohhh... thank you for this tutorial, Deb! This will be so helpful as I'm planning to do something like this to one of the second-hand Barbies I bought online a month ago... Thanks so much sharing this tut! Hugs!

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    1. You're welcome! I hope this technique works for you, Shasha.

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  7. ooo, jestem pod wraΕΌeniem zabiegΓ³w renowacyjnych :)
    teraz chłopak może zaprosić swą sympatię na tańce!

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