Braid Hair Weaving Techniques

Braiding and sewing work together to produce high-quality weaves, but quality is not lost with fusion and glued extensions. The direction in which you choose to braid is essential and can limit the versatility of desirable styles. The location of a track in relation to where your natural braid is can lessen or increase its visual detection. The size of braids should be small and tight to limit their visibility as well. Choose the weaving technique that is best for you and your styling preferences.

Sew In Technique

Sectioning the hair properly is very important because it can lessen the mobility of your weave and significantly decrease the appearance of hair tracks. Visible hair tracks are not appealing and make hair look artificial. Be sure to leave a significant amount of your hair out before braiding it. The amount of hair you leave out should be kept to a minimum but be enough to hide tracks and blend well into your own hair.

To begin a sew-in weave, your natural hair must be braided. There are two braiding techniques to choose from. Both beehive and straight-back techniques are used for applying sew-in extensions. The beehive consists of your natural hair being braided in a circular direction, starting at the right outermost corner of your hair line. The straight-back technique consists of hair being evenly parted vertically.

Once hair is properly braided, loose ends should be secured. Sew the loose ends of braids into the base of braids so that they do not remain hanging. By sewing loose ends you eliminate their visibility when attaching hair extensions.

Begin to sew hair horizontally from left to right. When reaching the end of a hair extension, tie a knot to secure it. Add as many layers of extensions as you desire. The more layers you add, the thicker your hair will appear to be.

Blend your own hair into the hair extensions. If your hair is thick, consider using a flat iron to straighten your hair texture. Using a thin-tailed comb, make sure that your natural hair covers any sign of a hair extension. Feel free to style your hair any way you like. Human hair extensions can be cut, colored, permed, relaxed and curled.

Fusion Technique

Strand-bonding or "fusion" techniques have become extremely popular. Fused hair follicles are longer lasting than glue-applied extensions, but they can be equally damaging if not applied correctly. There are several ways to fuse loose hair strands. The most inexpensive way to fuse hair is to take small sections of hair and fuse the hair together using rubber band bonds. Professional fusing is normally done with adhesives, thermal bonding or cold bonding. All are methods used to fuse artificial hair to human hair follicles.

Glue In Technique

Glue-in weaves are the easiest to apply. They do not require you to know how to braid. The only major drawbacks to glued-in extensions are their damaging effects if not applied correctly. Glue can cause your hair to break. Also, if the glue is not removed properly it can cause hair loss. It is best to have someone else glue in your hair extensions. If you do it yourself, be sure to have two mirrors that allow you to see the back of your head clearly. Part hair horizontally and apply an even amount of glue along the extension track. The track of the extension will have thread in it. This will help you identify its location. Place track on the scalp and avoid getting glue onto the hair itself. If you do, don't worry about it too much because there are glue removers available. Continue to apply hair extensions until you reach your desired level of fullness.