Pinchbraid as big as sausage links *PICS*

yea, sorry, i was being facetious, but she has a lot of repeat customers so maybe you could once you get it down a wee bit better....

(and i wasn't kidding about the NOT BAD AMM PART!!!!! IMHO you did a really good job and I am jealous. You give me inspiration to try it.)

Jenny, No, I could not hide the braids at all, and my hair that was left on top could not be blended at all.

Wow, thanks for your help everyone. Can anyone take the class or do you have to be licensed? I'd love to learn.

Merg, that's cool. I am just fascinated by this method. I see yours are up high. Do they show easily? Do they hurt at all? How many do you have in? Is there really absolutely no damage to your own hair when they come out? Do you lose any? Can they be ...umm....errrr... pulled on and still stay in? I'm asking for a friend.

not that bad amm!

 

you can go into business b4 you know it

You definitely need to get yourself one of these.

Mannequin head clamp

My Sophie sits firmly on the edge of the kitchen table, and causes me no grief at all.

First off- looks good for a first attempt, Amm!

Marie87: the thread type doesn't so much matter; it should be thick enough to work with easily, but not so thick that it would be bulky, like using string or yarn would be. I use weaving thread, but you can also use upholstery thread or extra-strength sewing thread.

And actually, no, I don't pinchbraid on my own head! The hardest thing to DIY it is actually seeing the thread, so you can tie it properly. I've also never tried it because I have natural dreads underneath my extensions, so there's no point in pinchbraiding as my hair is bulky anyway. I usually just do a normal braid and tie off with a small rubber band. Though I'm going to brush out my dreads soon, and may try pinchbraiding on my loose hair then- will let you all know how it goes. And it does take a really long time; it takes me about seven hours or a full head. Isaac's got several years of experience on me, so hopefully when I've been working as long as he has I'll be as fast as him.

Okay, so Amm: yes, definitely smaller sections. That scalp section should be no more than a half inch tall by a half inch wide. For the amount of added hair, it should be the same thickness as the bit of synth that you're braiding with, or else the tension in the braid will be uneven and the human hair will snake out of the braid, as you can see in the second-from-front braid especially. Or, if you want to add a whole ton of hair, you can make the strands of extension hair thicker, but you have to re-divide the strands a few turns down to even them out; that is, put some extension hair into the client's-hair strand, so that it's thicker.

One thing I've learned since making the tutorial (which I should really put up there- it's due for revision) is that the thread-wrap part is really imporant. Apparently it's not just a way of tying the thread off, but also of holding the extension hair onto the human. Try to wrapa round at least four times before tying off- and then tie off three or four times, since wear can cause the the knot to loosen, so you want to have some backup knots in the thread.

The slippage thing is very hard- though it's actually a function not of pinchbraiding, but braiding in general. One helpful thing to know is that you can actually just shove the braid up the human hair if it slides! Just grab the strand(s) that has the client's hair in them (and only grab the clien'ts hair, not th synth that maybe mixed in with it), hold onto it tightly with one hand, and with the other push the braid up towards the scalp. If there's human hair in more than one strand, just grab the client's hair in the other strand and tighten there too.

Also, to minimize slippage, when you're holding the strands, try to pull them more "outwards" (away from each other) and less "down" (close to each other). This keeps the tension of the strands pulling against each other (keeping the braid tight) instead of pulling against the scalp (which will cause the braid to slide down). Oh, and keep the most tension on the strand of the client's hair, especially if it's a little bit thinner than the extension hair; you can pull tightly on the strand of human/client hair all you want, but if you pull too tightly on the strands of extension hair, they'll just slide down the strand of human hair.

Uhhh, I think that's all I meant to say. I'm a little groggy, so lemme know if any of these explanations were incomprehensible. And keep at it! There's nothing to it but practice.

-Rae

Bridget Boogiemama does her whole head herself! Can you believe that? She said it takes a couple of days, tho. I was wondering if Rae does herself.

Way to go, amm, on the pinchbraiding!

practise doing them much smaller

its so much more easy to manage!

I would try just about every exention technique on my own head EXCEPT the pinch braids.  There's a definite art to it.  Making sure the start of the braid is nice and taut is such a challenge for me.  Like I've gotten Microbraids from the African braiders and if one comes out and I try to put it back in, it NEVER looks or feels as good as when they do it, so I know I could never master pinch braids. 

Hi Amm I want to try tihs too but havent got around to it yet. I did learn it in the extension class I had but that was 12 years ago, LOL.  I was all so wondering about the string I sew so I have lots of different types around the house is it a special thread ( I saw it for sale on sites) or will something else work as well? I agree with Mochachip if your ex hair is less it would be much smaller. But imigian all the hair you could get on your head with them that sizeBy the way while I have you hear is there a thred on how to post a photo I still want to show you that threder!!!

My first attempt. Sure is a lot of hair for four braids which is nice.

But man. Four of them took me one hour. As in 60 minutes! As in OHMYFARKINGAWD my fingers hurt.

I followed Rae's pictorial (thank you thank you!) and had it right up in front of me while Cait's head was wedged between my knees for this task. Now my thighs are cramping and I probably won't be able to walk tomorrow because once I got a braid done, it was only then that I realized I was tensed up to the max.

Look at these things! They're super huge and fubar. Is it just practice practice practice makes perfect? Are these normal for a first timer? Will I ever get feeling back in my fingers? These are questions I need answered.