I love the look of a crown braid, but have not been able to figure out how/where to start one and whether it is reasonable to think I might be able to do one on myself.  Any suggestions?

Ooh! I usually practise on my mother, even though her hair is shoulder length and layered which makes it hard to do things on. But it actually worked extremely well - the next challenge is doing it on myself!

I have a question about crown braids. I know the first braid you start at the nape of your neck and braid up towards the crown. For the second braid do you start at the nape again, or at the crown, and then wrap it around the first braid?  ???

Quote:


I am soooo jealous.  I really want to learn how to do a crown braid on myself.  If I am understanding your instructions,  you divide the hair into 4 quarters.  Start braiding at the left ear up towards the top of the head, then continue around the head until you reach the start?  Is that how you do it?

There are 2 different types.  The one Space Cadet is describing, I believe is where the hair is gathered into the braid as you go aroung the head.  Another style would be to make 2 separate braids, then wrap them around the head.

How far from your hairline does your braid end up?

How long is your hair?  I'm curious how long it would need to be in order to make the double crown.

Do you wear your hair loose showing off the curls most of the time?

The crown with half of it down is called a cascade on the dreamweaver site I believe. It's a really nice look, I'll have to try it this weekend before I give myself the oil treatment!

Well my hair is not like straight hair at all, although it does become straight after a couple of days of not washing it  . And it starts curly, how odd is that! Hehe anyway most of the time it's wavy, or straight with a wave at the end, and it holds updos well. I will try both ways and see which work well for me  .

I wrote to Mary Bertke (of the Dreamweaver's site) to get her advice on doing a crown braid on oneself. Her instructions were:
- Part the hair from front all the way to the back, not to the point of the ear.
- If you have hair clips, part the hair also from the crown of the head to the points of the ears.  Clip three of the four resulting sections, leaving one back section free.  This helps you to keep even with adding top and bottom sections, giving you little checkpoints.
- Work on your arm strength.  Hands on straining arms don't braid well.  I recommend Denise Austin's Hit the Spot: Arms and Bust video.  No, I'm not joking.  While you're at it, it's a good idea to do the other three videos as well - "Abs", "Thighs" and "Buns".  This is how I got rid of my (fairly severe) back problems.
- Other than that, you have to work out how and where to do the arm/hand position changes for yourself.  It is, at first, a very clumsy practice, and it WILL NOT look really good for a LONG time.  I'm still working on getting the hair consistently smooth and tightly braided, and I've been working on it for a few months.  (Buns got too heavy for aerobics.)

I'll have to give it a try this weekend as well.  I really want to learn how to do it on myself.   

Yeah - the best way to really start I think is to be prepared to spend a lot of time on it, and have methods of taking breaks in place so that you won't have to start completely over.  Also knowing how your hair works best is very helpful - for example a lot of braiding sites say never wet the hair, just be sure to smooth it as you braid it - but with my curly hair, that just doesn't work - my best braids are done right after I shower or right before I wash my hair, but I still wet it down completely so that I can separate it well - just know your hair to make it easier!

My two little cousins with long hair are great hair models - I tried the dutch crown braid on both of them and it worked! I parted their hair down the middle and started on the right side, and just did a dutch braid all the way around. When I got to the other side of the head I started gathering hair from only one side until it left the back of the head and then I would finish the braid. Then the braid would be wrapped around the other braid to make it look like a "double crown." For one of the girls there was hair left over so I made accent braids, and for the other girl all the hair was incorporated into the braid. I tried the french crown but it was harder! I wish i could do this on myself 

Congratulations!  Hope you took pictures!

Sorry to say, I have not yet tried the crown braid on myself.   I need more time to "play" with my hair to figure it out.  You are right to try to learn things while your hair is at a manageable length.  Maybe if I grew another arm I could figure out the crown braid?

this is soo very gorgeous!!! i had never heard of this braid...i have braided my hair in anywhere from 2 peices to 5 peices..this.this is...i am on a mission now to learn how to do this braid..you know that right?  i'm a SCAdian..  and somehow someway i am going to learn this one..
   i've learned most braids from books  **beautiful braids etc*...
  only one i've not been able to finish **damned arthritis!!** was the fishtail braid..
   now i have to find a book with this braid just to learn this..it looked magnificent on you...in fact a freind of mine is getting handfasted..soon..i sent her the url for the pic..she may end up wearing this in the ritual.
    awesome...just awesome!!
     Ciao!
      Azriel...she ,who it appears, is currently on a caffeine high. *ROTFL*

I love crown braids and would like to start to practice making them as soon as I am able to.

What is the minimum hair length that a crown braid requires? My hair is just about two inches below shoulder line.

WOW Leia, you're hair is sooo lovely! You've got mounds of it!! 

Carrie Fisher: eat your heart out!!!!

Quote:

Your hair is long enough.  I would start with a Dutch crown braid (you know, an inside-out braid).  if you have a problem with short pieces of hair sticking out all over the place, try doing it a French braid.

Leia, your crown braid is so pretty!  Mine usually end up a bit closer to the top of my head (like dreamweaverbraiding.com pics), but I'm working on getting it to stay at the back like your picture.  Oh, and you were smart to stay away from the double buns *gag*!  Only Carrie Fisher can pull that off!

First try with crown braid. It did not, repeat: it did not go well. There was hair everywhere, except where it should have been. I'm in real trouble when I have to divide my hair into sections...

But I'll keep trying.

Quote:

Do keep trying. It's just one of those styles that you try and fail, over and over, then all of a sudden you get it.

I'm not experienced braider either, and my hair is super slippery, so I work powered by sheer stubborness.  

EDIT: second try a while after my shower while my hair was still damp, went very well  . I managed to braid about one and half quarter.

This may not be the answer, and forgive me if it sounds too obvious, but it is something I have to remind myself of ......... When you want a braid to be "tight" to the head, you must make sure that as you tighten the braid, you are not pulling the hair away from the head - that will create a loose braid.

Some crown braiding realizations.

1) Take more hair from down and less from center of head.

2) Take hair very little at one time. I realized that my big mistake was, that I took hair way too much- like I was braiding a classic braid.

I guess my crown braid will look passable only after my hair has grown a bit -too much baby hairs and short hairs sticking out now. Neverthless, I'm happy I started practicing it early- every braid I make looks a little better than the braid before that.

I've been wanting to try this forever, I guess its about time I just crack down and do it...


Lady

I finally managed to pull of a decent crown braid on my own hair (decent being that i would leave the house).  My hair is barely BSL, and For those of you with shorter hair, I really recommend the French Crown.  When I did the dutch crown,  I'd get about a thrid of the way around my head and no matter how hard I pulled, the braid would be loose.  I finally realized it was because the dutch didn't catch as well, and the ends would slide right out.

So yeah, french works better for me...

Your hair is beautiful(so's the hairpin!)

Ok fess up ladies!!!  Where did you get the lovely hairpin?

I should have guess!!!  lol I am on there all the time looking for yarn and what not!  Do you remember who the seller was?

Mine came as part of a butterfly slide (barrette?)  I seldom use the butterfly part, but love the pin.  I purchased it on ebay as said before.  It's not nearly as nice as the Longlocks Hair Sticks!
But it has a Native American look that I often wear with turquoise jewelry.