It’s easy to make a no-sew yarn wig. I’ve created a simple tutorial showing the instructions for how to make a yarn wig step by step.
A simple yarn wig looks great with any costume or cosplay, plus they are cheap and easy to make with no sewing skills needed. I’m going to be Te Fiti from Moana, so I need to make a green wig.
Yarn wigs are SO comfortable that this organization (The Magic Yarn Project) makes them for kids with medical hair loss! Volunteers crochet the hats, then the correct color and length of yarn is added.
Look at the photos of these absolutely beautiful wigs on children beaming with happiness.
To help out: You can volunteer to purchase and cut yarn to the correct length. You can also donate to help with the cost of shipping the yarn wigs.
Materials needed for the yarn wig
- loosely knit hat
- two to three balls of yarn
- scissors
- crochet hook or another tool
It’s easiest to start off with a knit hat; usually, I find these at second-hand stores. The one pictured below is perfect; it has a loose weave so it’s easy to pull the yarn through. (It’s going to be a Rapunzel wig.)
This hat was used to make a Little Mermaid-inspired wig.
Note: I’ve tried to make wigs by sewing the yarn onto a stretchy cap I made, but these wigs always fit poorly and the yarn got into a tangled mess very quickly. The ones that I used a hat to make stay nice with less maintenance and are easy to put on.
I didn’t find one for this wig today, so I’m using a sweater instead (which requires a bit of sewing.)
First, I put the sweater arm over my head and just marked with chalk about where I wanted the hairline to be. Then I cut it off a couple of inches below the mark; it’s very important to leave extra room because it seems to shink up when it’s off your head.
Next, I sewed elastic to the bottom edge to make it more like a hat, and then sewed the sleeve up to create a wig cap.
If you already have a knit cap, start at this step.
Decide how long you want the hair to be. I usually make my wigs about waist-length. Add several inches or more. It’s not an exact science so leave extra length to be trimmed later.
I find it easiest to use chairs to wrap the yarn around. The length of each piece of yarn will be double the length that you want the wig to be. I wrap around two or three pieces together to get more color in the hair, just like when hair is highlighted.
Wrap and wrap and wrap. Then cut through one end.
Use a crochet hook to make weaving the yarn into the hat much easier.
In this case, the sweater was knit too tightly for me to use a crochet hook, but I discovered a similar hook that came with my sewing machine that was the right size.
I’ve also used a paper clip bent into a hook, which worked surprisingly well.
Weave the crochet hook through a loop in the knit hat. Fold the yarn in half and loop it over the hook.
Pull the hook and yarn an inch or two through the cap.
Unhook the yarn.
Pull the ends of the yarn through the loop.
Pull the yarn all of the way through the loop until it’s snug.
Repeat this in a line, which creates a part in the wig. I’m going for a more messy look, so it’s not even.
You’ve gotten the looping and pulling technique down, so the rest is simple. Just keep doing it.
Continue looping and knotting. Get the knots as close as you can since this will be the top layer of the hair and visible all of the time. I added more knots later to fill in several spots.
** You won’t always want to have the knots straight down the center. On the Ariel-inspired wig, I created a side-part as shown below. **
Cover the front of the cap with knots, looping it over the front of the cap. (The yarn hair is hanging forward in this photo.) This ensures the cap doesn’t show through in the hair around your face.
This is the underneath of the right side of the wig. Randomly place pieces all over the hat. It doesn’t need to be fully covered or it will be too full and heavy when it’s finished.
I crossed some of the strands on top to hide my knots more, and then added more yarn in the places you can see the cap.
The yarn is finished. I’ll add some braids, which also help keep the hair in place.
It’s looking pretty good! However, I still will add more braids, flowers and finally to trim the ends a bit.
I hope you found it easy to make a no-sew yarn wig. Enjoy making them with this simple tutorial showing the instructions for how to make a yarn wig step by step.
See how the wig just completes the outfit? We bought a very inexpensive costume from Wish, but she looked great with the addition of the wig.
For the Ariel-inspired wig, I added beads and seashells. Tying a little of the hair back also helps the rest of the hair stay in place.
For my witch hair, I just sewed black and white yarn on a headband and put my hat over it.
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Diane R says
Wow, a latch hook wig. I would never have thought of that. Thanks for the tutorial!
Emily says
I just learned that tool was called a latch hook from a friend who is a great sewer. I had no idea what it was really for; it just had come with my sewing machine. 🙂