Tips or advice for lace or crown braid ?

[mommy2one05]

The only site with pics and instructions of these that I have found is the dreamweaver braiding site.
Again I attempted both of these tonight SEVERAL times without any success....and I can't figure out where I am going wrong.
I can do a basic 3 strand braid and also a fairly decent french braid on myself.
Any tips???

[Cheery]

I can never make crown braids work for me either, but I tried fake crown braids and they worked wonderfully! Here's the link http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=7910&highlight=fake+crown+braids

[AprilElf]

I think it's important to keep your hands close to your head so your braid doesn't stray and give you puckering.

There are some helpful pointers here (http://www.ehow.com/how_2321431_french-braid-long-hair-crown.html). Maybe they will help.
What exactly about your braid do you think is going wrong?

[mommy2one05]

Well I know that I have tried following the pics from the dreamweaver braiding site....so I clip off the front left section and start my braiding on the left kinda diagnol....my back part does fine but it's when I get to the right side and should start going forward that I start getting messed up....I'm stumped. Also I am taking it the section you clip separate you do a regular 3 strand braid.
And a lace braid I really fumble up.
Ah!

[mommy2one05]

I think it's important to keep your hands close to your head so your braid doesn't stray and give you puckering.

There are some helpful pointers here (http://www.ehow.com/how_2321431_french-braid-long-hair-crown.html). Maybe they will help.
What exactly about your braid do you think is going wrong?



Well I checked out the link you posted and looks like they do it different by not sectioning off a front section of the hair....so I tried it that way but I still get it messed up when I start on the left front and I get the back fine but when I get to the right side I get messed up and I run out of hair to add to the french braid....am I supposed to flip the braid at some point???
My hair is waist length ...am I maybe not long enough for this yet??? SO I do the lace braid the same way but start at the front??
Also if I read the link right that you said is your style in your avatar pic...you do a ponytail and then do like 7 little rope braids and then twist them around the ponytail??? But how do you hide the enders you use to tie off each rope braid?

Sorry for all the questions and thanks for all the help!!! :)

[jeno]

I'm just curious. Has anyone done a crown braid on themselves? I think that must be extremely difficult! I'm excellent at frechbraiding my own hair, but a crown braid... Still too short hair for that, but I don't think I would manage. On someone elses head, yes, maybe...

[Shorty89]

I'm still not great at it, but I use it for a nighttime style sometime to practice. I think getoffmyskittle suggested doing a lace braid instead of a french braid for it.

[mommy2one05]

I'm still not great at it, but I use it for a nighttime style sometime to practice. I think getoffmyskittle suggested doing a lace braid instead of a french braid for it.



Ok what is a lace braid?
How is different from a french braid??

[Amara]

I do both crown french braids (french braiding all the way around my head), and double dutch braids wrapped around my head. My hair isn't quite long enough to just make one braid from the back and wrap it.

I like to start my french crown in the back - I part my hair in halves and start with a chunk of the right half, braiding forward over my right ear and then around to the left and back. I ONLY add chunks of hair from the top, never the bottom, as that always ends up pulling my hair funny. I always stop frequently to comb.

The hard part for me was teaching my hands to braid coming forward from the back of my head over my right ear. With some practice, though, since I already knew how to french braid, I got it. Then it just took a few tries to make it neater.

I find I like the look of the double dutch wrapped crown better, though.

[thetokenlady]

There's actually been a thread going here (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=660) about crown braids. I try to do one every night to sleep in, been doing it for months and I still have trouble getting one good enough to wear out in public, it's a difficult style! I usually detangle and part my hair, and then another sideways part from the crown to just behind my ear (either one). I use that as my starting point and proceed around the back of my head, usually picking up hair only from the bottom. I usually do a crown braid as a dutch braid (where the outer strands go under the middle) because I think it looks better.

The hardest bit is when you get across the back of your head and can't reach any farther, then you have to switch your hands around. Pick up your braid with the other hand, and be careful to keep the strands in the same order! I like to think of them as the Top, Middle and Bottom strands since the braid is sideways. Once you get your hands situated you'll probably have one arm across your forehead instead of around the back, just keep on braiding, picking up strands as you go. Keep going around until you reach your starting point, where you will run out of hair to add. Then I braid the tail to the very end and wrap it around and kind of tuck it next to the original braid.

