Three Wee Wigs

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The triple flip girls didn’t want to be bald, so I made them wigs. The wigs are three different colors and three variations of the same wig-making method.

When I make new wigs for old dolls, my goal is to make them from appropriate material in an appropriate color and style. I do not attempt to fool anyone into thinking that the wig is original, that would be cheating.

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For such small dolls, I prefer to use English Mohair (top) instead of wefted mohair. English mohair comes in a long rope, but the fibers are not interwoven. It cannot be brushed. Wefted mohair is made from locks of hair sewn in strips. It can be brushed, but usually is too thick for tiny wigs.

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I get my English mohair from Dollspart Supply and usually use Light Blond, Golden Blond or Brunette. These are the colors most found on antique all-bisque dolls.

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These are my basic wig-making tools. Today, I won’t be curling the mohair, so I won’t need the permanent rods, bobby pins or cut straws. I’ll show you how I use the other bits as I go along.

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To choose the right color, I drape a tiny bit of the mohair over the doll’s head to see if the color will work with her complexion.

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I start by measuring the doll’s head (top of ear to top of ear and hairline front to back) to make a wig cap. For these caps I used crinoline, a stiffened woven cotton. When crinoline is wet, it can be shaped and it holds its shape when it drys. You can also use lightweight buckram. Both can be hard to find. I get mine online from Judith M Millinery Supply House.

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All three dolls’ heads measured the same, so I cut three matching circles. These can be trimmed when they’re on the dolls’ heads, if necessary.

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Here’s what an antique wig cap looks like. It is made from stiffened fabric. You can try this if you can’t find crinoline or buckram.

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One of the dolls has a dome head, so I just wet the crinoline circle, cover it with a bit of plastic wrap and mold it to her head. Everything is held down by a rubber band.

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The other two dolls have open crowns, so I cut a small styrofoam ball with a serrated knife to make a temporary pate. This type of doll usually did not have a cork pate.

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The styrofoam can be squished gently into shape.

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The plastic wrap keeps the crinoline from drying thoroughly, so I only keep it on for a couple of hours, then gently remove it and let the crinoline finish drying into shape.

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Since the wigs will all have center parts, I use curl papers cut in half to mark the size of the part and to cover the mohair when I sew it. For a part with pigtails, measure the distance from the hairline at the forehead to the hairline at the neck. For a simple center part, measure from the hairline at the forehead to the back of the crown. Mark this measurement on the paper.

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Separate out a thin width of the mohair and cut it longer than you think you’ll need. One piece will drape over the doll’s head with the part sewn in.

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Lay the mohair, centered over one piece of curl paper.

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Place the marked paper over the mohair and smooth the mohair out between the markings.

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Using matching thread and a tiny stitch on your sewing machine, stitch from front to back, ending and beginning past the mohair.

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The stitching perforates the paper and makes it easy to tear away.

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Cover the doll’s head with plastic wrap again and place the pate over the wrap. We will be gluing the wig to the pate, not directly to the doll’s head.

If I just placed the mohair with the sewn part on the doll’s head, the wig would gap in the back. So, you will need another small section of mohair to fill the gap. You won’t need this extra piece for the wig with pigtails since the part goes all the way across the doll’s head.

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I use white glue (Elmer’s or Tacky Glue) for wigs. Start by running a line of glue over the top of the doll’s head.

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Then place the loose mohair into the glue. Yes, it gets messy.

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Put more glue over the pate and the center section of mohair.

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Cut the stitching to 1/4″ and tuck it under.

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Smooth the mohair evenly over the doll’s head, keeping the part straight. Don’t worry if a bit of glue seeps through. It dries clear.

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Here’s how it looks in the back, with the center section added.

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Cover with plastic wrap and let the glue dry. When it is dry, peel the wig cap gently away from the under layer of plastic wrap and you’re ready to style the wig.

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For bangs (or fringe), place the center section of the wig forward, leaving it long enough to trim the bangs/fringe later.

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For a single braid, divide the mohair into three sections and braid tightly.

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For pigtails, divide the hair into two even sections, then braid each section. I use string to tie the braids. Sometimes I use a small pair of forceps to hold the knot while tying it.

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The bangs/fringe always want to stick straight out, so I wet them, then tape them into position with hair set tape. This tape is easy to remove, but sticks to wet hair.

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The ends of the hair and the bangs/fringe will be too thick, so I thin them with sharp scissors. I cut up into the hair, then comb out the excess with the scissors. Do this over a trash can. It’s messy.

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I sometimes wet the ends and wrap them with tape to get a more natural look.

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Here are three different wigs, made with the same method, for my triple flip dolls. I’ll add ribbon bows to cover the string later.

You can use sharp scissors to trim away the flyaway bits. Don’t pull the flyaways or you’ll make a mess. If you like, you can use hair spray to smooth out the wig, but it will stiffen it.

There are lots more options for hair styles with this type of wig. You can curl the hair, make a side part, make a short bob, etc.

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments about this tutorial. I love to hear from my readers.

Comments

Three Wee Wigs — 19 Comments

  1. I’ve never tried to make a doll wig (and I don’t know if I will since most of my dolls are modern), but I found this whole process really fascinating.

