Hair Extensions Forum

hello all. (:
i've recently been trying my hand at making some wool roving dreads.
i'm open to all advice and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, any given to me will be greatly appreciated.

i live in regional australia and the only place around i've been able to buy wool roving is spotlight, where it is AU$10 or 11 for i think an 80g bag. i don't know if thats a good price or not. :/

these are my very first attempts. 5 SE. i had no idea how to make the loops so i just guessed and poked holes near the top of the wet wooly clumps. xD anyway... these are roughly 9- 10 inches long:



i actually dyed the purple and green ones myself after i felted them using a food dye tut i found on here i think. the purple was originally pale blue, the green ones were white, and the pink i left alone cause i liked the colour. (:

thickness compared to a felt tip pen:


to show my crappy loops:


to show the ends:


these are the next ones i made. 6 DE i left them white. they're roughly 15-16 inches folded:


compared to felt tip:


to show the ends:


and the ends of two more i made while making these ones... i didn't like that they turned out all whippy:




these are the next few i made. 8 DE. i dyed the roving before felting this time to see what would happen. i tried to dye it a bright purple but for some reason it came out a kind of marbled purple/blue/white mix which i rather like actually. roughly 12- 13 inches folded:


compared to felt tip:


to show the ends:


and here's one i made from the leftovers of my dyed wool. thought i'd try to make one a bit thicker just to experiment but the ends cracked horribly:






and here's my latest attempt. i made these from a pack of roving i bought that was already dyed a mix of colours.8 DE. they're a little thicker than my white ones but not quite as thick as my chunky cracked one. xD roughly 11-12 inches folded:


compared to felt tip:


compared to my other dreads:


and to show the ends:


anyway, thanks for looking and as i said before any/all advice is much appreciated. (:

Whoa those look fantastic Stephanie, my favorites are the rainbow and warm/cool grey mix. I would definately wear the greys. I'm sorry I can't offer any criticism really, since Ive never made roving dreads. I agree with you in prefering the blunt ended roving dreads. These are great I can't wait to see what you come up with further down the line good job!

They look very well felted.

thank you both. ^w^

my arms were aching at the end of each batch from trying so hard to felt them well enough, so its really great to hear such feedback, thanks ScarletLady! (:

I know your pain - I felted 100 dreads in one go once
I was exhausted afterwards!

Oh and a tip to help with cracks (although I only see one) is to use REALLY hot water - literally as hot as you can stand

They look really good! Loving the rainbowy ones, they're possibly the best ones I've seen using wool that's been dyed like that If you want the ends more tapered (I;m don't know if you do, I like lots of taper in my ends), gently pull on each end before you felt to draw the wool out a bit.
I do have to say... Spotlight! Yeurgh! That's waaaay too expensive! There's a list of good craft shops at http://www.ashford.co.nz/newsite/dealer ... twork.html under Aussie, there might be one close to you. Otherwise places like Ewe Give Me The Knits has merino for $6.60 for 100g and does mail orders (and if you're feeling frisky, you should check out the silk/merino blends, it's super pretty for accents ). Good luck, hope to see more showoffs soon!

I've just started some using silk/merino blends - it is very pretty!

thanks for all the advice and kind words. (:

will definitely have to search online for better prices on roving.

I would like to add that you can manicure your ends to some degree after all felting and dying and what not is done. Just gently shape with scissors and then run under super hot water with a bit of dish soap on your hands to felt out any "cut" ends. It looks to me like you are doing a wonderful job. I started with single enders aswell. My suggestions there is give it up, lol, its not worth the trouble. Just make double enders and if you want them mounted on falls then fold in half over hair elastic or whatever you are using for an install and band them. If you insist on making double enders, what I would do would be poke my finger in the middle when it is wet and hot, not breaking the loop, and then rolling between my fingers carefully. I myself prefer to dye after felting as I find it easier to felt. Although for mottled colors it is easier to pre-dye. And last bit of advice, save all your scraps, you will eventually find a use for them, if not needle felting designs on dreads, then creating out wonderful things. Good luck and have fun!

Personally I think these are some of the best roving dreads I have seen, they are solidly felted, with limited cracks. Great job!

miasmahair wrote: I do have to say... Spotlight! Yeurgh!

I totally echo this setiment - not just the overpricing, but they stock "old" wool.
It's not as nice as the farm fresh stuff ^_^
Where abouts in our fine land do you live?
There's plenty of wool here

They look well felted. Very good, especially for a first attempt! Would never have guessed

stilldawn- thanks for the advice, i'll try that with the ends next time.

Jane Doe wrote: I totally echo this setiment - not just the overpricing, but they stock "old" wool.
It's not as nice as the farm fresh stuff ^_^
Where abouts in our fine land do you live?
There's plenty of wool here

ever heard of Tamworth??? there's like, nothing here. xD

they look great. love the 3rd set

I hate Spotlight now... It's just, not what it used to be. The roving is a bit expensive for what you get. If you find a good wool supplier, you'll be paying a lot less.

BTW, no criticism from me, I think they look great

I don't know anything about roving, but I think they look great.

I've only seen roving in picture form but those look really good, especially the rainbows