I start the braid right near one ear because the length of the tail goes across the back of my head, with the little skinny end just about my forehead, where I can tuck it in behind the first part of the braid and hide it. I use very tiny jaw clips (like 1/4" wide) to clip the tail up.

To get a crown braid looking acceptable to go out in public usually takes me about half an hour and a couple of swear words while I unbraid part of it and redo. I'll be the first to admit that I'm kind of braid-challenged though, and I'm sure there are ladies who can casually toss one up in a few minutes and have it look great....makes me crazy.

[mommy2one05]

Does anybody have any pics of their variatians??

How come in the poll about crown braids when I saw some of the pics of crown braids some looked like they are actually wrapped around the top of the head while others looked like they set farther back almost like a bun???? How or why is this so - I am confused.

[Gumball]

I think the toughest part about trying out a crown braid is the sectioning of the hair as you go along, since sometimes it doesn't seem as straightforward cut-and-paste as are french and dutch braids that go basically in one direction. Still practicing how to properly do that myself (on someone else that is). That's really where I find the trouble lies.

As for what a lace braid is. Lace braids are like french braids that you only add hair to one side of. For example start braiding, but each time you add a new section of hair only do it to, say, the left side. Then the right side you'll notice starts to gain a nice edge to it. Once you get the hang of that it might be a good idea to make sure the edge of the braid on the side you aren't adding hair to lies just a little over the line where you gather the hair so it doesn't flip back over (if you're doing it french). If that's confusing, let me try to clarify a bit. Let's say you're adding a new section of hair to your braid. You grab a section of hair that's maybe 3 inches from the hairline in. You'll braid it in, but make sure when you're folding the opposite piece of hair back in to create the edge that it's just a bit over that 3 inch mark.

I can understand how that might be more helpful in a crown braid because you would only have to add the hair to one side of the braid, thus halving the necessary sections you'll need to make your way around your (or someone else's) head.

Hope some of my jumbled thoughts help! :)

[AprilElf]

Errrrghh! I had another go at a crown braid this evening -second attempt- and I think my first one (as shown in the crown braid poll thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=17349&postcount=45)) was pure beginner's luck.

I tried multiple times - starting on the left, on the right, from my temple, from behind my ear ... and then it all just fell apart when I had to commit to changing my hands around to braid towards the front. Phooey. I honestly can't remember how I did it the first time. :confused:
I should have kept practicing.


mommy2one05 said:

Also if I read the link right that you said is your style in your avatar pic...you do a ponytail and then do like 7 little rope braids and then twist them around the ponytail??? But how do you hide the enders you use to tie off each rope braid?I think I just tucked them underneath and pinned the ends to the base of the ponytail.


How come in the poll about crown braids when I saw some of the pics of crown braids some looked like they are actually wrapped around the top of the head while others looked like they set farther back almost like a bun???? How or why is this soIt's such a tricky style, and most of us are still trying to master it, would be the short answer! ;)
Probably also has a lot to do with whether you are adding hair from top only, bottom only, or both, and also simply how you position the braid against your head as you are creating it.

[Samikha]

Errrrghh! I had another go at a crown braid this evening -second attempt- and I think my first one (as shown in the crown braid poll thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=17349&postcount=45)) was pure beginner's luck.


I hear you on the beginner's luck thing! I did a pretty good one on my first try, then a bunch of ones that just...well, they did not fall apart, but they looked as if they would! Practice is the thing. I'm actually beginning to wear this out of the house now :) Getting bangs and getting rid of some layers made it much easier.

[WritingPrincess]

I think it's important to keep your hands close to your head so your braid doesn't stray and give you puckering.

There are some helpful pointers here (http://www.ehow.com/how_2321431_french-braid-long-hair-crown.html). Maybe they will help.
What exactly about your braid do you think is going wrong?

You will notice that they recommend using lots of hairspray. ;)