How to Make Mohair Doll Wigs

Spruce up that old doll with a new mohair wig.

If you have a doll collection, chances are you have a few dolls that might need some sprucing up. These might be dolls that aren't worth much money, or even ones that have been damaged or serve more as sentimental favorites. Regardless of the sentiment, you can make a fabulous new wig out of mohair in no time at all.

Things You'll Need

• Gauze or thin, loose-weave fabric
• Scissors
• Blow dryer
• Small crochet hook
• Tweezers or hemostat
• Rubber bands
• Plastic wrap
• Pencil
• Brush-on tacky glue
• Small paintbrush
• Sewing needle
• White thread
• Fabric glue
• Mohair on the skin

Instructions

1. Cut off all the doll's hair with your scissors. Get as close to the scalp as possible without actually cutting into the doll's head.

2. Remove the head of the doll from the torso. An easy way to do this is to aim a blow dryer at the back of the doll's neck for 45 to 60 seconds. This softens the vinyl and allows you to push down and pull up on the head, in one clean motion, to ease it off the neck knob.

3. Remove all the hair plugs from within the doll head. The crochet hook can help loosen the plugs from the inside, and you can use the tweezers or hemostat to pull the plugs completely out.

4. Cover your doll head with plastic wrap and secure it in place with a rubber band around the neck. Place your fabric over the top of the plastic wrap secure it with a rubber band around the neck as well. Keep the fabric as smooth as possible before securing it in place with the rubber band.

5. Draw an approximate hair line using a pencil. You should be able to feel where the small holes end, so trace around the outside of where the hair used to be. Make certain you're not tracing over the top of the ears, as your wig shouldn't cover those.

6. Apply the brush-on tacky glue to the newly-outlined hair line and spread liberally with your paintbrush. It needs to saturate the doll's scalp. Let the glue dry for several hours to form a perfectly hardened wig cap.

7. Remove the rubber band holding the fabric in place when the glue feels dry to the touch. Carefully peel off the wig cap and fabric from the head, leaving the plastic wrap on the doll. If the wig cap is still a bit wet, leave it off the doll's head for a few more hours to dry completely.

8. Cut away the excess fabric when the glue is dry. Cut only along the hair line you traced before applying the glue, as this will be your wig cap. Place the wig cap atop the doll's head, over the plastic wrap, to make sure you have the right size.

9. Trim off any excess if the wig cap doesn't mesh with the hair line. If the back of the wig cap is too loose, you can sew the back of it up with a needle and thread to have it fit flush along the back of the head.

10. Cut your mohair on the skin into small sections.

11. Lay down a line of your fabric glue at the back of the doll's head, near the neck line. Press the ends of the mohair into the glue. Apply glue to one side of the head and add hair in a similar fashion, then do the same on the other side of the head. Work around the head in concentric circles until you've covered everything but the top of the head.

12. Switch to the white glue used earlier in the process. Brush a small portion of it on the top of the head and insert the ends of the hair straight down into the glue, like you would if you were planting the hair into the ground. Wait a few hours until the white glue has dried and the hair is in place.

13. Smooth the hair with you hand, checking to see if more hair needs to be added. If it does, simply dip small sections of hair by the ends in the white glue and plant them as needed.

14. Remove the wig cap when all the glue is dry. Using the fabric glue, secure hair around the front and side perimeters of the cap. This will hide the wig cap when it's perched atop the doll head.

15. Glue the wig on your doll head using the fabric glue if you want the wig to become a permanent attachment. If not, you can keep it as a removable wig and use head pins to keep it in place.

References

• Donna Anne's Fantasy Dolls: Making a Mohair Wig for Your Fashion Doll