How to Make Yarn Wig - Te Fiti Costume

My daughter loves the movie Moana and she wanted a Te Fiti costume for our traditional Mardi Gras festivities. The wig was the biggest challenge but it was also a huge success when finished, so here is how you make it, in case you also have a little one at home who wants to be this movie goddess.

If you also want to make the heart, the tutorial is here and the dress tutorial is here.

• lots of wool yard – I used 13 balls of 160 meters/175 yards (50g) and of grass-green color, 55 % cotton and 45 % acrylic – a little more yarn would be better so I would consider this the minimum amount.
• green crochet beanie
• about 10 artificial flowers
• scissors
• green thread
• needle

1. We’ll make the hair strands by winding it around some flat board, I used a table wing. Just make sure the board or table you choose is as long as you want the hair to be. So wind the yarn many times around the table. For these first strands I made about three from each yarn ball.
2. Cut a small piece of yarn and tie the strand in one place.
3. Take the whole strand carefully off and bend it so the tied piece is in the bend. Cut the opposite side.
4. Now you have a long strand tied in the middle.
5. Make six of these strands to start with.

Tie these six strands close to the edge of the beanie, three on each side. Mark the center front of your beanie, for example, by sewing on a button that you can later cut off. This will be your orientation point.

1. Take the two ends of the yarn you used for tying the strand and pull it through two holes next to each other to the wrong side.
2. Pull on the ends until the strand is tightly on the right side.
3. Tie two knots.
4. And pull the ends back to the right side. You don’t want the loose ends on the inside of the wig, they would complicate putting the wig on.
5. The strands should be tied on like this.
6. This is one side with three strands (don’t forget to tie another three to the other side).
7. Then make another 5 strands and tie them a little higher and in the spaces between the strands in the first line. So you’ll have 2 strands on each side and one in the back. Don’t tie anything to the front yet.

1. This wig has bangs to cover the front of the beanie. To make the strands follow the same steps but choose a shorter board or table. Make the bangs longer than you need (you’ll cut it later) but not as long as the rest of the hair, you’d waste too much yarn.
2. Make two strands and tie them to the front of the sides of the center mark (button in my case).
3. Cut a short piece of yarn and pull it from the wrong side to the right side in the very center of the front.
4. Take a piece of both front strands and place them in the center.
5. Tie them. Later you’ll check if this is enough for the bangs on your wig and if not, add some more strands you can just tie them on like you did with the first strands,

1. Now it’s time to cover the top of the beanie. Start in the center top, tie one strand of hair. I alternated between thicker and thinner strands and later covered spaces with thin strands. As you can see, this time we don’t just leave the strand hanging, we separate the halves to left and right and create a parting.
2. Cover the beanie from center top to the back.
3. And then from center top to the bangs.

1. If you don’t have a figurine, how is the time to call your child to stand as a model and put the wig on them. You’ll be braiding two braids to attach the flowers to.
2. You need to make two French braids to which you add only to the top strand, not to the low strand. If you add to both, it will take too much yarn off your wig and you don’t need the braids to be too thick. Tie the two braids together in the back but not all of the hair, just a few yarn pieces from each braid.

1. I used hibiscus and orchids.
2. Use a needle to sew through the back of the flowers and then lead the needle under a strand of the braid and back through the flower a few times to make the flower sit tightly in the braid.
3. Cover both sides of the braid, the back and also the area above the bangs. You can add some flowers in the loose hair.
4. and 5. Cut the bangs.

The wig is done!