DIY Rapunzel Yarn wig

      Last year I sold these on Etsy for $50 a piece and made good money in Oct. BUT holy cow, it was a lot of work. And it just ended up being not that fun by the end of it. I ended up making a detailed picture patterns and instructions and tried to sell that, only sold one. So I decided to post it up here for YOU.
      It can get pretty expensive if you buy your costume. If you are like me and don't have a lot of money, but you do have time, you can make a few pieces or props for the costume and make it SUPER awesome.

This wig is relatively simple. It took me about 5-6 hours to make one, but that's cause I crocheted a hat, that was the most time consuming. There are several ways to do it, and hopefully this will help.

Rapunzel Wig 

            The wig can be put together a couple different ways. I have always done a crocheted beanie with the same yarn that I make the strands of hair with. This will hide the hat underneath very well. The hat can also be knitted with the same yarn. With a yarn cap, the hair is tied on.

            You can also start with an already made hat and sew the hair on, either by hand or machine. I will provide instructions for both methods, however since I have never started with a store bought hat, I have not ironed out any kinks that may come your way in going that route.

           

***This pattern does not include a pattern for the actual hat that the hair is attached too, only basic instructions for the hat.***

Materials:

Bright yellow yarn

(2 skeins of 7 oz/ 364 yards)

An accent color of yarn, it can be either lighter or darker. I use a Gold color

(You will only use about 1/3 of a skein the same size as you see in the picture of the accent color)

Flowers

Ribbon

Hot glue gun

Bobbie Pins

For a store bought hat you will ALSO need:

A beanie/ or a ball cap with the bill removed

1 yd Velcro (you only need the hook / or rough side. You will not need the whole yard, but you can usually find it sold by the yard in a small package)

To Start:

If you are crocheting the hat, Start in the center and spiral out adding stitches as you go to expand the hat. Use the bright yellow yarn.

 

The wig will look best if the hat is smooth on top.

 

Next

You will make 11 locks of hair. First cut 11 pieces of bright yellow yarn about 8-10 inches long

You will use these to tie the strands together to make a single lock.

 

  

To make the strands of hair, find something that has a circumference of your desired length that you can wrap the yarn around. I used a 4 ft folding table. Or you can use 2 chairs. Set them as far apart as you want, and wrap the yarn from one to the other.

Start at one end, wrap the accent color around twice, and the bright yellow around 10 times. 

At the opposite end from where you started take one of your pre-cut 8 inch pieces of yarn, slip it under all 12 strands, and tie them all together securely

.

Once it is tied, cut all the strands at the other end, where you started. Now you have one completed lock. Repeat until you have all 11. The strands will not all be even, that is fine. You will trim it all once the wig is completed.

 

For a store bought hat:

Before you can attach the locks you need to sew on the Velcro. This will hold the hair down to the hat and keep it in place. Cut the Velcro into 3 to 4 inch long pieces. Discard the soft side. Sew the strips (the hook side) on the hat in various places. You don’t need to cover the entire surface, sew them on every few inches.

 

The yellow circles is where each lock of hair will be sewn down, the rectangles is about where you need to sew the Velcro strips.

  

Attaching the Locks onto the hat:

Open the lock of hair and lay it across the front of the hat.

The center of the lock of hair will become the part in the wig.

 

For a Crocheted or Knitted hat: Use a crochet hook to pull the center tie through. Tie a knot on the inside of the hat, securing the lock of hair to the top of the beanie. DO NOT cut off the loose ends. Use your hook to weave them through the hat. This ensures that the knot will not come undone. It also leaves the inside looking much cleaner.

Repeat this step with 8 locks of hair going in a straight line from the center of the forehead across the top of the head.

 

For a Store bought hat:

Open the lock of hair and place it across the front of the picture as shown above. Pin the lock to the hat. Once you have all 8 pinned in a straight line up the hat, use a sewing machine to sew down the part in the hair.

For Both Methods:

            Now add the last 3 locks for the crochet and knitted hats, tie them on the same way, only do not open the lock of hair up. Let both sides of the lock hang down across the back of the head.

            For the sewing method, pin the lock on as shown in the diagram, open up the lock so you can see the center tie. Sew over top of the center tie on each individual tie for the last three, moving the strands from other locks as necessary.

 

When all the locks are attached the top of the head should look like this:

 Even out the strands so they cover the hat completely.

Now you are ready to braid the wig. This step is easiest if someone is wearing the wig.

You can skip the braiding and tie the hair together with ribbon every 8 inches or so to keep the length consistent.

Crochet Hat:

Once it is all braided you need to tie the strands of hair to the hat to keep everything in place. Tie it down in several places across the sides, bottom, and back of the head. Once the hair is all secure you can cover your ties by hot gluing the flowers over the top of them.

 

Both Methods:

Use your hot glue gun to glue on the flowers. Put the glue on the actual flower and not the plastic stem, it will melt the plastic.

 Trim the bottom of the hair and now the wig is ready to be worn.

Yarn (about) $4.50

Flowers $3 (or less, depending on where you get your flowers)