Chosen Design Practice on Partner

Katherine gave me her final design to do on her hair. Honestly, I panicked a little bit. I looked at the yards and yards of ongoing hair she has and wanted to cry a little bit because I had no idea how I was going to do her design in the time given and also because I want her hair so badly.

She told me not to worry and I thought to myself just give it a go and see what happens! So here is the design she drew for me.

Ater working out where I would need to section the hair and what would need doing first, I actually felt a lot more at ease with the design. I timed myself so I could figure out how much I should speed up or what I could take my time at perfecting.

Step By Step

1. Section the hair horizontally just above the ear and clip the bottom half out the way.
2. Section off roughly a two inch band round the front and clip the rest of the hair out the way.
3. Part the band in the center.
4. Create a plait starting roughly at the top left and right of the forehead. The plait must be pulled at one strand to create a slightly different effect. Tie off with elastic.
5. Take back the top section of hair and section roughly 2-3 inches of hair in the center creating 3 new sections of hair. Clip the left and right sections out the way.
6. With the 2-3 inch rectangle, form a dutch plait.
7. Using suitably heated crimpers, crimp the top left and right sections.
8. Once cool, brush the hair through and work through backcombing it.

9. Take the left section and split horizontally into two. Roll the bottom section up and pin. Roll the top section down over the bottom roll and pin. Repeat with the right side.
10. Thread rope through the dutch plait in the center and incorporate it all the way through the plait.
11. Let loose the hair at the bottom section and brush it evenly over the shoulders.
12. Secure the material decoration around the neck and hair.

After the first practice I was actually very suprised at myself for completing the design in a reasonable time. I wasn't too happy about the way the two rolls were sitting as they sagged a bit due to there being so much hair! This is when we decided to try two rolls to make it more secure.
We also decided to change the plaits at the front. On Katherine's design, she originally wanted two plaits on either side however with all the baby hairs she has, it made it near enough impossible to do this. I suggested doing one plait either side instead and tested it out which actually looked better.

I also practiced on Lil Nik as I wanted to test out putting the decoration in the hair. As I had no thread or rope to hand, I grabbed the closest thing I had, my phone charging wire. I used my pin tail comb to wiggle the wire through.

 

Overall, I'm confident for the assessment now and I actually really enjoy doing this style. It's nice creating something different using simple techniques.