Materials referenced in this document:
Aunt Lydia's Craft and Rug Yarn (AL's): Inexpensive craft yarn, available at Joanne Fabrics, online, some other craft stores, e-bay, etc (check useful links for online sources). The only stuff worth using is the 100% polyester that's either new or resembles the texture of the new stuff. It's currently still being made in Red, Pumpkin, Yellow, Green, Blue, Black, White, Brown, Beige, Red Rust, Wild Rose, Pink, and Natural. Discontinued colors (sometimes found on e-bay or other second-hand sources, or old stock in yarn stores) include steel gray, coral, adobe, wine, purple, lemon yellow, brick red, and so-on. It has a 4-6" staple fiber length, so don't try to fray it out much farther than that (though you can cheat in the back for something like Macavity by keeping the bottom few inches in yarn form). The white is very fake and plastic looking, but the black (though tinged either green or blue in the light) is very dark, soft, and easy to fray. I highly recommend using Floral Spray to finish wigs made with yarn, but it's not totally necessary.
Trait Tex Polyester (TT/Trait Tex)-: Somewhat more expensive craft yarn, only available through Blick Studio online. Slightly coarser than Aunt Lydia's with a smaller amount of wasted fuzz, at its best. At the worst, it can be too tight to fray or too wasted to fray- ordering online is kind of a shot in the dark. The white and gray are very good, though. Comes in convenient little baggie dispensers, and a few more colors than Aunt Lydia's. The black has no blue or green tint, but it's not quite as dark as Aunt Lydia's, and it's a bit harder to fray. The yellow is slightly less garish, and the brown is lighter than AL's. They are similar enough to mix in one wig, though- just don't use the same color to finish a spot you started in the other brand, because that'll be quite noticeable, especially white.
Crepe Wool/Crepe Hair (pronounced like the thin little pancake- "crayp"): My favorite for quick wigs. The most rewarding for a beginner. Comes in lots of beautiful colors, and if you're into dying things it's coarse mohair wool so use an acid dye and have fun! $5-$10 for an ounce retail, but of course you can hunt for it on e-bay and maybe get some really cheap. Doesn't come up very often on e-bay, though, and I like using the yard-long braids from Alcone and Stage Supply rather than a bunch of tiny packages marketed at doll makers.
Horse Hair: Starts out very straight. Add a little crimp and you've got a very passable yak alternative. It's about the same price as crepe wool ($10 a pound for 8" mane hair versus $5 an ounce doesn't sound about the same- but horse hair is heavier, so a pound of mane hair is about as much volume as two ounces of crepe wool ironed and combed into a pile) , but it's rather tricky to work with.
Yak Hair: To the costumer without connections in the theater world, Fly Fishing stores are really the only places to get it. Fortunately, you can get it pre-dyed in a good range of colors, it's very translucent so blending different colors together works very very well, and the length it typically comes in is perfect. Iron it to get rid of the tangled crimp, cut it in half most of the time, and be very patient. I don't recommend attempting a yak hair wig until you've gotten very good at tying horse hair knots, because they behave pretty much the same. It's gorgeous stuff, though, and if you're a very patient, die-hard costumer, it's worth the price to buy from a fishing store if that's the only place you can get it. So far it's the only place *I* can get it, and I'm just fine with paying retail so I can work with it.
This is part of a wig front hand-tied to fine wig lace with yak and horse hair.
Notice how little difference there is between the two hairs once the yak has
been ironed flatter and the horse has some slight crimp added to it; the
difference is in the translucence. Yak hair is very translucent, while horse
hair is mostly opaque with just a few of the thinner strands being translucent.
Most of the black and white in this piece are horse, the wide brown "root beer"
stripe is yak, and the silver gray is yak. The shape will be trimmed more
once the rest of the wig is completed. This is my first try with yak hair, and
I'm very pleased with it :)
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I started making wigs about 4 years ago, and have evolved my methods quite a long way. The first wig I made was quite beastly, from Red Heart yarn, black elastic-waist pantyhose, sewing big clumps to the cap with thread and needle, and fraying it with combs and a tooth brush. I also used clear acrylic spray to make the ears stand up, which soaked through to the base and made the bumpy interior very hard and rough. It was heavy, hot, uncomfortable, and didn't quite cover my ears. I still have it, although I don't know why... it's quite hideous. Anyway, those were the basic instructions I got from other websites at the time. Then, amazingly, someone wanted to pay me to make a wig for them. I'd already thought about sewing yarn directly into the cap using a big needle, which should work better, so I said okay I'll do it. I went shopping at a bunch of different places to try to find a good orange yarn; at this point, I was still just looking at yarns for color and not fiber content. At a specialty yarn shop that was going out of business I found some old Aunt Lydia's rug yarn, 100% polyester, and it came in some lovely earthy tones, and a nice orange. I bought it, went home and tried it, and was amazed at how nice and long and hair-like it frayed out to be. After that first wig I never used acrylic yarn in a wig again. These were still a far cry from my later developments, but I saw enough potential that I kept working with it.
