More questions about sew ins.

Well once again, she was behind me so I dont know. I saw her threading and a couple times she poked me with something sharp so im guessing a needle was used. She did each track. She said it didnt look like there was much build up of dead hair yet so it didnt require a full take down just then. She tightened it somehow and it now feels as snug as when it was first done so i dunno. I will go back in another month to the origional girl in Dorchester to get it completely redone as it will need it by then.

That was not what they did on me in Florida as far as "tightening" but then again I am just using that term for lack of a better word. I dont know what else to call it. She simply lifted my top hair up and clipped that aside, then each track she made snug again with thread. There was no sewing together of tracks and I would have complained about that. It seemed she did nothing different really then what was there before except making it feel tight again. Just wanted to clarify. Why would they sew the tracks together anyway?

Hi again. Your hair sounds similar to mine. Mine is thin with a fine texture and was maybe only about 3 inches below shoulders in its natural state prior to the sew in but it was also straggly and looked bad.

What you are describing that you want is called a partial weave. You will have tracks under your top layer of natural hair in that case. You can have as many as you want there and some people do 6 or more (see sourgirl posts) but I personally only had 3. You can get a LOT of hair with only 3 tracks.

So your natural hair will be braided horizontally across the back of your head in a tight small braid called a cornrow. The wefts will then be sewn onto the cornrows. There are many different ways to keep the wefts in place and you will learn all that but for me with silky fine hair what ended up holding best was thread and rubber bands. Don’t worry though.. It’s all very small and undetectable and your natural hair will fall over the top of it to conceal. All it feels like is slight ridges along the back of your head. You get used to it. The cornrows will not be seen at all because the weft is covering them and they are lying tight against your scalp. If you want to see what cornrows look like, there are many photos on weaving sites.

You must get your sew in tightened every so often because your natural hair will keep growing of course and the wefts will gradually become further away from your scalp. Everyone is different as far as how long they can go between re-positioning. You will be able to tell once it’s in. Also, every so often the weave needs to be completely removed, braids taken out and your hair washed so all the dead hair can be removed that has collected there and then they simply sew you back up. That is the difference between tightening and re-positioning. They can tighten without taking it all down if you just want it a little snugger once a month.

If you don’t get routine maintenance and let it go too long in between you can get into some issues so just don’t let that happen. Also you don’t want to over wash with a weave. Just like most all hair extension methods, its best to use a mild shampoo once a week. Also be sure you rinse your wefts VERY well. Once out of the shower, be sure to dry your tracks very well. Never sleep on them damp as this can cause mildew issues. Also, you should not need to use conditioner up near your wefts. In my opinion it’s a bad idea because conditioner is gummy and it can get in there and cause odor over time. Just condition the ends of your hair.

As far as the hair you choose, that’s another barrel of fish as there are SO many different types and textures to choose from. I recommend doing your research and getting the very best hair you can possibly afford. It will last longer and be a better match to your own. If you don’t want to do that, you can use less expensive or even synthetic hair but most likely you will need to change your hair out sooner if its of lesser quality or coated with silicones. Virgin tends to be the best of any hair type.

Hope this helps but nothing is set in stone and once your weave is installed, just figure out what works best for you.


Edited by krimsa - August 15 2007 at 8:03am