Plastic Bag Wig With Two Looks

A great way to use extra plastic bags that will definitely be a conversation piece. This wig also comes with two "embedded" looks: The Dutch Crown is two braids the cross the hairline above the bangs and are anchored with a clip to keep them in place. The Amy Winehouse is a beehive with the hair swept over over shoulder

First, we'll make the whole wig, then I'll go into how to do the two looks. Happy making!

1 Foam Head

1 Wig Cap or Weave Cap

Lotsa plastic bags (I used at least 20)

1 Marker

1 Scissors

Needle

Thread

1 Cutting mat

1 Exacto knife or snap knife

4 Pushpins

1 Keychain clip

1 horseshoe-shaped piece of wire, approximately 4 inches tall, with a sew-able loop on each end

1 latch piece of wire, approximately 5 inches long with a sew-able loop on one end and pocket on the other

1 plastic braid as an anchor piece, at least 10 inches long and then sealed into a loop

Wig additions: Plastic braids, feathers, Mardi Gras beads, flash tape, balloons, etc

1 Bobby pin

Lay wig or weave cap over foam head. I marked my cap with lines, about an inch apart as guides for the coming wefts.

Your base pieces are the horseshoe piece, the latch piece, the keychain clip and the anchor braid piece. They help for the two looks later and should be attached now and then buried with wefts of hair.

The horseshoe piece will be the crown of the beehive so it should be positioned to go over the crown of the head and the latch piece should be set lower back on the head so when the pieces interlock, there is a frame for the beehive and hair can cascade over it. See my picture for guidance on placement and demo it on your head before sewing.

The keychain clip is for the Dutch Crown braids and should be sewn right above the nape of the neck.

The anchor braid piece should be sewn at the bottom of the wig, on the right or left side so hair can be swept into it.

Two braids will form the Dutch Crown look so I chose to make those with special dark blue and black plastic. Make sure there is a finished loop on the end of each braid. Attach the Dutch Crown braids directly at the nape of the neck underneath the keychain clip.

Here, you are creating the sections of plastic that will become the hair of the wig so choose your colors. I chose all blue bags but feel free to mix up plastic bags for different colors and plastic weights.

I found the simplest and cleanest way to create even wefts is to neatly fold a plastic bag, pin its edges down tight to a cutting board and cut thin, even strips from the bottom of the bag down to the top/handle area with a snap knife. You will be leaving a half inch or so at the bag's bottom uncut so the bag will stay in one piece. This buffer zone is what you will sew to the wig cap. The very ends of the handles of the bag will need to be snipped off so the plastic hair can shake freely, rather than in loops.

For maximum efficiency, I layered 4 or 5 bags neatly, pinned them all, and was able to cut multiple bags at a time.

Sew wefts onto cap, starting from the nape of the neck. Depending on what kind of final volume you want, you can vary the weight and density of the wefts. I used 1 bag per weft and separated my wefts by about 1 to 2 inches.

Stitch the weft directly into the wig with needle and thread but make your stitches slightly loose before you add the attaching knot. You'll need some looseness to take the wig on and off the foam head and onto your own head so stitch flexibility is highly recommended. Tight stitches will make a tight wig!

Continue sewing wefts up from the nape of the neck, positioning all of them to stretch from the left of the back of the head to the right, all plastic hair flowing downward. You may want to use whole wefts (wefts the full length of the bottom of the plastic bag) or cut them in half so you can strategically cover certain areas.

As you reach the crown of the head, you should start angling your wefts so they run over the top of the head, from right ear to left ear, rather than parallel to the ground. You'll soon bury the latch wire piece and come right up behind the horseshoe wire piece.

In front of the horseshoe piece, sew about 2 to 3 more inches of wefts, all still cascading from the forehead down the neck. The horseshoe will now be buried in hair.

With a small gap of naked cap left, you'll now sew a long weft of hair for bangs. Whereas before, all plastic hair was flowing over the head and down the back, this weft will flow straight down in front of the face. I made this piece 3 bags thickness to add volume and cover the front of the wig cap. For extra fanciness, try to cover the edge of the back-flowing pieces with the top of the bangs weft so there's no obvious seam.

Now try on the wig and see where you want to cut the bangs weft. You'll want to leave enough length to cover the wig cap's edge but not enough to get in your eyes. I left mine a little on the long side.

I'm attaching a few plastic braids and Mardi Gras bead necklaces to random spots on the wig.

Securely wrap a bobby pin in a length of plastic hair and then let it dangle. It will be buried in the bulk of the hair but it will be needed for the Dutch Crown and Amy Winehouse look.

Voila! The wig is complete so try it on and make any adjustments you want. Trim the hair, take wefts out or add them in, etc.

To make this look, dig out the two special Dutch Crown braid and cross them over the seam between the bangs and the rest of the wefts. Clip the ends of the braids with the keychain clip. You can leave the rest of the hair down or you can wrap it up. To wrap it up, pull the bulk of the hair to one side and twist it. Then, curl the twisted hair over the back your head in a heavy bun and pin in place. You are now a Nordic fairy princess! Go gather some flowers for a bouquet.

Separate out the section of wefts between the bangs and those parallel with the horseshoe piece. Set up the beehive bump by lifting the horseshoe piece and attaching the latch so it holds up. Now pull the bulk over hair over the bump along with any other pieces to make a nice beehive. Use the dangling bobby pin to pin the hair in place behind the bump. Finally, sweep the rest of the hair over one shoulder and through the anchor braid. Now you're a punkish soul singer! They'll try to make you go to rehab but don't go, go, go...