Doing Your Own Weave

[aprilbiz]

I'm sorry if this has been posted before. Maybe someone can direct me to the thread. I've heard of people doing their own sewn in weave and I was wondering if anyone has done their own and if they could give me some step-by-step instructions. I'm really curious as to how you cornrow the hair. I know I couldn't do it in a circle, and I don't have anyone to do it for me. I don't want to do any bonding because I want to braid my hair away. Any suggestions or sites are appreciated. I haven't been able to find anything on the net...

 

[CICI24]

I did my own weave once. I cornrowed my hair straight back and sewed the weft across and I left the front out to blend in with the weave

 

[Karonica]

How long did that particular style last you? I thought about doing the vertical cornrows, but I was afraid it wouldn't hold the wefts tight enough.

 

[CICI24]

I took it out after 5 weeks

 

[Karonica]

That's good timing. Thanks. I'm putting a curly one in mine for back to school. The Janet Jackson curly kind.

 

[aprilbiz]

I want the curly kind too so I can still do my daily washes and let it air dry. My goal is to be able to do the weave with some proficiency so I can take it down as often as I need to.

I'm still can't figure out how to braid my hair in order not to leave any out. I don't want to have to do anything to it.

 

[PrincessM]

I have a question for those who have or had curly or wavy weave... I want to get one for school for the same reasons (so I can wash atleast weekly). I have a straight weave now and since it's summer I did a trial and error with washing my hair often and the straight weave looks really bad after airdrying

.

My question is, how can someone with relaxed hair mesh their own hair seamlessly with the curly or wavyness? I want to get the spanish wavy hair but when my hairdresser weaves my hair she leaves the front part out to blend and the length of that part of my hair is down to my chin, so I was wondering how would that look.

 

[aprilbiz]

PrincessM you bring up a good question. Depending on the texture of your hair already, there may be a difference. You may try to do a braid-out with the ends curled on that part of your hair and then blend it in with the other. You may be able to blend it that way. I don't want to have to do anything so I need all my hair put away, but I don't know how I'm going to acheive that look without the weave looking unusual...

 

[cutebajangirl]

Princess M - I actually saw a girl with a curly weave and the front left out. At first I thought it was her hair until I saw a track. So when I got home I decided to experiment and if I just leave it wet and put some gel through the front it could end up "blendingish" with a curly weave that it is more wave than curl. I have bangs though and think this would be harder to acheive if the front of my hair was longer.

 

[keylargo]

my hair is relaxed and I wear a curly weave. i'm seriously thinking about purchasing a curly instant weave by the way...

Anyways, I think it looks more natural then straight hair weaves and it's healthier for your hair. I have the front and sides left out and all I do is slick it back with styling gel to get it to blend in.

I like the fact that I don't have to use heat to style my hair. I had to flat iron my hair daily when I wore a straight weave. I am also able to go longer between relaxer retouches. I'm currently at 8 weeks and pushing for 10 weeks.

The key is finding some good styling gel to lay the hair down

What works for me is this gel called Salon Grafix spiking and feezing styling gel. You will be amazed at how well it works. I have 4a,4b and 4z hair so I can't just use any kind of gel. I've been using it for well over a month and have not had any damage (it does not contain alcohol)

It does make your hair hard and once it dries, you cannot comb it. You need to rinse it out in order to re-style. What's nice is that I don't have to comb my hair the next day if I don't feel like it.

If you do regular conditioner washes to the part that you leave out of the weave,you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[Karonica]

I'm doing my own next week, so that is definitely going to be a challenge. I promise I will take pics, but I keep forgetting to get the ones I already have developed.

Anyways, as for the front. When I had a straight weave, I had the front left out, but with the curly one, I am going to cornrow all of it up. I am going to have a cornrow going horizontal in the front of my hair, but have the cornrow pushed back enough that I have a little baby hair out. Once I sew the weft on the front cornrow, I am going to pull the curly hair over the track on the sides to conceal it, and leave a bit pulled back in the front to show some of my natural hairline, if that makes any sense.

Sorta like hers (I hope)

 

[Spagirl]

Here is a thread that I was getting together to put on the
How To's or Hair Tips thread Those who weave I thought I had more than one but I can't find them at present. When and if I find them (and others) I'll post here and cross link this thread on the How to or Hair tips thread. HTH!

 

[Karonica]

Thanks!

 

[PrincessM]

Thanks for the help, girls

 

[Spagirl]

Okay, here goes:

Things I've learned about weaving
Opinion and Question about weave
Paging weavers
Weave help!

