Thread: Hair falls, hair ribbons, hair dangles, hair thingamabobs

I want to learn how to make ornaments that attach to the hair and hang down. I know how to sew, spin, felt, braid etc, but with straight shiny hair that doesn't like holding so much as a hair clip in it I've never given much thought as to 1) what would look good hanging in hair and 2) how to keep it there.

It would be very helpful to me to know what the favorite components of dangling hair falls (or whatever they are called) are, suggested way to hold them together into a cohesive unit and how you attach them to your head.

Take a little piece of hair, twist in into a little pincurl-ish thing, hairspray it. Then you can poke a hanging, dangling piece that is attached to a hair comb into it. You can also use bobby pins, disguise with pieces of the hanging stuff. My hair is very fine & slippery & I have done this.

Interesting. Thank you.

I will do mini braids (pinch braids) and clip into them.

A hair-spray-less solution is good to have.

Oh! And if you want to put something into your hair, I really like to use alligator clips - be gentle putting them in, but if you do the pincurl thing, the alligator clips will hold on beautifully. I also am very fond of using bobby pins in an X shape (or two crossed x shapes) with things on the pins, normally flowers and leaves.

You can use flat clips, too - look up tutorials for making baby boutique bows, cover them with ribbon and line them with a line of glue and they will stick nicely as long as they aren't too heavy.

I have seen people use fishing hardware to create hair dangles that can twist and rotate freely, but for the life of me, I don't know what they are called - but they are best for danglies that do not lay against the hair - more like for danglies on the end of a hair stick.

my favorite way to hold on hair falls, though, is to tie/wrap them around small buns on top of the head (See avatar photo) - if you have shorter or layered hair, use a "whirl a style" bun helper - they make small, neat, buns that don't take a lot of hair from your length. If you have huge hair falls, it totally covers the small buns. If you have mini falls, they will flow from the buns.

My friend did a youtube video on how to attach hair ornaments w/out them falling off: The Gypsy Kiss Costuming Tutorial Videos

That's a good video! I have that kind of straight hair that stuff slides out of.

If you're into making your own hair falls, I suggest Quinster's Page of everything synthetic hair related.
Guide to synthetic hair extensions

There is also the Fake Hair LiveJournal Community, though they feature tutorials and photos of dreads more than anything else.
fakehair - Community Profile

Finally, there are tutorials posted by Delic from the Fake Hair LJ community. She has done tutorials on dreading, as well as posted several links of her own on how to work with synthetic hair.
Delic's Fake Hair Tutorial Page

I myself have worked with synthetic hair before, and attacked Toyokalon grade hair in three colours to one of those wire headbands to give my hair a bit of length, as well as attaching it to a comb and setting it in place that way. I just had to loosely pinch braid my own hair in various places to get it to stay.

ragdoll also had tutorials up at one point, though I'm not sure if they do anymore or if the buisness has gone under.

I had made a post with everything you wanted to know about Synthetic hair stuff a while back, but nopt sure if it's still around or not.

~Kaylin

Quinster's had some very helpful pictures, thank you.
I'm not really a fan of synthetic dreads, but the home page for the Fake Hair community has some great member rules and was worth reading!

I'm also a member of the everything-falls-out-of-my-hair club. My hair is really long and I don't look forward to having my hair tangled in a cowrie fall. EEee!

Make a bun from the hair on the top or front of your scalp (or of all of it) and then literally tie things onto the bun and poke things into it. I've seen other dancers use a small bun as an anchor for falls and fake hair many times.

Good success. Hair spray is the devil!

I have hair that is really fine and slippery, so I like the following methods:

For flowers and little dangly bits, I like to attach them to an alice band, either close to my own hair colour, or covered in nice fabric.

For big dread falls, I use the goth method of making two buns or ponytails high up on my head (buns are more secure, but I cut my hair and now it's too short for that ). Then I attach the dreads to a piece of elastic lace and wrap that round the bun and tie in place. I usually hair pin it as well to ensure they don't fly off.