Styrofoam wig block, scissors, needles, steel crochet hooks (1.25mm, .75mm),
control top pantyhose, glue, craft yarn, crepe wool, floral spray, slicker
brush, dog comb, wig lace, and hair styling wax.
I get my Styrofoam heads at a local costume display warehouse, but they're sold online a few places and at local wig stores and costume stores. Check around. Thrift stores usually have them but won't sell them, because they use them for display. Try to avoid spending more than about $4.
Aunt Lydia's 100% Polyester craft and rug yarn can be purchased at Joanne craft and fabric stores, online at Dick Blick Art Materials (and a few other places, but I don't have a full list of sources; just try a search engine), or sometimes on e-bay. Be warned about ebay yarn, though, because the formula for Aunt Lydia's has changed over the years, and some old yarn that people are selling won't work very good for wigs. Don't get it if it's not polyester, or if it has the words "Kodel" or "Dacron". That doesn't guarantee it, though, because I have some old 100% polyester that doesn't fray quite as good as the new stuff. Still, you might get lucky and get some good colors that they don't make anymore, like lemon yellow, brick, or steel grey. It currently comes in Red, Pumpkin, Yellow, Green, Blue, Natural, Brown, Black, and the harder-to-find Beige, Wild Rose, Pink, and Red Rust. Joanne Fabrics doesn't always carry the full range of colors, which is annoying because it's cheaper to buy in person.
Trait Tex can only (so far as I've been able to find) be purchased at Dick Blick, and it's more expensive than AL's, but it comes in a few colors that Aunt Lydia's doesn't make anymore. Also, the white is *much* much better looking than Aunt Lydia's white. The fibers are slightly thicker than Aunt Lydia's, so it's a bit higher quality. I don't like the black, though, because it's not as dark as AL's black (although AL's black usually has a bluish or greenish tinge to it in the light). Also, some of the Trait Tex I've gotten in some colors turned out to be unfrayable because it was either too tightly wound or had something else weird with the texture. The white and steel gray are good bets and very useful to get, though.
If you can get it and use it safely, Design Masters Floral Spray is an excellent color tool to use on yarn wigs. In addition to widening the range of colors you can get in your wig, it also coats the fibers with a matte finish, which makes it look a lot less plastic and sparkly, and slightly more like a natural fiber. Try to use it more to adjust the color of the yarn rather than paint a white wig, because you'll get better results that way. Any Reds Floral Spray comes in tend to be on the bright pink side when applied, no matter what it looks like on the can. Orange is mostly yellow, so a little layering will give you the colors you need. Don't use Floral Spray Indoors. This stuff is toxic, and you can get really sick if you're exposed to the fumes too much. It's happened to me twice. Invest in a respirator mask, the kind specifically made to protect against paint fumes. Get them where spray paint is sold, like hardware stores. Floral Spray will also make your wig stink like spray paint. Eventually it airs out mostly, and washing can help speed that up. It's completely permanent, which is also nice. A wire slicker brush helps keep the paint from clumping up the fibers if you brush it while it's still wet. Wear gloves, don't get it on your skin. It's non-toxic when dry, according to the can.
Panty Hose is the other key ingredient to a yarn wig. Real wigs are made from wig lace that's been carefully constructed to precisely fit the actor's head, but stretchy wig bases (also called caps) are better for fans for a number of reasons. I only use control top pantyhose, with a nylon/lycra blend, because regular nylons will snag and fall apart. I usually get med/tall nude cheap kind from a local liquidation store. You can also sometimes find them at a thrift store for really cheap, too. Don't get the kind with rubber elastic at the top like tights, get the kind with the folded-over edge.
There are many different ways to cut and sew the cap together, but the way I like to use most often is to cut it so that the seam on the inside makes either an "V" or an "X", depending on how much fabric the pair of pantyhose I'm using gives me to work with. Whip-stitch or Running stitch with regular needle and thread works fine, although if you want to figure out how to sew it on a machine that'd probably work as well. The fit should be snug but not tight, with the cap holding all of your hair and the band running along your hairline. Your ear lobes and part of your sideburns will probably stick out, but that's okay because you'll make flaps to cover them. Whether you wear the seam facing your head or the fur is up to you; I usually put the rough edge to the outside when attaching the fur with glue, and to the inside when working with little knots.
Ear flaps can be made a few different ways; I either use some of the fabric left over from the cap or a piece of wig lace, or both. With glue I like to have the fabric to attach it to, but it will also stick to the lace. When incorporating wig lace into the wig, I usually put it in three strips; one on each ear flap and another on the forehead. Real wig lace can be purchased from Alcone Company. It's very expensive, but you don't need a lot, and it's good and strong. A cheaper alternative is tulle (get it in the bridal section of any fabric store), but it's very flimsy and rips very easily. If you're careful with it it'll work fine. I use wig lace now, though, because it's good and sturdy.
