You will need the following materials for your ponytail wig:
– Heatgun
– Scissors
– Wig scissors (I use a barber scissors for it, never cut something else with it!)
– Worbla Crobra cast (because its light weight)
– old pencil (or stick)
– Clip in wig net, the bought wig had a clip in pony tale ,I stripes the netting from the clip.
– Wig head
– (T-) pins (optional)
– Heat proof hands
Safety note: You will be working with real hot material, make sure not do not burn yourself with the heat gun or the worbla. Keep a bowl of water nearby just in case you burn yourself.
Worbla Cobra cast
I use Worbla Cobra Cast because it is a light weight material. It will make your wig more comfortable to wear. You can get it a various Cosplay shops as Cosplay Clues or Cosplay shop BE “Select Style”.
Old pencil
To hold the ponytail up I use a pencil. This is easy to come by and they work really well as inner core, you can also reuse an old paintbrush as I did in this tutorial. A good alternative is any round and stick shaped object.
Clip-in wig net
The wig I bought had an additional ponytail clip. So I stripped the netting from the clip and used the net to make my ponytail.
T-pins
T-pins or regular pins are optional, but they are really handy. I use them to hold my ponytail bump in place.
Step 1: Cutting the worbla
Required materials: worbla, scissors, ruler, pen.
Cut a stoke of worbla, this will be used to make the ponytail bump. The width of the worbla you are about to cut should be twice the distance from the wig to the end of the ponytail. The length of the piece of worbla determines the thickness of your ponytail. So the longer the piece of worbla, the thicker your ponytail will be. For this wig I cut a piece of 40 by 10 cm (width x length) Don’t worry about the exact measurements of your worbla, because you can always add more.
Step 2: Shaping the worbla
Required materials: your worbla piece from step 1, head gun, old paint brush, scissors.
Heat up the worbla with your heat gun. I usually turn my heat gun up to 200°C. By heating up the worbla it will get softer. When the worbla is soften up you should fold the worbla lengths in half. Carefully press both side together and reheat the worbla again. Now place the wooden end of the old paintbrush on the worbla at approximate 50% of the worbla width. Then roll the worbla around the end of the old paint brush. After that you should end up with the base of your ponytail bump.
While the worbla is still warm take the end where there is no stick and shape it into a flat ball, do this by pressing the top end on the table. Don’t press too hard you just want to shape it and not press it all the way to the wooden core. Now shape the ball you just made by rolling the ball shaped top of worbla on the table to round up the edges. Stop and take a look, you got yourself a funny looking paintbrush.
Now we need to make sure that the old paintbrush will not poke you in the head while you are wearing the wig. So cut of the excess of the paintbrush with a pair of scissors. Then cover the sharp ends with worbla and use your fingers to press the warm worbla around the paintbrush. It’s important to let your worbla cool down before you continue to the next step. This should take around 10 minutes.
Step 3: The Hard part
Required materials: your worbla piece from step 1&2 , new square of worbla ( +\- 10 by 10 cm), wig, wig head.
This will be the challenging part of the tutorial, because we are going to connect your worbla bump to the wig.
First test if your bump is wide enough to hold the wig net. Try this out by pulling the elastic of the wig net around the top part of your worbla bump. If it does not fall off easily the bump is wide enough. If your wig net still slipping off add some more worbla to the top of your bump.
Decide where you want your ponytail to be, then press the small bottom side of your bump in the wig. Heat up your square piece of worbla at the bottom of your bump. Watch out that you do not burn your wig while heating up the worbla bump. When both parts are heated up connect your bump with you square shaped piece of worbla. Do this by pressing the bump into the middle of the worbla square.
Now carefully place the wig on your wig head, this will make sure the worbla will curve in the shape of your head. If needed add some T-pins underneath you worbla bump to reinforce it. Now make sure the bump will harden at the correct angel. You can do this with the T-pins or you can hold it yourself. The worbla takes around 10 minutes to cool down.
Step 4: The final step
Required materials: wig head with wig, wig net, scissors, ribbon to match your outfit.
After the 10 min check is the piece of worbla is still in the right position. If it’s not, you can always add smaller squares of worbla the correct or secure the current position. Do this by repeating step 3 with an extra stroke of worbla.
Finally you can cover the worbla bump with the wig net. You can do this by pulling the elastic around the worbla really tight. To secure the wig cap make a knot and cut off the excess elastic.
Disclaimer: this is a method for a smaller and light weight ponytail. Using this method may not work with larger and heavier ponytails.
To finish off your wig wrap a ribbon around the ponytail that matches your outfit. for my final wig result check my “Mercy Baywatch” cosplay
One more thing!
Take a step back and be amazed! You just made an epic wig with a ponytail!