If I find the off forum sites I'll post later. HTH!

 

[Boadicea]

I did my own weave once.

1. Part a one inch section behind each ear, roll the hair and clip it up. You won't be braiding that. And you can tuck your own hair behind your ear after the weave is done. Even if you don't, you won't be able to see the tracks on the sides.

2. Starting at your temple, part the hair all the way around until you get to the next temple. Clip that hair up because you won't be braiding that either. It should be like a horizontal U. This makes for a believable top. You'll be able to part your hair any way you like. The top track will be hidden by your own hair and there will be less bulk.

3. Braid the hair horizontally from one side. The bigger the braid, the bulkier the weave will look so braid it small but not too tight. When you are finished with the braid, fold it over and sew it with some thread, careful to cut it short so it won't be hanging out of your weave.

4. Repeat until all of the hair is braided. Do not braid the nape of your hair. Do not add any tracks to it.

5. Depending on how thick you want it to look, double the wefts of hair and sew them on to the braids. Cut the wefts where they stick out.

6. Repeat until done. Style.


I left my weave on for a month and a half and washed my hair every two weeks.

 

[Karonica]

I found this.

Before

After

 

[Spagirl]

Karonica, Wow! So that's what it looks like. Thanks for sharing. Great pics.

 

[Karonica]

Adding on again. For those who want to see how a curly weave can look in the front, go to this site, then click on "Model Image" under the photo of the hair.

http://www.hisandher.com/store/shop_product.asp?main=MAIN_001&sub=SUB_011&pro=1

http://www.hisandher.com/store/shop_product.asp?main=MAIN_001&sub=SUB_007&pro=1

This lady looked like she just simply wrapped the weave around her ponytail or something, but it's very nice.

http://www.hisandher.com/store/shop_product.asp?main=MAIN_001&sub=SUB_012&pro=1

 

[PrincessM]

Wow Karonica, thanks!!!

 

[aprilbiz]

Thanks so much for all the links and tips! I have a question for anyone that knows, but is it hard to sew the hair onto the track? Are there any paticular techniques that are used? Thanks again!

 

[Spagirl]

I finally found it! Stocking cap weave off of Motowngrl website.

 

[Karonica]

I finally managed to do my own (twice) since I last posted in this thread.

Unfortunately, I have to give you the details as soon as I get out of class (it starts in 10 minutes

), but it wasn't hard at all. I just cornrowed horizontally, and then sewed them on from there. I left a little hair out in the front.

 

[aprilbiz]

Oh Good... I'd love to hear the details because I'm going to do mine soon.

 

[Karonica]

Okay. Let's see.

I started in the back of my head. I cornrowed across, then cornrowed up and around to start the next cornrow above that one, sorta like a zig zag motion. I did this until my whole head was covered, leaving out a little bit of hair around the perimeter of my head, not a lot but enough to cover a cornrow. Then in the back, I started sewing on the weft. I didn't take the needle through the weft, I just stuck the needle under the cornrow and brought it around the weft and pulled. The hardest part is starting off the sewing because the weft doesn't attach correctly if you're not paying attention. I say you practice a few times first to develop a comfortable technique. It took me about 7 hours

to do, cornrowing and all, but then again, I'm just really slow. The time was worth it, because I kept it in for 3 weeks and didn't have to do anything to my own hair, except I gelled the edges down in the front every few times.

Oh yeah, be careful if you choose to use gel. When I took out the tracks, I noticed in the front where I was using a lot of gel that I had some build-up, reminiscent to that of the knots you get after taking out braids you've had in for a while. I managed to get the knots out, they weren't bad since I only had them in for 3 weeks. I didn't wash my hair the time I had them in either, because I didn't do the cornrows small enough and it would've been a waste of time because I couldn't shampoo in all the nooks and crannies.

So, do the cornrows small enough and have plenty of time to set aside for them. You don't want to rush yourself.

The hair I had was similar to this, except the curls got much smaller at the end, and the texture was more crimpy than corkskrewish. And the top part was dark brown and it got much lighter at the ends.

After a while, the hair started frizzing, but it looked really good with the frizz and much more natural. I got a lot of compliments.

http://www.cordiallyyours.net/hair_skin/usa/item2889.htm

Let me know what you decide to do.

 

[aprilbiz]

Thanks so much for the explanations. It's ironic that I went back to this thread because today I purchased hair just like you described. It's part of the Beverly Johnson collection and its wavy synthetic hair. I was concerned about the frizz with the synthetic, but now you've put my mind at ease. I'll probably do it this weekend so I'll update this post then for those who are interested.