  2. Hi, i collect all bisques and have never dared make their wigs. I just may give it a try now that I have seen thatbit isnt as difficult as I thought. Tiny wigs are so hard to find!

      • Thanks for the tip, I will,probably have to make my doll’s wigs. At least I will for the black,ones anyway. All the mignonette wigs I have seen for sale are blonde or brown and very few black ones.
        I have a couple of German black dolls with orginal wigs and I would love to be able to make/ buy wigs like these for my other black dolls. Mildred Seeley’s book ” The Dollmakers Workbook All-Bisque Dolls” shows a style she calls Medusa that is close the the orginal black dolls wig. It is difficult to describe, sort of tiny rolls all over the head that look like tight curls.My French black mignonettes have long black hair, no curls. I can see if I can get a good photo of these German doll orginal wigs.

        • Another option is lambskin with the wool on it. I have purchased it in black in two different lengths. It was from Jean Nordquist many years ago.

          • I didnt think of that, thank you! On Ebay I just bought a lot of mohair on the skin for wigs and included in the lot was a small piece of white/cream lambskin with the tiny little curles. I will have to see about coloring that. I just found out that if you lookmon Dollspart site, lookmatbthe Bravot wigs. You can go to the Bravot site for details butvthey have tiny mignonette wigs in several styles and in many colors including black!!!!! The Bravot wigs are made in France, even better!
            Your hand sewing tutorial,is extremely helpful. It has answered several questions I had that I just couldnt find answers for anywhere. I will keep,working on my tiny dress and send you a photo when I am finished.
            I have another question for you…Have you ever had to restring your Sustrac doll? Mine, I believe has either orginal or very very old stringing and I am so afraid it will suddenly give way and that tiny elbow ball will be lost. I am considering restringing it. I have restrung other all bisques but am intimidated by my Sustrac.

          • I have ordered directly from Bravot, too. Great service. No, I haven’t restrung my Sustrac. I’m glad the tutorial helped!

  3. Thank you so much for this tutorial. I have quite a few bisque, bald, dolls needing wigs and had been mulling creating wigs so your instructions are extremely helpful. I love your blog!

  4. Hi I have a question I was hoping to get help with. I have a mohair wig thats thinned out really badly in the back. I do have the skull cap and pate. I just got some unwefted mohair and I was wondering how do I attach it to the cap and weave it into the existing mohair. Thank you

    • Hi, Without seeing the wig, I can’t give specifics, but normally, you would lift up the existing hair and sew small strips of the wefted mohair onto the cap to fill in the gaps. Then, you can trim and style the hair. Hope this helps, Emily

  5. Thank you Emily, I was only able to get unwefted hair. I can def send you a photo of the wig if you need it. Please let me know and where to send it. How would I do it with unwefted hair. Thank you for your help.

    • Oops, I read your first question wrong. It’s a bit trickier with unwefted hair. Have you worked with unwefted mohair before? You cannot comb it because the strands are just laid next to each other, but it can be curled. If it were me, I’d just use white tacky glue and glue in bits of the mohair to fill in. Or I’d just get a new wig…

  6. Thank you Emily. I will try the tacky glue. I wanted to try and save her wig. I tried to get wefted hair and havent been able to find it. If it doesnt work I will get a new wig. Thank you so very much

  7. My husband was 4 y/o when he got his first haircut. Would love to have a wig made for a doll that was given to me. It’s a early 1900s with a buckram pate. If this could be done, this could be pass down gererations. he is now decease but would be 82 y/o this yr. have a big problem. I am 81 y/o with arthritis and my hands are to crippled to do anything like making a wig.For years made clothing for antique dolls in their time for people and friends. That has been taken away too. Have been looking for years for someone to help me. Do you know of someone who could do this for me? Who knows, maybe I don’t have enough hair,but at least I tried. Want someone that can be trusted. Thank you for reading this book and thank the Lord I found you. My kids thought I needed an iPad. Now I know why. Lol

  8. I have a human hair wig to replace a lost wig on a bisque AM doll with a pate.
    1. Cardboard pate? cork Pate? I have both.
    2 PRIMARY question is what glue do you use to attach the wig to the bisque head and pate? I work with compo dolls and I cannot find the answers to either of these questions. Obviously, you DO have the answers! Many thanks.

    • The reason you can’t find information on glueing down wigs is that on antique bisque dolls, the wig is normally not glued down to either the pate or the head. That way the head can be examined or the wig can easily be changed or replaced. If you do decide to glue the wig, use only a few dots of a white glue like Elmer’s or tacky glue just to hold it in place. Either white glue can be removed, if necessary, with water. A stronger glue can damage the head when removing the wig. Or you can use a tiny dab of museum wax. Hope this helps.

  9. thank you for your reply.
    So what holds the wig on the head?
    And is the hole for the pate closed with cork or will a purchased cardboard work?

  10. If the wig fits properly it doesn’t need glue.
    Also, I forgot to mention that it is helpful to be able to remove the wig when redressing the doll so that you don’t damage the wig/hairstyle.
    Cork pates normally fit snugly inside the opening in the doll’s head without glue. For cardboard pates, you can use a few dots of white glue, but I normally just sit them on the doll’s head before adding the wig.
    If you plan to actively play with the doll, you will probably want to use a bit of glue. But if the doll will be displayed, glue really isn’t necessary.