When I started to plan my Soi Fon cosplay one of the major roadblocks was the wig. I didn't like the ones you can buy online so I decided to make my own. However the most recent tutorial is from 2009 and I didn't even care for the way that the wig turned out. So I had to make mine without any tutorial.
After so many trial and errors I wanted to share how I made mine to make it easier for the next person, or to just provide an some more ideas on how to construct yours. This can also be used on other wigs that have a similar style, so don't be afraid to modify. If you do decided to follow this method though, then please just credit me at some point.
I didn't do it in a video format since I feel like you would skip around in a video anyway, so instead this post is full of pictures on how I did it. I explain everything in great detail as your scroll, but if you have any questions then DM me on my cosplay Instagram, @imiicie.
I also made this wig waterproof, not because I intend to wear it in the pool or underwater, but because rain is a thing, as is humidity and sweat. I wanted this wig to be able to hold up under extreme conditions.
Before you proceed, do be aware that this wig took me about 12 hours to make from start to finish and cost me about $60. I'm not including the items I already had in the total cost or the cost of the items that were gifted to me. I'll link out to where I can for things to try and make it easier, but some things are super common and just won't get links.
Needed:
sewing machine
modge podge spray (I used the glossy)
black thread
white thread
sewing pins
t-pins
wide tooth comb
fabric tape measure
fabric scissors and thread scissors
2 black hair elastics
black non-stretch ribbon
I started by taking the wooden rings and spraying them gold. I did several coats of this, flipping them over a few times to make sure that it stayed smooth. I also made sure to do light coats so it wouldn't turn out bubbly or flaky. Then I went in with the modge podge spray and just repeated what I'd done for the gold paint. This helped to seal it in so it wouldn't get scratched up as easily and made it shiny so it looked more like actual gold hoops.
The reason I started with the wooden rings was because I could get those from the store in person. At this time I'd ordered the wig and wefts but they would take a bit of time to come in. During this time, @LadyChapellCosplay also purchased the curved needles off of my Amazon wish list. I was initially going to try this with a straight needle, but now having done this it would have taken so much longer and been so much more difficult had I not had a curved needle.
After I finished the hoops the wig and wefts came in I put the wig on my wig head and laid the wefts flat of the floor. I did rip up a plastic bag and pin it down to hold all of the wig fibers from that wig weft down, but that's so that later I wouldn't grab the wrong fibers by mistake and so that I'd be grabbing the correct ones to braid. Remember that there are two braids, so I did this twice to make sure I would get the two braids that Soi Fon has.
I lifted the wig wefts and clipped back to where I would be sewing the long wefts in separately later on. This allowed me to measure it all and find the center so I could make sure the braids wouldn't be lopsided.
I then laid the wefts on the floor and pinned it to the carpet in my apartment across the full length. I made sure to pin the weft at the top and that the pins were facing the same direction that the fibers were facing, thus letting me comb it without the pins being pulled from the carpet. I used t-pins for this so that they wouldn't get lost in the fibers and so that they would be easier to move throughout the entire process.
Then I combed it using the wide tooth comb Once I combed it I measured it to the half point and folded it in half, making sure to re-pin it with the t-pins so it would stay in place. Once it was folded I used the curved needle and black thread to start sewing the folded layers of the wefts together. I used a stitch similar to a blanket stitch, but since the wefts were next to each other it would draw them close and keep them sturdy. This is the stitch I used for the entire wig. Once I got to the end I knotted the thread and cut it off. I didn't want to keep the same thread going since it was easy to tangle with the wig fibers when it was long.
Then I used the measuring tape and measured the wefts into 3rds. I then folded the wefts like a brochure and pinned it all to the carpet again. Then using the same stitch I sewed it all together. This can be separated into two steps, but I was lazy and did it in one. I did this for both wefts, and just sewing the wefts took about 3 hours. I didn't time myself, but it took just a bit longer than the full first Avengers movie (this does include breaks for my hands and to shoo my cat away of course).
I pinned the now finished weft to the weft of the wig that I'd selected earlier. After I pinned the first I braided it. Then I pinned the second. The reason for the braid was so that the two long wefts wouldn't get tangled. At the bottom of the braid I just used simple hair elastics to secure them. I rebraided them in a bit so that they were smoother and tighter, but at this point the braids were just to keep the fibers from tangling between the two wefts a becoming a mess. Recall that I did already pin the plastic bag around the lower wefts of the wig to make sure they wouldn't get tangled with anything. I wasn't worried about the short wefts tangling after I finished the wig due to the short length of the fibers.
I then sewed the wefts to the wig using the same stitches and curved needle. I did make sure to hold off of sewing the wefts on until I had them centered and pinned properly.
