DIY Hairpieces for the Lady Re-enactor, Part One

Some time ago, I purchased a cheap child's Rapunzel wig at Party City, as an alternative to more expensive hairpieces at Sally's or online. This was done for two reasons: ease of acquisition, and the fact that my natural haircolour is now a variegated sandy ginger blonde, which is very difficult to match.

The original wig was closer than anything else found, including the Sandy Blonde wefts at Sally's.
The first necessity was to tone down the unnatural blonde a bit. Into a pot with several dark Irish tea bags went the wig, soaking overnight. Then into a similar pot of dilute Manic Panic Atomic Turquoise conditioner, which is what I use to tone my hair around here. Easy, non-chemical, vegan. This was the resulting colour:

When the wig was dry, I combed it out with a shower comb and began to cut apart the wefts from the wig cap:

Don't be dismayed if you accidentally cut the weft, especially around the front edge.

When all the bottom wefts were off, I arranged then according to size:

The very top, I left whole as the basis for a fall of curls, as my primary hairstyle for Pre-Raphaelitism is 1870s:

The small wefts were then sewn together in pairs. they will be used for side curls, braids, and back curls, depending on need:

These will all go woven into my own hair, which, although hip length, still is not enough to make up the hairstyles of the 1820s-1900 to my satisfaction.  Some of this volume in the latter period may be created with pads and frizzing, but not the mass of curls of the earlier periods.

The switches were then braided loosely so as to avoid tangling, ready for the next part of the adventure, curl-papers and rags:

 As every reader of Victoriana knows, curling rags were used in the period, as an alternative to curling tongs (irons), which did not damage the hair. Some used curl papers instead, including Lord Byron and Beau Brummel.

More on which anon!