Okay, Lace. You're the template specialist. Could you tell me how you get the wrap tight over the entirety of one's head? Every instructional thing I've read or watched says to just pull it tight and tie it under the chin, but it is impossible doing it this way to get it tight at the front and back. I manage to get it tight all over, but it often takes several attempts to get that, and by attempts I mean crumpled up wrap thrown in the bin and starting again.
So how, first time, do you easily get it tight all over?
I used the same instructions. I use two sections of plastic wrap 12" wide by about 24" long. I lay the first section (ear to ear direction) across the scalp with the front edge set back perhaps a couple inches back from the hairline. The second section I place more forward....about midway from the hairline and the bridge of the nose. Tie off the 4 ends under the chin. DONE! I don't care about any looseness down the back or the front. DOES NOT MATTER! The plastic wrap does not create the shape. The shape is created by the tape. Lay all the strips of tape by pressing down toward the scalp. The layers of tape will create the shape not the plastic wrap.
You are WAY over thinking and obsessing about a template. You posted this same question on another hairpiece forum. The owner of the company (about 20 years experience in the business) replied:
"The template doesn’t have to be wrinkle free. We get templates all the time with wrinkles. The factory doesn’t measure each tiny ‘lump’ on the template. Just do your best."
You appear to confuse a hair piece with something made to the same exacting specs as a jet aircraft engine. Lace is a fabric. It stretches, shrinks, warps, contorts, folds, etc like any fabric within a 3 dimensional sphere.. It is not rigid, fixed or immoveable. The template you create is little more than an approximate guide to the manufacturer.
I did a quick search in youtube. Found this link near the top of the search. Probably many more videos on the site It demonstrates how a manufacturer creates a lace base.
. If you have problems with the link search for: "
How to Make a Lace Frontal Base." Does this process look like a highly precise operation...brain surgery? Factories follow the same procedure. I am sure that since a factory has years of experience, and, perhaps has made 1000's of hairpieces, it probably uses some modified variation of the process for the sake of efficiency.
As an aside I no longer even make templates if I order a custom piece. Instead I just email the shape (of the bald area) with the dimensions and tell the manufacture to create a "curvature" over the scalp that conforms to what is used to create stock pieces. Manufactures know that the average head shape of a male varies little from person to person. (Note...I did not say the bald area does not vary, just the curvature of the top of the head) Unless you are a "conehead" or a "flathead" (see attached) the standard curvature will work. (Artists learn in art school that the human head conforms to basic, consistent proportions....
https://www.thedrawingsource.com/proportions-of-the-face.html) Credit evolution. Remember what I wrote above..... "It stretches, shrinks, warps, contorts, folds, etc like any fabric within a 3 dimensional sphere." Precision not necessary. I also attached an example of what I have used when I last ordered a custom piece. The drawing I create for the manufacturer is actual size. My instructions state to print out the drawings as is. Do not resize. The dimensions on the drawing are slightly larger than what I need. I will adjust down by cutting the piece with cuticle scissors. Lastly.... I am not a template specialist. Instead I simply use common sense and I keep it simple.