At this point I cut about 8" strips of the ribbon and then, when rebraiding the long wefts so that they were tighter, I then ran the ribbon through the hair elastics like it was part of the fibers and tied the wooden ring onto the end of the braid. (Later on after I finished the whole wig I did go and sew the ribbon around the ring. So I do recommend sewing it if you're doing it yourself.) I did this for both braids. I added the rings at this step since they need to be added before adding the cloth strips to the wig.
At this time I began to work on the cloth wraps for the braids. This I think was the trickiest part. I went through a number of ideas before I settled on this one. Essentially what I did was make a tube around the wig braid and then wrapping two more strips of fabric around it to make it look like the white fabric was braided around the wig.
I measured the circumference of the braids. For me they turned out 3" in circumference so my strips of fabric for the tubes were 3.5". The 0.5" extra was for where I'd fold and then hem the long edges so that they wouldn't fray. The fabric was much longer than the braid, but don't worry since I trimmed it later. Then for the strips that would make the faux braid I cut them to about 2" wide and then pinned the long edges for hemming too. At this point I now had 6 total long lengths of fabric, 2 for the tubes and 4 for the faux braids.
I hemmed the long edges of all 6 cloth strips just with a basic straight stitch on my sewing machine. I used white thread for this so that it wouldn't be seen.I could have done this by hand, but honestly there wasn't a lot of reason to spend all of the extra time on that. So machine it was. I also went ahead and hemmed the short edges of all of the strips so they wouldn't fray while I was working with them or once they were sewn on the wig. Again, all of the strips turned out longer than the braids for me so I wasn't worried about how much I was folding them over to hem. I did about a half inch.
I took the wider strips meant for the tube and, using the hand stitch I mentioned earlier, I sewed the strip into a tube around the entire braid. I did have to pause occasionally just to readjust the fabric, but overall this was a very easy step. I did use the curved needle for this again, but for this part a straight needle would probably be fine. I was still just super excited about the curved needle. I didn't sew past the end of the braid.
Since the cloth strip was much longer than the braid (about 6-10" longer) it was time to trim and secure it. So I cut it to the right length, folded it over inside, kind of like I was tucking it in, then I sewed it to the elastic. The right length for me was about 1" longer than the braid. This gave the tuck room and the extra wiggle room for the fibers. Before cutting it though, I made sure that I let it hang down and that I pulled the white tube of fabric up as high as I could. While sewing it into a tube the fabric drifted lower on the braid.
By sewing the cloth strip to the elastic this meant that the wooden hoop could not come out. I used that same stitch and white thread so it wouldn't be seen against the white cloth. I could have used black thread to match the wig fibers, but the only place that the stitches could have been seen was under the braid so you would have had to lift it to see. Plus this would be covered later anyway when I sewed the faux braid on.
I then lined up the thinner strips of faux braid cloth and sewed them into the wefts too. I used the same hand stitch, white thread, and curved needle as I did for the rest of the white strips. Once they were sewn in wrapped the cloths around the tubed braid. I alternated which strip when on top to mimic a braid. I did run t-pins through the braid and cloths while doing this just to hold them all in place. I also used the long needle at strategic points to hold it together. Those are optional and all depend on how the braid is wrapped. But one that isn't optional is at the very top. The top of the tube isn't secured to anything, so I wanted to take my long needle and run it through the braid, catching the layers of the faux braid strips and the tube cloth to make sure the tube cloth stays up.
At the end of the braid I trimmed them to the correct length and, using the curved needle and white thread, I tucked the fabric into the elastic at the bottom and sewed it in. I used the same stitch as I'd used for hand stitching up until now.
Since the wrapping around the braid is all at an angle, I trimmed the faux braid strips at an angle too. So I waited to trim them until I was close enough to the bottom to make sure that I'd trim it at the right length and at the right angle. Since it's also a curved angle I had to trim it small amounts every now and then to ensure I wouldn't have too much cloth to work with. I had a lot of layers at this point so it was hard to sew. This was likely the most painful part of the process since I kept poking my finger and the amount of muscle I used in my fingers to force the needle through was a lot, but after a good finger popping I was fine.
And with that the wig was completed (though I still have to trim the bangs). Keeping in mind that the material cost was about $60 and that $15 per hour is about the average for a wig commission, the total cost of the wig had it been a commission would have landed me around $250. This means that I saved about $190 by doing it myself.
Whenever I wear it all I have to do is fluff up the fibers around my head and then make sure that the fibers that stick out of the bottom of the braid aren't tangled. I use some Got2BeGlued hair spray to just make sure the bangs are all in place (though I’ll be trimming them before I wear the wig to a con) and stay out of my eyes as well, but it's not required.
It weighs about 1.5 lbs, but doesn't feel that due to the placement of the braids. It feels like less wight than my Chloe wig with its ponytail does. Now this still isn't a wig I'd wear for 12+ hours, but for a few hours, maybe around 3-5 hours, it's fine. And if I hold the braids in my hands when I'm just hanging around then it easily could be worn for longer. The upkeep is easy and since it's short and/or contained in the tubes it doesn't tangle easily.
