To make sewing as easy as possible & to avoid the hair getting caught in the feed dogs, I placed a regular sheet of white paper beneath the hair.  

See the complete photo journal on how the Wig Wefts were made or  select "Read More" for the rest of this post ...

...continuing on with preparing the loose doll hair for wefting.  Of the completed wraps, the shorter one worked best the for photos.  I drew a couple of arrows on the cardboard as reference showing the top which is the area that will be sewn.

Step 1 was to wrapping the hair around a cardboard box.

Step 2 was to tape the upper edge.  I used the narrowest masking tape that we had.  It still was a bit too wide so cut in half lengthwise, then applied it very lightly to upper edge.

Step 3 was cutting the bottom of the hair.  The flattened cardboard box worked quite well, it was quite easy to slip the end of the scizzors between the cardboard & get an even cut.

I came across a rather inexpensive package of doll hair & couldn't resist.  The last batch of hair was a shank of straight hair so could jump right into wefting.  

This package is loose & curly with lots of coils so needs a bit of prep before sewing the wefts.  It is one continuous length with several strands of hair grouped together.  It took a bit of digging to find the end!  

To make it more manageable & to get consistent lengths, I have wrapped it around a flattened cardboard box.  I wrap the strand around a half dozen times & gently slide it to one side.  This is producing the even layer that I was hoping for.  The clip board is merely to hold the hair from unravelling when I set it down.

I need several different lengths & using cardboard provides great flexibility to accomplish this.  

A new addition to my studio is a Wig Making Stand.  The large end of the wooden egg is roughly the same size as the top of the Iplehouse EID head 8.5cm.  It is perfect for making a size 8-9 wig.  The egg is attached to a metal Christmas ornament stand.  In the first use of the stand it was rather top heavy with the egg so my husband secured it to a plywood base - many thanks!  It is now much more stable.  The entire cost for this is less $8.

Warmest wishes for a joyous Christmas with your loved ones filled with merriment.

A few of the progress photos that I took for my stocking patterns caught the edge of my sewing machine & it elicited the question "What is that under the sewing machine?".  I have an anti-slip mat underneath my sewing machine to stop it from shifting while I sew.   

This is by no means a specialty item, in fact it is a clear drawer liner.  I came across this at IKEA in the kitchen section some years back.  It sold by the roll that could be cut to fit into any drawer & was really inexpensive.  Not very exciting but extremely useful.  I decided to keep the roll in tact & let the excess drape down the back of the table.  I keep a variety of items near by the sewing machine (such as pin cushions, clippers, stitch ripper, tweezers, etc.) & the liner keeps them from slipping off the table.

Most of my stockings call for small amount of batting to lighting stuff heels & sometimes the toe area to retain the shape.  Usually less than an handful is needed.  This is one item that I never purchase.  I prefer to acquire the cut-offs from quilters because it is a more eco-friendly approach...

With each quilt made, it usually needs to squared off or trimmed before the final binding is applied to the edges. These batting cut-offs are perfect for this application.  The batting is new & already in small narrow pieces so can easily be torn off in bits to stuff heels/toes of a stocking.

If you do not have friend or acquaintance that quilts, check your community for  a quilt guild or better yet, the local seniors centre.  Many seniors quilt & will gladly put aside the cut-offs.  They are more than happy to assist others with their craft projects....

This is a great way to reuse/recycle & reduce the land fills.

I found the exercise of wig making both frustrating & enlightening.  Lots of lessons learned in the making of the first wig - mostly what not to do next time.  I tried numerous different ways to make the wefts & found that the last one to be the best.  It produced the smallest sewn area so was the most discreet & easiest to apply.  I will try this method again on the next wig.

Starting with the wig cap, I found that the shape/size, in the end was too large, mostly in the distance from front to back.  So will need reduce the base pattern to make it smaller for the next one. 

The second change that I would make is to reduce the number of wefts at the back.  It seemed like a good idea initially to give it fullness but it turns out to be just too much.  By eliminating some of wefts the drape will be better, less "bushy", & more natural.

The most important lesson was that the quality of the fibers makes it very difficult to control "fly aways".  This is not a heat resistant synthetic fiber so limited styling choices - will have to experiment some more.

Lastly, this shade of blonde is rather artificial & washes her out - just doesn't do Yur justice.  

The result is serviceable for the first attempt.  The wig will most likely be relegated to photos with hats in the long term.  Given that the price tag was $1.99 (and still have enough for another wig), it was well worth it for the learning experience...

She really needs some clothes - I think that the facial expression is one of disgust at still be in the shipping box!  I will be working on getting some patterns made over the next while for her.  I'm just in the process of learning how to use the new software, just for this purpose & it is taking a bit of time get to know the suite of products...more soon.

The stiletto stocking is finished.  The silver beading shines beautifully.  I decided to change the lace up at the front to a slightly wider ribbon to really highlight the corset style & show more satin.  Also laced from the bottom to the top so that the beading at the arch is more visible. 

Here's a quick peek at His & Hers...