Dollieh Sanctuary

I used what’s called “roving yarn” (I think, it’s been years). It already looked kind of like dreadlocks so I thought it would be a nice and easy way to make a dread wig.



I had my mom crochet me a headcap out of a similarly colored yarn (not the roving but you could probably use that. Or a sock, I’ve tried that too and it’s not terrible).


Then I “tied” (Lark’s head knot) each strand to a similarly colored ribbon (again, you could probably just use the roving yarn, I like to be difficult). I made my strands twice as long as I wanted his hair because I knew I’d be tying it in half. Also, longer is better, you can cut it to the right length later.



Then I sewed it on. I took my first ribbon full of “dreads” and wrapped it in a very tight “U” shape for the top of the head.



After that I kept sewing on more ribbons with “dreads” on it. I kept sewing in a "U" shape, skipping a little space between the first row and the next because the yarn is pretty thick. I didn't need many ribbons to make it look full.

Once my wig was made, I added thin black string on a couple strands for decoration.


And threw some of it back into a ponytail.

This was my first attempt with the roving yarn, I think I just used a sock for the headcap and some of the strands on this one (particularly in the front) I rolled and made smaller.
I think I got it wet, rolled it really tight and then ran a low powered iron over it.

I didn’t like it as much, it wasn’t as full as I wanted.

And then there’s this wig:



I never finished it. It’s also made out of yarn but not the roving yarn. I used the wet, twist, iron method on this one and it was taking forever and killing my fingers. Then I found the roving yarn and hallelujah! I stopped working on this pain in the neck.

I attached it to a sock.



I prefer the crocheted headcap because 1.) My mommy made it! LOL 2.) It’s thicker and makes the hair look fuller and 3.) Because it’s so cushy, it protects his head from minor bumps and falls. :p


Let me know what you think!

Cool! I'd love to see that blue/black one finished, though - or perhaps you could redo it.

It is pretty cool... I might redo it with the roving yarn.

Thanks! That's really useful - it's not quite the style of dread I've got in mind (think a cyberpunk version of the rat's nest that Captain Jack has in POTC and you're halfway there) but it's giving definite hints of how to go about doing it.

Both wigs look incredible - I'd also love to see what the final picture for the blue/black wig was going to be, it looks amazing even unfinished

Yay dreds! I love working with wool, it is so versatile. I have made a human sized dred wig for cosplay in a similar fashion (crocheted a cap, used Lark's Head Knots).

Your guy looks great in those wigs, they give him so much character. And it is awesome that they add head protection!

Eseme

I use a crochet wig cap for Richi's wig. Her locs are modeled on my locs. I really like a cashmere/mohair mix for tiny dolls.

This is the basic wig tutorial that I have used for years. It makes the best wig cap ever and you can do anything with it. I recently made an SD wig using Alpaca from JimmyBeanWool and used this wig cap.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/29184580@N04/albums/72157619529864003