Dec 28, 2012

DIY Clip-In Hair Extensions for Natural Hair

Happy Holidays! Instead of decorating my apartment, I decided to add some holiday cheer to my hair by making my own DIY Clip-In Hair Extensions!!!

This was something that seemed like it would be nearly impossible (despite everyone saying how easy it was), yet I knew I wanted to add some length to my straight, natural hair without busting my wallet ALL the way open.

Trust and believe me when I say that making my own clip-in hair extensions was easy, though a bit time consuming, but totally worth the effort.

What You'll Need
1 Pack of Human Hair
1 Bundle of Thread
1 Needle to Sew
A few packs of small clips (bought mine at Sally's)

To begin, I followed the advice of my amazing stylist Cori @ Justin's Salon Studio and opted for 1 pack of Outre Human Hair ($34.99/pack) in color #4, 10 inches. My goal for making clip-in hair extensions was to add a bit of length and fullness, not try and create a Rapunzel weave. 10 inches was great for me, but whatever floats your boat. Due to my hair having heavy highlights, I was at first nervous about finding something that would blend well. Let's be honest - - there's nothing worse than a weave that doesn't blend lol. The bottom portion of my hair is about a  #4, while my roots are a #2, so once I decided to get the #4 I knew the blending wouldn't be an issue. I also bought this little combo pack of thread that came with 3 different styles of needles. In hindsight, I'd actually recommend opting for a higher quality thread to make sewing easier.

1) I took my weave out of the pack and measured where I wanted to have the tracks. I ended up making 5 tracks ( I had hair left over) since I was only going for a tad bit of length and fullness. I could have just doubled the length of the track and folded it over to make a thicker track, but I ended up cutting individual tracks and sewing them together. It took a bit longer, but I didn't mind. Whichever you choose is fine.

2) Once all of your tracks are measured and cut, you can sew the tracks together at the ends.

3) Next, you'll want to decide how many clips each track needs. I average about 3 clips a track, one on each end and another in the middle. My longest track required 4 clips. Sewing the clips onto the track was pretty straight froward, but again I'd recommend getting a higher quality thread to make sewing easier. This process actually  made me appreciate folks that do sew-in hair weaves because cheap thread can make you want to off yourself.

4) Once the clips are sewn onto the track - - VOILA! You're done! Can you believe it... you have your very own clip-in hair extensions for a fraction of the price.


Hair in Naturally Curly state

Hair Blown out and Flat Ironed - No Extensions (L) & Hair with DIY Clip-In Hair Extensions Added (R)

What I've enjoyed most about my clip-in hair extensions is getting the extra length and fullness with my straight hair, but being able to take the clips out at the end of the night and switch back to my curls whenever I like. It's SO much more convenient than having a full sew-in weave, it looks more natural than using a closure, and it's non-committal... an overall winning situation. As someone with pretty fine hair, I'm happy with the fullness and body I can get with my curls, but it's always a huge downer to rock straight hair and have it feel lifeless. This has been the cure.

I hope this inspires you to try making your very own DIY Clip-In Hair Extensions. Like always, feel free to ask whatever questions you may have.



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