Making a hairline caste/Knotting the hairline

Equipment:
· Clingfilm
· Water spray
· Hair grips
· Pintail comb
· Sellotape
· Permanent marker
· Wig block
· Pins
· Knotting hook
· Wig lace
· Warm water

· The front of the hair should follow the natural hairline to make the wig look more realistic.

· For side burns the lace should be at a vertical angle.

· For the hairline the lace should be at a horizontal angle.

Technique:
· Wet the front of the hair using the water spray, then comb the hair back so that you can see the hairline clearly, creating the parting which is the exact same as your wig.

· Cross grip the hair halfway down, ensuring that the hair is still slicked back well enough to see the hairline.

· Clingfilm the front of the head over the hairline and sideburns, pull tight and grip in place.

· Tear off medium sized strips of sellotape, and stick over the forehead and hairline.

· Do a few layers of this to ensure the caste is solid.

· Use the permanent marker to trace over the hairline – following the same direction as the models hair.

· Write the models name on the caste.

· Sellotape over the top of the marker to ensure it doesn’t wipe off.

· Attach the caste straight to the wig block – using sellotape and pins – making sure its secure.

· If you are creating a whole head caste, stuff the caste with tissue straight away to ensure it doesn’t lose the shape of the models head.

· Making the hairline: Cover the caste/block with the lace, pull it very taut then pin into place.

· To ensure that the lace is flat, pleat it where necessary and secure using pins. Make sure that the pleats aren’t on the hairline or parting as it doesn’t look realistic and is harder to knot.

· Before starting the knotting place the wig block into a cradle, and place a coloured piece of paper underneath the lace so that you can see the hole clearly.

· Take a lock of the hair which you are using to knot the hairline, and fold it to form a loop. Dip it into warm water to soften the hair.

· Hook under a hole then catch a strand of hair from the loop.

· Loop the hair underneath the lace and drop the hair to the end of the needle.

· Hook the strand again and pull it though to create the knot.