First semi-presentable Crown braid :D

[Rosalaun]

I've been trying to do this for the past month, and I've only just managed to get it to a stage where I would happily show it off. My hair is a little damp here, but it really did help get less floaty bits. I'm amazed at how light it feels on my head - so much more comfortable than having it in a ponytail or any buns (which I have to start with a ponytail or they slip out). I'm just hoping that the shorter hair (my fringe) will stay tied in! But this is a pretty good mini-milestone for me - I really feel that my braiding skills are improving from the messy first french braid attempt at the beginning of January.

http://i53.tinypic.com/2sb6gc7.png

[ingvild]

Oooh, good job! :D I am also working on the crown braid, but I haven't tried in a while now..

[Rosalaun]

Thank you :D It's fun to know others are working towards the same goal! I hope you get there soon.

[naereid]

It looks nice! Which tutorial did you use?

[Rosalaun]

Thank you :D

I haven't looked at any tutorials for a while, but I think I first looked at Dreamweaverbraids and Torrinpage's video. Unfortunately her videos were more of a lace braid, not a dutch.

I split my hair and tied it up into 2 sections (left and right) then started braiding from the bottom right. I had to be careful that I used kind of triangle shaped chunks - the widest part around the edges and the thinner point towards where I wanted the centre to be. That really helped it to sit more correctly. The hardest bit was probably getting it to remain central - the side I started off with my head between my knees was closer to the middle, whereas the side I did standing up always turned out looser so it was generally leaning to the left side. So I had to focus on getting it tightly onto the edge on the first side, and looser on the second. In fact towards the last bottom left quarter I ended up switching back to braiding it with my arms on the same side as when I started.

I think next time I'll get my tiny elastics and split it all up into those little triangle-shapes first before I braid it, hopefully that'll help avoid the large part down the centre.

Sorry for the bad descriptions, I'm just about to get in bed so I'm struggling to be clear xD

[Knotted]

It looks so pretty! I love your hair colour, too!

[Anywhere]

It looks great. Glad you got it to work. :D:D:D:cheese:

[LaurelSpring]

It looks really great! So this wasnt a fake sort of braid attached to scalp thing? That is all that I have been able to master and not well at that. You actually dutch braided the hair around your head? I am still trying to figure out the logistics of that.

[podo]

Wow! That looks awesome! I've tried the crown braid a few times, but just never can make it cooperate without a lot of effort - my arms are dead by the time I'm done! And even then it doesn't look all that great! But yours sure does!

Congrats!

[virgo75]

That looks really good! :)

And your color is pretty too.

[Xi]

That looks awesome! :blossom: The crown braid is something I'd love to be able to do, but it still defies my skills... Maybe I'll try it again with your advice.:)

[Una]

Wow! It looks gorgeous. Well done

[CaityBear]

It looks nice!

I've done one in the last couple months and then sewed it with some green ribbon. I liked it...but my hair is so thin that it looked kind of weird with really small braids....

[HintOfMint]

That looks awesome, great job! Every time I've tried this, my arms would get so tired, I'd just give up halfway through.

[Dragon]

Great job, congrats :)

[Rosalaun]

Thank you everyone!
Yep, 100% my own hair, all dutch braided in a circle around my head - no extentions.
And thanks for the comments about the colour - it's pure henna over the light brown in my signature, it is actually a bright coppery-orange in sunlight.

Ohh, I like the idea of adding ribbons, although I have a feeling I'd not be able to get it very even. It must have looked good though.

I'll see if I can get a better description down later if anyone else needs help :)

[naereid]

Thanks for the description, I bookmarked it so I can try it out once I gather some self-confidence. :grnbiggri

[BrightEyes]

Your crown braid looks lovely! You've done a great job. I can't wait until my hair is long enough to try one. It's so elegant.

[embee]

You worked hard on it and did a good job. :) I cannot do this, it just doesn't work for me, so the braid wrapped around my head is what I do.... and frequently have troubles with that!

ETA: You're quite right, a braid like that does feel *very* lightweight. Even the wrapped braid feels very light.

[camara]

Hey, congrats! That is nice mini milestone indeed! :)

[ole gray mare]

Nicely done! You have more patience than I do. :flowers:

[Yozhik]

Beautiful! I love the braid and your color. :)

I recently mastered the crown braid using Torrin's lace technique -- I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to try a full Dutch yet :o

[oktobergoud]

Can I just say AWESOME? :D
Beautiful!

[Rosalaun]

Thank you all very much :D
Once you've got the hang of a dutch (or french) braid, some of the difficulty is removed - it's just doing it upside-down and arounda circle that makes it harder again xD
And to be honest I think slightly shorter hair lengths would be able to do it too, I managed to braid in my fringe (which held up brilliantly over night), and that's only about 4" long.
Patience is definately a must - and determination to ignore the fact that your arms feel like they're about to drop off ;)

Well once you've got the lace crown you're really not very far off a dutch - practically the same apart from the fact that you're adding from both sides not one!

I figured my typings weren't too clear, so I tried to draw up a diagram. I'm not sure it'll be very useful, but I'm hoping it explains the basic idea a little better. I might make a video if anyone is interested and if I can find some batteries for my camera xD

http://i54.tinypic.com/ip9l5c.png