When a hairline is knotted (hand tied) into a lace front wig it is vitally important that time is taken and attention to detail maintained. Knotting a full lace wig by hand is always the preferred method when wig making. It will always produce the most natural looking finish to any wig. Machine made wigs will never produce the delicacies or desired effects of a beautifully hand finished full lace wig. This is never more important than when working on the front hairline of the lace front wig. Here are some tips and tricks when refining the hairline when knotting a lace front wig.

Think Battle Weary Soldiers

When knotting (ventilating) hair into the lace of your lace front wig the endgame is to mimic a natural head of hair and recreating the look and movement of a real hair. Hair does not grow in a straight forward direction. Simply put it just does not! Pull any fringe back from the face and look closely. All the little tiny individual hairs present are an army of bi directional little soldiers.  Not all standing to attention, but rather battle weary and leaning a bit off to the side holding each other up.

A Hairline Is Like A Heavy Metal Gig Mosh Pit

Imagine a load of rockers that are spilling out into the car park after a mosh. These rockers have just been to see their favourite band and it is all terribly messy. Witnessing ones of these events it is obvious that nobody is standing upright. All are a little sweaty and most definitely, everyone will be leaning on each other to remain upright, whilst swaying in the fresh air of the car park.

Now really, really take a good look at that hairline. This hairline needs to be copied when hand knotting a lace front wig. Copying this random pattern will always ensure an amazingly natural and very realistic hairline by the knotter on their lace front wig. Clients will keep coming back for more and it will raise your status as a wig making guru.

Don’t Get Cross! Cross Knot

To recreate that bunch of drunken rockers on the hairline of your lace front wig, a method called ‘cross knotting’ must be adopted. As the name suggests, cross knotting means individual strands of hair are knotted (ventilated) in one direction and then switched. They are then knotted (ventilated) in the opposite direction. They cross over each other. CROSSING KNOTTING!

In a previous blog Wig Making Kit: Your Essentials it was discussed that wig making terminology stated the obvious. Well here is another shining example of that.

Cross knotting does one of two things:

Firstly it will create a random pattern of bi directional hair that will mimic the strand growth on a human head of hair.

Secondly, it will allow a great natural lift to the front of your wig. This natural lift is another essential element to creating a wig that looks and behaves like a real head of hair.

Keeping It Random

Random cross knotting is carried out all over the entire top and the parting sections of the lace front wig. When random is called for, random is exactly what is required. The last thing that should happen is that one line on the lace is knotted to the left and then followed by the next line knotted to the right and so fourth. Hand tied (knotted) lace front wigs can never be done by a systematic method. A machine is systematic and repetitive. If knotting is carried out to a rhythmic pattern your wig will look machine made and all that hard work hand making a wig will be done in vain.

Only The Finest Will Do On The Lace Front Wig

Once the top of your full lace wig has been fully cross knotted and the sides have been completed down to the sideburns it is time to finish the outer front edge of your lace front wig.

When knotting hairs to put into the front edge of your full lace wig, ensure that only the finest hairs are selected from the bundle. These fine hairs will be knotted into the very edge of the front hairline and using a similar random pattern. Think a soft zig zag when completing this stage and knot the hairs in various random points across the entire front of the wig.

In conclusion it is apparent here that RANDOM is the hot topic. The hairline on human hair has been pulled back and analysed and assessed. This random growth pattern has be transferred to the front hairline of the full lace wig. The finished result is a beautifully hand knotted full lace wig with super fine hairs edging a front hairline full of your little rockers.

Rock on! Job done!

Philip Carson-Sheard

Wig Making Classes

WAM Studio

London