hand spun yarn as dreads?

[emmyk89]

Hey guys I was wondering if hand spun (art) yarn such as these: http://www.etsy.com/shop/FibrePiratess? ... &ga_page=3 can be worn as dreads like they are?

And if so would this need to be felted first? I don't know much about roving etc and they look reallly cool for hair! How would you go about making these into wearable dreads without making much of a change to how it looks as it is?

Thanks guys :)

[MrsEss]

Cut them to the desired length & install. Simples. I recommend checking out Gracey (Woolhairhabit) show offs. She inspired me to install colinette a few years ago.



I really wanna do it again!!

[emmyk89]

Ah right cheers That looks really nice! So it doesn't have to be felted to be worn? (as I thought it might fall apart?)

[MrsEss]

No, spun yarn is more robust than rovings. However, if you pull it hard you can snap it. Gracey told me to run wet hands through my hair (well, wool) to take off the moulting bits, otherwise you'll shed fibres everywhere.

[emmyk89]

Ahh right! Thanks for the info!

[KITN]

There is also another way to get craft yarn into wearable dreads that I have been working with for a while. I try to treat it as the synthetic fibers by backbruhing, spinning and sealing with heat, but in order to get the thickness and to make sure the backbrushing will not destroy the integrity of the dread I braid the strands of yarn and backbrush that as one dread. It gives me more control over the thickness and looks pretty cool with mixing colors and spinning. To seal I dip into boiling water or put a damp rag over and seal with a hair straightener. I have had awesome results with these and they turn out very super smooth (and with natural colors they look like real dreads!)
I have also used the colinette pre-dreaded yarn like the picture there and that works out extremely well too. That stuff is very easy to braid into your hair.

[VixenSingsBlack]

Gracey told me to run wet hands through my hair (well, wool) to take off the moulting bits, otherwise you'll shed fibres everywhere.

Thanks for this!! When I had in my Xmas colinette in 2009 I shed on EVERYTHING. Now I know better!

Art yarns are totally installable! I've used colinette twice now and have been very happy with it, and I'm sure using a hand spun type would be just fine. I've thought about it myself

[Jane Doe]

Art yarn is totally different depending on the spinner.
The best rule of thumb is to simply ask the spinner who spun the yarn.
A good spinner will know exactly how they have created their yarn and how their yarn will behave without being knit.
The one you've linked to totally would act like collinette.
Those yarns are what spinners term "singles" or "thread-plied singles" but not all art yarn is spun in this way.

Some art yarn I've created in the past, was used by dreadviolet to create falls.
The yarn was corespun and slighly felted, so I knew it would hold up and be durable.
However, I did suggest knotting the tips, to keep the wrapping thread in place.

The yarn:


The falls by dreadviolet:


Go for it!
I'd love to see more art yarn being used as fakehair!

[emmyk89]

Thanks for all your replies after I get my new set installed and take them out I think ill get some of this stuff it looks really nice

Oh and jungledread I recently liked ur fb page, its where I first saw this type of yarn!