In this picture, I started the braid over at the right, just above my ear, braided all the way around, counter-clockwise, and ended in a tail that would have stuck a couple inches off the right side of my head. I then pinned that tail up so that it ended at the same spot where I started the braid, which makes it look like a complete circle.
And this is what it looks like from the front:
I'm sorry I don't have a picture of my hair down. It's only down in early in the morning and late at night, and it's usually dark then! But it's about at my shoulders.
peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell
5 comments:
Thanks for posting this. It inspired me to do Lucy's hair this way (she has such long, thick hair that falls out of hairdos a lot). It works perfectly and is so pretty! I've been using colorful clips to hold her hair in place. It makes it look like she has a flower above her ear.
Jessica, I'm going to need maybe a video-tutorial...or maybe a series of drawings or something because I cannot for the life of me figure out how you're doing this beautiful braid to your hair.
So...do you pull hair from both above and below the braid as you're going around, or just one side? How do you get the angle with your hands? Once I get around to the other side from where I started, I completely lose the braid. How do you switch your hands around so it's pulling the same direction as you started?
Do you part your hair in the middle or the side?
Is your hair all one length? Because mine is layered and I'm having stray bits sticking out all over...
Anyway, it's so lovely and I really would like to do it myself, but as you see I need a "Braiding for Dummies" book or something. :)
Tienne, it is a bit complicated, so I'll try to explain. Disclaimers:
1) I've been french-braiding (not this particular braid, just french-braiding generally) for, oh, fifteen years. I think having the basics down in muscle memory helps a lot.
2)Doing this took lots of experimentation before it got simple.
3)) I'm bad at explaining things like this.
But I'll do my best. :)
I think it's the hand position/angle that's the hardest part to get. Once I figured out where to start, and how to hold my hands, it was just a matter of practicing until I could keep the tension properly, keep it even.
The trick for me was figuring out where to start because, as you found out, if you start in the wrong place, you have to switch your hands over, and that's just pretty much impossible to do.
What I've found is that if I start with a section just behind my ear (and I don't part, I just brush all my hair sideways, so it's hanging away from that starting section, and then take a section at a time), I can braid in the same direction the whole way 'round, i.e., I don't have to switch hands.
Not switching hands means:
1) You have to twist your wrists a bit to get in a good starting position. I might practice first just making a lace braid (if you google "lace braid", you'll see what I mean - dreamweaver braiding has decent instructions), because that's basically what I'm doing at the beginning. I just start behind my ear instead of in front of it.
2) You braid across the top of your face, down the side, and across the bottom, but you DON'T braid back up the other side of your head. Instead, just braid what's left out to the side and then pin that braid up to where you started to complete the circle. Since you don't actually go 360 degrees around your head, you shouldn't have to switch your hands at the end.
I do take hair from both sides, except at the very beginning. At the very beginning, I just take hair from the front for one or two rounds, because this leaves me a little pocket where I can tuck the end of the braid in after I go all the way around.
My hair isn't one length; I secure the sticking-out bits with lots of bobby pins. :)
Also, I said that I don't switch my hands around, and I don't . . . but it does feel at the beginning of the lace braid section like I start braiding down, and then after a couple of twists to establish the braid, I start braiding up. I don't know if that makes sense, but that's what it feels like when I do it.
I hope that helps.
I wanted to write and thank you for the detailed lesson! My first attempt after reading your second set of instructions turned out very pretty and wearable. :) Thanks! http://lifeisnotliveduntillovingmakesit.shutterfly.com/
Tienne, I'm so glad the instructions worked!
My browser (Opera) doesn't like Shutterfly, so I can't see the pictures, but I'm so happy to hear you managed to make it work for you! Isn't it a lovely hairstyle? My favorite, hands-down.
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