When my first Baby Elf from DreamHigh Studio arrived last summer, I found her head way too bare looking. But I didn't want to make a wig that would make her head look even bigger, so I painted some hair on her.
My intentions were to paint hair on my second baby elf and all the faceplates. But that meant both dolls would look exactly the same, which didn't seem all that appealing.
But then, when everyone started getting their own baby elves, someone posted a wig making tutorial on Facebook that showed how to make a really wispy baby wig. It looked adorable, so I thought I'd give it a try. The wig cap was made the same way I always do, by first covering the entire doll with two layers of plastic wrap, then wrapping the head with a long strip of 1/2" wide peach coloured tulle. The wig cap tends to shrink a bit, if the tulle is pulled tight, so it's important not to stretch the tulle when wrapping the head. It was convenient that the doll didn't have eye lashes, so I could tie string around her head so the tulle was nice and smooth. Then I painted on the first layer of Gemtack glue. It has to be Gemtack glue since it dries waterproof, which means the wig can be wet later, without falling apart. After the first layer of glue dried, I painted on a second layer.
But then, when everyone started getting their own baby elves, someone posted a wig making tutorial on Facebook that showed how to make a really wispy baby wig. It looked adorable, so I thought I'd give it a try. The wig cap was made the same way I always do, by first covering the entire doll with two layers of plastic wrap, then wrapping the head with a long strip of 1/2" wide peach coloured tulle. The wig cap tends to shrink a bit, if the tulle is pulled tight, so it's important not to stretch the tulle when wrapping the head. It was convenient that the doll didn't have eye lashes, so I could tie string around her head so the tulle was nice and smooth. Then I painted on the first layer of Gemtack glue. It has to be Gemtack glue since it dries waterproof, which means the wig can be wet later, without falling apart. After the first layer of glue dried, I painted on a second layer.
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When the second layer had dried, I carefully drew on the edges of the hairline so I'd know where to cut the cap. Then I removed the tulle cap, and the plastic wrap from the doll. I cut the wig cap along the lines I'd drawn. Then I covered the baby's head with a new double layer of plastic wrap, and secured it around her neck. (which always feels so wrong, like I'm suffocating the doll)
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Then I started the tedious task of gluing on individual tufts of mohair, by first brushing a line of glue on the wig, positioning the end of a thin wisp of mohair on the glue, and then using the brush with more glue to securely hold the mohair in place. Each time more mohair was added, it needed to completely dry before more could be glued on. I was working on two wigs at once, each a different colour, so had to be careful not to mix up the two colours of mohair.
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I kept gluing on thin wisps of mohair until I reached the crown...
Then I brushed some glue into the middle of the crown, and laid two thin strips of longer mohair criss-cross across the crown. When the glue was getting tacky I pressed it down with the edge of a comb to suggest a 'part'. I'd occasionally press the 'centre part' until the glue had dried.
When the wigs were thoroughly dry - I waited 24 hours to make sure - I wet the wigs, carefully combed the mohair, and applied a bit of hair gel. Then I started trimming the hair, snipping upwards towards the crown one tiny bit at a time. I was very pleased with the final result - nice thin, wispy baby wigs that didn't make their heads look bigger...
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