Miniature hair and wigging projects for dollhouses, roomboxes and dioramas

Viscose is the same fiber as rayon. There are other types of hair products, like mohair and other fibers like silk, which are great for hair. To test how silk performs, use a scrap of silk fabric and pull the threads. Keep it neat. Then spritz and wind around needles for curls etc. Very workable. The mohair can be out of scale, so it depends on your skill at manipulating the fibers. Real hair is too big, out of scale for miniatures.
Want sparkly fairy hair? Sprinkle diamond dust on hair after the doll is wigged.
Blow Dryer - Take an old mini headphone set & clip off the "male" end of the headphone. Next clip off the point of it & then mold clay around it to make it the same thickness as the rest of it; painted to match. The wire on the end is 2 plies stuck together just split it to get a single cord.
You can flatten out a strip of wigging and press it into your pleater and leave it to dry there..
You can braid a dampened piece and let it dry... then carefully unbraid it.
You can make a fat ringlet by wrapping a strip of wet or damp wigging around a knitting needle or other plastic tube-shape. Let dry, and then slide off and pull apart.
Take a bit of the hair, tear it to pieces, flatten into a "mat" and using a lot of tacky glue, glue it to the bald head. It takes only a little hair, and make it very thin while still providing full coverage. Establish the hair line in the front, sides, and back. Then start adding the final layer of hair. The "mat" gives the final layer something very secure to adhere to, so the style becomes the focus, not coverage. Takes much less hair to wig the doll, and is more realistic. Work slowly. Don't concentrate on one area too much, let the hair make suggestions to you as you work. Use minimal glue, secure an area and move on, then go back, add a bit of glue and push the hair into it. A bit of hairspray (very lightly) is the last touch.
To make a part, fold the viscose over a pin.Run a very small amount of glue along the outside of the pin and fold over about a quarter of an inch, then gently press the fold as you pull the pin out, you should have a nice line which you can then glue to the centre or side of the top of the dolls head.
Run glue down the center front of the doll's head and lay a strip of hair over the glue, lying down the side of her head. Allow to dry then flip the hair over to the other side. Then run a strip of glue next to the part line and lay end of hair over the glue with the remainder of the hair resting on top of the first strip of hair. Let dry... then flip hair over to the other side. You now have a center part.
If a doll's hair looks dry or damaged, try spraying with Son of a Gun Tire protector - really, it does condition the hair without being oily.
Metallic knitting needles make nice big fat curls or really dainty small ones. Either dampen the viscose and wind it around the needle and then put it in the oven to dry,or be really brave and wind it around the needle and then gently put the flame from a cigarette lighter to it to remove all the frizzies. Be careful if you use it on mohair as it can just suddenly go up in flames!! IMHO, the best hair for making curls is viscose as it seems to hold the curl much better than mohair.
Use the night time to your advantage. Spritz and curl while watching TV, and then just before bed, set them out to dry. In the morning, all good. Put a little mousse on your hands and wipe it around the curls before allowing to dry. For those little curly bangs, like a little fringe around the head, take one of the small curls, and snip into little curls. Glue individually around the head
Removable wigs can be made before the doll is dressed, so the style is neat and the dress is free of glue. Start by wrapping the head really tightly with sandwich wrap, make sure there are no wrinkles where the hair will be glued. Put an elastic around the neck , then paint a pleasing hairline with glue quite thickly add a circle of thin gauze. You can either let this dry or start adding the hair. Then do the styling and let it dry over night. The next day cut the elastic and gently peel off the wrap, peel the wig off the wrap and voila! a removable wig.

Ideas about what is needed for these projects

links to inspiring pages

Hair! - chronology of hair styles through the years, Pinterest board by Elizabeth

ideas for shop names

Be YOU tiful
Clip Joint

Get Clipped

Goldie Locks

Hair Apparent

The Hairapist

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Mane Event

Shear Delight

The Shearing shed

Videos

Hits since 3 Feb 2010: