What's a good braid pattern for a sew-in if you have long hair?

Amerie123

Amerie123

Well-Known Member
So, the thing is, I'm finding it harder to find a way to braid my hair under my sew-ins as my hair get longer... No matter which way I braid it or how small I braid, my hair begins to bulk up.
I haven't found any thread on this yet. Any advice would be appreciated. TIA.
 
Good question! I hope some of the ladies chime in because I'd like to know.

I noticed after my last sew-in that it was a lot more bulkier than before. Not bad or anything but definitely not the smoothness I had gotten before.

Bumping for you!

Bump Bump Bump
 
I would think circular because unlike cornrows (straight back), they can be wound back around the circle down the head and sewn together.
 
Thanks for the suggestion topnotch1010, but for me, doing the circle gets REALLY bulky towards the top... if that makes any sense. it's like once you get towards the end of the circle (which is the top of the head), your hair ends up to be this fat braid that wont lay down flat.
 
amazing said:
Thanks for the suggestion topnotch1010, but for me, doing the circle gets REALLY bulky towards the top... if that makes any sense. it's like once you get towards the end of the circle (which is the top of the head), your hair ends up to be this fat braid that wont lay down flat.
Click to expand...

I agree. That made it even worse for me than when she braided straight back.
 
I don't do sew ins but for my wigs I braid half of my hair straight back. Then I braid the back of my hair horizontal going up. I turn the top straight back braids into one horizontal braid and sew it down. The horizontal braids in the back feed into each other and ends with one braid that I also sew down. I hope that helps and makes sense.
 
If you have long, thick hair, you are going to have bulk no matter what the pattern. I used to wear sew in weaves when I was natural and my hair was nearly armpit length when stretched. Most braiders would either do it in a circular pattern and sew down the braid sticking out or braid it in a horizontal pattern and sew down the little braid at the end. I don't think braiding it straight back would work too well.
 
I just got my first weave about a month and half ago, it's still going strong. Anyway, my hair is BSL and she used a circular/beehive pattern around my whole head. From all the research I did before I got mine done, this is the best type of pattern for long hair. I just ended with one loose braid after it was all braided up and that braid was sewn down. I was able to have my edges out and an open horseshoe part on the top as well that I wanted for parting. With this pattern it is very flat against my head. I recommend it.
 
My hair is WL and I dont have any bulk when I do my sew-ins, Like they end up very flat and natural looking. In total I have about 12-15 cornrows but a few feed into each other, so at the end I have about 8 hanging down in the back(before I sew them up).

Anyways here's what I do, I braid the hair starting from wherever my part/leave out is(usually a center part). So on the sides of my head, I braid it down towards the ear then curve it back and down ending at my nape, continue braiding it to the ends. Towards the back of my head I just braid it from where the part is, straight down to my nape and braid it to the ends. Once I'm done braiding Im left with multiple braids(about 8) hanging down in the back I simply take half (4) of those braids and fold them up (kind of at an angle) and sew them on to my cornrows making sure to keep them as flat as possible. since my hair is longer now I end up having to then change the direction and fold it the other way and continue to sew them down. After those are secure I repeat that process wit the other (4) braids. OMG I hope that makes sense to everyone. Next time I do my hair I will definitely take pics and post. Hopefully this helps.
 
mEmYSELFaNDj please take pics! sounds like a great method. I dont like the beehive. I have an oval shaped face/head and the beehive gives a cone head look...
 
beana I just took a sew-in down like last week or so. I'm not sure when I'll re-install but when I do I'll make sure to find this thread and post pics in here. It may be sooner than later because I have extreme hand in hair disease so I need to hide my hair otherwise it will be set back city for me. I already know. lol
 
amazing said:
So, the thing is, I'm finding it harder to find a way to braid my hair under my sew-ins as my hair get longer... No matter which way I braid it or how small I braid, my hair begins to bulk up.
I haven't found any thread on this yet. Any advice would be appreciated. TIA.
Click to expand...

halee_J said:
I think @JJamiah might be of some help she's WL and braids her hair regularly under wigs :yep:
Click to expand...

@halee_J Thank you :)

@amazing, I have my hair braided in very fine Beehive braid. my braider takes 1/4 - 1/2 inch sections and braids around, until she can't anymore. Then I lay the braid in between the open space between braids.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xknDbmiVLuU

To avoid the Cone look don't braid it in the center as a circle, have your braider braid till she can't braid anymore then for the last row, braid it from top to bottom this way it doesn't have a cone effect, and still loop the remainder ends of the braid throughout the space between braids. I never have Cone head syndrome :)
 
amazing said:
Thanks for the suggestion topnotch1010, but for me, doing the circle gets REALLY bulky towards the top... if that makes any sense. it's like once you get towards the end of the circle (which is the top of the head), your hair ends up to be this fat braid that wont lay down flat.
Click to expand...

amazing That means the partings were off. If you do smaller partings as JJamiah stated, you shouldn't have a bulky braid.
 
winona, I've never tried that braid pattern, however, her's looked a little bulky.. luckily for her she had a bunch of curls going on, so it wont be noticeable.

mEmYSELFaNDj, believe it or not, it did make sense, and I'm willing to try that... and hopefully u can still post a pic; only if u can.

JJamiah, i think i know how you're explaining it, where the circle doesn't go all the way to the top, and then straight backs in the middle, giving it a flat top, right? if not, can u post a pic (if it's not too much)

topnotch1010, I usually do small parts, but maybe I'll try them even smaller.. clearly jjamiah's hair is way longer than mine.. but one thing she mentioned is that she does something different in the middle, whereas, I did a circle all the way to the middle.. so i'll give that a shot and I'll even try memyselfandj's method too.. but i'm almost thinking, as another poster mentioned earlier, that if you have thick/long hair, it's inevitable that you will have some sort of bulk. and it doesn't help that i'm 95% natural.

