How to Make a Lightning Wig for a Ball-Jointed Doll

I LOOOOVE HER <3 <3 <3

Here is my process for making a custom wig from scratch for my BJD!

I took one of my own cosplay wig caps which has a soft mesh and stretched it over the doll's head. I took a piece of thin elastic and sewed it to reach around her head with some tautness so it would hold the wig on well.

Next, I hand-sewed the mesh over the elastic and cut off the excess, then turned it inside out. I used two rows of stitched for extra security.

Back view of the mesh head cap.

Next, I took wefts removed from my own Lightning cosplay wig that were leftover from thinning the wig out and sewed them in a spiral pattern close together from the outside in.

Shh! Don't tell anyone I'm still bald on top!

The spiraling process took several hours over a couple days while watching Hoarders. Guilty pleasures...

She is now Cousin It with long luscious locks!

For the very top, I took a weft and sewed it into a tight spiral like I learned from this video. It was super helpful!! I probably made it too small though because it had a hard time laying down later. More pics on that down the line.

The bald spot for the last weft piece.

Well hello there Princess Poppy...XD I sewed the little spiral weft into the bald spot. It's perky.

Here it is after I layed it down with heat and some spiking gel. You can see a little bit of the kinks near the top of the weft as well as the stitches. Not the cleanest work, but at least it's in the back and not likely to really be seen in photos.

Now I sectioned off the front from the back for cutting as they will be different lengths. I used a tight rubber band so I can save the stubbed ponytails for whatever.

Back ponytail. I left myself a lot of room to experiment with layers and thinning things out as I am not a professional hair stylist...

Starting to get shorter! I wrapped her body in plastic to keep hair from getting all stuck in her clothes and joints.

She can finally see out from under her bangs! She looks a bit fluffy like Jareth from The Labyrinth XD

Beginning the spiking process. I love this part!!

This is the same stuff I used on my wigs for cosplay. Anything Square Enix like my Sora and Lightning cosplays got the got2b treatment. It is really great stuff!

I tried a couple different things for the curling process. It was a bit tricky. The thing that kind of worked was wrapping small sections of hair around a paintbrush and blowdrying it on low as long as my fingers could stand it, then pressing the cool setting to rapidly set the hair. It gave it a gentle wave which is what the reference photos show.

My paintbrush curler method.

At this point, I felt everything turned out really nice! I had her face covered to protect it from the spiking gel. I really love the shape of everything. I feel like I captured her in miniature <3

Side angle

Other side

Back of the head. I did cheat a little and tamed the back to stay put with some silvery bobby pins. 

She feels comfortable among her trinkets.

Hi there...Don't be fooled by my coy looks. I WILL cut you.

Ok, now to explain the Sailor Moon outfit...those were the only clothes I had for her at the time. She had to borrow from her sister, the Sailor Moon Dollfie Dream. I'm surprised they even fit her considering she's actually a couple inches taller! I'm going to be making piles of clothes for her in the future so stay tuned <3