BEGINNER COSPLAY – CREATING A CRAFT FOAM WIG STEP ONE!
This is my first cosplay post, hopefully of many, as I navigate the fun and costly world of self taught cosplay! (Originally posted August 2018)
This year, my son and I decided that we want to create some awesome costumes for Halloween (our convention cosplays being already created and ready), and he decided on Sonic the Hedgehog…
OK…at least he has faith in me!
So I scoured the web for a tutorial on making a full wig from craft foam, guess what I found?
Now I know there is no way in this DIY crafty Pinterest Crazy world that no one has ever created a super epic foam wig, I see finished pictures all the time for amazing drag queens…but I only found one single tutorial for cosplay that was sadly lacking in process photos, so being the sanity self-sacrificing mom that I am, I decided to learn as I go with the small tidbits I picked up.
Lucky you, you get to learn from me and try skipping all the fun mistakes I made!
What you will need:
*Foam Glue – don’t get all fancy, I bought the cheap stuff from Dollar Tree and it works great!
*Craft foam sheets in the colour you want – Michaels carries a decent range of colours, and had a nice dark blue that works perfectly for my Sonic wig. I used about 8 for this wig, but bought around 20 just in case (and I can return the untouched ones I didn’t need)
*Dressmaker pins – you know, the ones with the colourful ball on top!
*Foam Wig Head – I found mine at Michaels craft store
*Scissors or utility knife – sharp ones
Step One:
Create a “wig cap” like this by cutting thicker strips of the foam (can be any colour since it’s hidden underneath the spikes) and run one from the center of the forehead (where the peak will be, all the way to about three fingers past the nape of the neck.
Then, wrap more strips around the circumference of the head and glue and pin in place. Do this multiple times until you have a solid base to blue and pin more spikes to.
*Keep in mind that you can add more strips if you want to cover the entire cap, but I didn’t find it necessary.
Make sure to put a dab of glue on each connecting point and push your dress pin through each glued spot and into the foam head (see, that’s why you need one!)
Now here is the really fun part….we have to wait for the glue to dry before we can do step two…patience….
Should look kinda like this. Now leave it overnight for the glue to dry (it will become more clear and harden)
ROUND TWO….FIGHT! (OK, don’t fight…but um…read?)
So now that the glue from round one is dry, we can begin round two!
First things first, take out ALL of the pins, and if you are like me and get a bit glue happy, you will need to gently remove the wig cap from the foam head. This is where you get to try it on and make sure it fits comfortably.
My next step was to cut out a whole bunch of “hairs” in various sizes and shapes. If you are going for a more natural look for your wig, make sure they are all different shapes and taper points too, but in my case, I want exaggerated triangles.
Next what I did was create three “horns” by folding a half foam sheet into a pointed horn look. Now…here is where I messed up. I glued the highest horn on first!! Don’t do that. I had to take it off and the glue had already partially dried when I realized my mistake!
I also made cute ears that I didn’t glue on, but love the shape, so I fixed them together with glue and pins and set them aside for one of the final steps.
Glue the lowest “horn” on first and work your way upwards, otherwise it gets really tricky to glue on the next pieces. Don’t be dumb like me and plan backwards.
When you finish gluing on your horns, it should look a bit like this. This is NOT the final look, these horns are to create the height and flow that I need for my Sonic look.
Now do the pinning and gluing again. Once again, you will be waiting overnight before you can start the next step, but I’m impatient, so we are going to skip right to step three!
Step Three:
Next, you are going to cut some extra large triangles out of your foam sheets and glue them all over the place, take care to cover all the ugly mess from your horns, until you have something like this. (This was actually my first attempt, hence the difference mannequin head, but the basic idea is the same). Make sure to cut foam to fit around your ears too!!
Take care to follow the flow of your horns, if you are going for a Sonic cosplay, the height will make the difference between a blue wig and this fun foam creation.
You are also going to want to create the forehead piece and get that bad boy glued on like so…
Are we done? Oh heck no! We are going to wait for the glue to dry again though….wait for it….
Step FOUR!
Woah, we are moving right along…I got impatient…
Take all those itty bitty pieces that you cut out earlier and start gluing them on. Start with the bigger pieces (save your small pieces for teeny gaps and details around the nape and forehead. When you have finished gluing and pinning like a madman (and of course waiting for the glue to dry, you should have something like this. (My floofy kitty decided she needed into the pic). Obviously I haven’t attached the ear cutouts yet (they will go under the main base)
Then you get your kiddo to try it on and you get fun pics like these:
Whelp. That’s it for now. All that’s left is the ears and some quick alterations to hide my son’s natural hair colour and we have ourselves a Sonic the Hedgehog craft foam wig.
Total material cost approximately $14-$20.
Have fun! And if you try this tutorial and love it, let me know! I would love to see everyone’s take on it!
Cheers for now!
In the meantime, feel free to check out my Facebook, Twitch and Instagram for more art, cosplay, general nerdiness and family funtimes! @Purrfectpixels
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