Ms. Tiki, girl, the same thing you suggested is the pattern i just had in.. And this is when I noticed I was now starting to get bulkiness. That pattern you suggested is usually one of my faves, so i was a bit sad when i realized that it wasn't laying down flat anymore.

Thank you all again for helping me.. These are all good ideas!!
 
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amazing said:
@winona, I've never tried that braid pattern, however, her's looked a little bulky.. luckily for her she had a bunch of curls going on, so it wont be noticeable.

@mEmYSELFaNDj, believe it or not, it did make sense, and I'm willing to try that... and hopefully u can still post a pic; only if u can.

@JJamiah, i think i know how you're explaining it, where the circle doesn't go all the way to the top, and then straight backs in the middle, giving it a flat top, right? if not, can u post a pic (if it's not too much)

@topnotch1010, I usually do small parts, but maybe I'll try them even smaller.. clearly jjamiah's hair is way longer than mine.. but one thing she mentioned is that she does something different in the middle, whereas, I did a circle all the way to the middle.. so i'll give that a shot and I'll even try memyselfandj's method too.. but i'm almost thinking, as another poster mentioned earlier, that if you have thick/long hair, it's inevitable that you will have some sort of bulk. and it doesn't help that i'm 95% natural.

@Ms. Tiki, girl, the same thing you suggested is the pattern i just had in.. And this is when I noticed I was now starting to get bulkiness. That pattern you suggested is usually one of my faves, so i was a bit sad when i realized that it wasn't laying down flat anymore.

Thank you all again for helping me.. These are all good ideas!!
Click to expand...

amazing, that's exactly right just remember to make the braids very thin if your hair is thick and medium sized if you have fine hair. :)
 
what if you do the beehive method but do the braids very, small? not like super small where it could cause damage but small enough to avoid it being bulky?
 
amazing- I'm sorry to hear that was the braid pattern you had..so sad. I just braided my daughter hair for her sew in the same way. I don't know what I would do if I had issues with that pattern for either of us b/c it allows me to sew her hair in faster and keep my hair completely off my shoulders.
 
In stead of making one circular pattern you can try to make two or more. My experience with braiding thick/long hair is that it will get bulky if you make one circle. The more hair you add to this one braid the thicker it gets. With two or more circles the amount of hair added to the braid is less. Result: less bulkier.

Of course you don't have to make a circular pattern. You can also use this technique with non stop horizontal braids. Key it to stop te braid before it gets bulky. Just start another one.

I hope you understand what I mean, it's a bit hard to explain.

PS: pls don't mind my grammar, not from an english speaking country. :ohwell:
 
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You can also try to braid the hair outside in in stead of inside out. This will also help with reducing bulk. No matter what pattern you choose.
 
I just do vertical braids and pull the loose braids back up in between the spaces. I have to fold the ends of my braid back down again towards my nape before I sew it down. I'm BSL. My weaves aren't bulky.
 
mEmYSELFaNDj said:
My hair is WL and I dont have any bulk when I do my sew-ins, Like they end up very flat and natural looking. In total I have about 12-15 cornrows but a few feed into each other, so at the end I have about 8 hanging down in the back(before I sew them up).

Anyways here's what I do, I braid the hair starting from wherever my part/leave out is(usually a center part). So on the sides of my head, I braid it down towards the ear then curve it back and down ending at my nape, continue braiding it to the ends. Towards the back of my head I just braid it from where the part is, straight down to my nape and braid it to the ends. Once I'm done braiding Im left with multiple braids(about 8) hanging down in the back I simply take half (4) of those braids and fold them up (kind of at an angle) and sew them on to my cornrows making sure to keep them as flat as possible. since my hair is longer now I end up having to then change the direction and fold it the other way and continue to sew them down. After those are secure I repeat that process wit the other (4) braids. OMG I hope that makes sense to everyone. Next time I do my hair I will definitely take pics and post. Hopefully this helps.
Click to expand...


Sounds like a zig zag. I'd love to see a pic of the pattern as well. Thanks!
 
mEmYSELFaNDj said:
My hair is WL and I dont have any bulk when I do my sew-ins, Like they end up very flat and natural looking. In total I have about 12-15 cornrows but a few feed into each other, so at the end I have about 8 hanging down in the back(before I sew them up).

Anyways here's what I do, I braid the hair starting from wherever my part/leave out is(usually a center part). So on the sides of my head, I braid it down towards the ear then curve it back and down ending at my nape, continue braiding it to the ends. Towards the back of my head I just braid it from where the part is, straight down to my nape and braid it to the ends. Once I'm done braiding Im left with multiple braids(about 8) hanging down in the back I simply take half (4) of those braids and fold them up (kind of at an angle) and sew them on to my cornrows making sure to keep them as flat as possible. since my hair is longer now I end up having to then change the direction and fold it the other way and continue to sew them down. After those are secure I repeat that process wit the other (4) braids. OMG I hope that makes sense to everyone. Next time I do my hair I will definitely take pics and post. Hopefully this helps.
Click to expand...

@mEmYSELFaNDj Is this the pattern you are talking about? Im glad I found it, it looks like the best pattern along w/straight back pattern -- that I have come across: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vGFLLaT4c0
Plus she connected them on the sides like you described, i think.

How do you style your hair when you have a straight install after your twice weekly cowash/washing?
 
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Um thats pretty much how my base is except I don't connect all the brads on the sides into one collective going back. I connect two braids at a time and have them going back. And the left over braids in the back she said she tucks or rolls them and then sews them. But I just sew them to the base braids, in a diagonal angle. Oh and I always have leave out in the front and along the part area.

But as far as the direction of the braids go, that is exactly how mine are.
 
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