I had to look up 'alice band' :)

I also have the slippery hair and hate hair spray, so I use a lot of braids to attach things. Sometimes, depending on the look, I might make a 1 inch braid (lengthwise) to clip things to (using little clippies, not sure what they're called - like this or this). That way I can clip things to the braids and it'll stay secure in the braid. Sometimes I braid my hair into twin buns and attach things there like most gals to regular buns, but I find the braids are SO much more secure. Just be careful not to make them too tight or you'll give yourself headaches pretty quick - the added weight can be a little aggravating!

One of the videos, above, showed a dancer putting a little braid UNDERNEATH the upper layer of hair, which I thought was a great idea.

How is your hair fall project going? I've been watching so many youtube videos on this stuff all weekend that my eyes are crossing. ..c:: I'm constructing a huge single one to wear high on the back of my head, and I've bought dark blue satin and brighter blue metallic fabric to cut into strips, several different spools of gold and silver ribbons and cording, some oilslick colored iridescent beads on a string, some white and some black glitter eyelash yarn, and I want to get some white and some black Kanekalon or other synthetic hair to make dreads because I think they'll give more visual weight to the whole thing. Everything else will be accents for the dreads.

I'm trying to get straight in my head now how to do the layers where the top part will be shorter and then it gets longer as it goes down my back. My hair is close to waist length now so my bottom layer will need to be at least that long. I'm planning to pull only some of it up in a bun to anchor the fall, so the fall needs to be as long as the hair that's left loose so it all flows together well.

My hairfall education is getting a special kick into high gear because the person who was SUPPOSED to show up and do a presentation for our organization on same just cancelled. Personal preference tends more towards non-hair falls.

Originally Posted by maurazebra

I had to look up 'alice band' :)

Me too! :-)

I will do mini braids (pinch braids) and clip into them.

That's what I was thinking too...start a cornrow, just for an inch or two and then use one of those little clear rubber bands to fasten it off, and let the rest hang free...clip your whatever-it-is to the braided part, and voila!

(Big words from someone who couldn't do a cornrow to save her life, but I know some of y'all aren't so uncoordinated)

Yeah, the mini braids UNDER the top layer of hair was a great idea, IMO>

For me, the heavier, the harder to wear, like cowrie shells? omg, I don't know people can use those, they feel so heavy hanging down. I usually have my hair pulled back so that automatically helps stabilize any clips I put in; otherwise the only add-on piece I've used WITHOUT having my hair pulled back are regular hair extensions which aren't heavy at all.

My performers often use yarn falls, they're not heavy either - just hanging strands of fancy yarn attached to clips (I prefer regular barrettes, not alligator clips, as I find they often break when I use them!). But again, we usually have our hair pulled back, not hanging straight down.

Originally Posted by maurazebra

I want to learn how to make ornaments that attach to the hair and hang down. I know how to sew, spin, felt, braid etc, but with straight shiny hair that doesn't like holding so much as a hair clip in it I've never given much thought as to 1) what would look good hanging in hair and 2) how to keep it there.

It would be very helpful to me to know what the favorite components of dangling hair falls (or whatever they are called) are, suggested way to hold them together into a cohesive unit and how you attach them to your head.

Perhaps not what you are looking for, but those little crocheted beaded caps with strings of beads hanging down are lightweight, fun and easy to wear.

I have decided to add two largish black roses to either side of the fall when I put it on. Or maybe trios of not so large black and white flowers together, one little bouquet on each side. I'll have them on separate barrettes and not part of the fall, one reason being to keep so much weight from dragging on one spot of my head and causing misery.

I got some black Kanekalon synthetic hair today, a couple of little strips of snow white synthetic hair for some accents, saved links to my favorite youtube instructionals, and I'll work on this this weekend. I've still got to get a flat iron for steaming the dreads, some elastic to string everything on that will then tie around my bun, and figure out lengths to get the layered look I want. When I start putting all this together this weekend, I will take pics and post them.

I found a cowrie fall tutorial here.

Made one this weekend. Cool!

These are the nuts: Wig clips. Combination very small comb and a flexible clip-in thing. You can attach it to a flower or a headband to keep it in place. I had not heard of them until a workshop in January.

Haven't tried them yet.

Anybody know if there's a source somewhere for faux cowrie shells? (I know faux cowrie shells exist but I don't think they're that common.) The real ones aren't very vegetarian...

Would second hand ones be okay? I've found them in thrift shops a couple times.

Yeah, pre-loved is fine. You're right, I should start checking the thrift stores.