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Thread: Learning to braid. Practice makes progress!

  1. #1
    Member hannabiss's Avatar
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    Default Learning to braid. Practice makes progress!

    This thread is for anyone learning to braid. Wether it's french/dutch or english. Or any other name of any braid or pattern you'd like to learn.

    I myself have only been able to do a simple English braid. Well as my hair gets longer I know I want to be able to keep it up in a braid from damage. (Buns are also an option someday but variety is the spice of life.)

    So here is a mini challenge I'm doing to myself.
    Every night I must practice doing either a Dutch or French braid.
    Either straight down the back or two on each side of my head.
    The progress I've made in the last month has been great.
    My braids are still ugly and crooked and I wouldn't leave the house in them.
    But they are still braids and they're getting better.
    I know it can be a surprisingly frustrating concept to learn The add more hair, manage not to tangle it remember which strand goes over/under which one first. Then back to add more hair while not tangling it.

    Hope I'm not the only one in the dark about braiding.
    Who knows what I'm gonna do with my hair anymore...

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    Member Arctic's Avatar
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    Default Re: Learning to braid. Practice makes progress!

    Good idea for a thread! Also good idea to start practicing now that your (and my!) hair is shorter I bet your braids don't look ugly at all, and messy braids (and hair styles) have been in for a long time, so if it would be crooked, you can just say it's on purpose

    Being able to do 3-strand braid is nothing to sniff about, many other braid types use very similar pattern, so it's really a cornerstone style. (besides it's pretty and quick and comfortable! win-win-win!)

    Lately I've been practicing 4 strand braids and braiding with ribbons. The latter is completely new to me!

    Always behave like a duck -
    keep calm and unruffled on the surface but paddle like the devil underneath.

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    Member swords & roses's Avatar
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    Default Re: Learning to braid. Practice makes progress!

    I've been practicing dutch braids lately! I can french & dutch braid other people's hair, but doing it to myself is such a challenge, & so messy in a bad way. I, too, wouldn't leave the house with my hair so sloppily braided, but it's getting better & getting a little less clumsy.

    DH & I cosplay, and this year we each have wigs with pony tail clips as part of our costumes. The pony tail clips are HEAVY, and the wigs alone won't support them. So I've found that I can dutch braid our hair before putting on the wigs, and use the dutch braids as an anchor point for the pony tail clips to hang onto.
    Just a crazy craftaholic! ^_~ http://craftaholicadventures.blogspot.com/
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    Member hannabiss's Avatar
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    Default Re: Learning to braid. Practice makes progress!

    I posted a pic a few minutes ago of my Dutch braid. It's improved so much. Can't get the BB code to copy paste so I can post it here. But yay I'm not the only one!
    Who knows what I'm gonna do with my hair anymore...

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    Fake ginger PixieP's Avatar
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    Default Re: Learning to braid. Practice makes progress!

    I suck at them too, I managed to do it really well all of one time when I did Katniss' signature dutch braid for seeing Catching Fire in the cinema. Otherwise, I won't leave the house with them, lol.

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    Member divinedobbie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Learning to braid. Practice makes progress!

    I only knew how to English braid most of my life. Learned to French braid about a year ago and it has been my go to ever since. I just tried a Dutch braid the other day and it was perfect. But doing a waterfall? Not a chance. I've also never tried to split it into two braids down my head, just the one. Maybe I'll try that when I get home.

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    lady daydream ✧ lapis_lazuli's Avatar
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    Default Re: Learning to braid. Practice makes progress!

    You're definitely not the only one!
    I, too, can only do english braids. I struggle with dutch and french braiding but have managed them once or twice but anything more intricate is a different story...
    I dunno... this is all coming from someone who struggles with simple buns so I'm pretty much a failure when it comes to hairstyling.

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    Member Ephemia's Avatar
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    Default Re: Learning to braid. Practice makes progress!

    I only recently learned to do an English braid on myself, and I can only do them to the side. Attempting to do a central one just results in a tangled mess. There was this time at college when we had a practical session at the end of the day, and so my hair was in a plait, but it got uncomfortable and I couldn't cope with it anymore. So I took it down, thinking 'I've got this, I've got this. How hard can it be?'

    Very, apparently. I spent my break trying desperately to figure out something I could do with my hair so it would stay kind of out of the way for an hour and a half, and failing. So that got me panicking. But my tutor offered to plait it for me, and complimented me on how soft it was, so it was all fine!

  9. #9
    New Member FallynLeaf's Avatar
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    Default Re: Learning to braid. Practice makes progress!

    I spent five years braiding my hair in an English braid every single day (and night)! I didn't learn how to French braid my hair until just over a year ago, because I was inspired to learn how to do my hair like Elsa's (from the Disney movie Frozen). It took me several tries before my French braids started looking decent, but now I do them (or a Dutch braid) pretty much every day, because they look a little fancier than an English braid, and it only takes me about twenty minutes to do a French/Dutch braid in the morning.

    If you only know how to do an English braid, but want to learn how to do other braids, my recommendation is to try a rope braid! Rope braids are the second braid I learned, and I think they are really easy and really quick, and the learning curve is a lot less steep than what it takes to figure out a French or a Dutch braid!

  10. #10

    Default Re: Learning to braid. Practice makes progress!

    I have great "beginner's luck" when braiding... But unfortunately I seem to be a one-and-done braider! I want to practice a single French braid every night though, hopefully it will get better!

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