Lesson 20: Topsy on top

Today Belle's hair was wavy from some dutch braids we left in overnight.  I wanted to take advantage of it by leaving her hair mostly down.  Begin this one with a side part.

Make two more parts to divide the hair on top into a box.  Secure the underneath hair into a temporary ponytail.  Spraying a little water on it will help to keep the flyaways down and out of the way.  Next, divide the box into three or four sections and secure each one with a tiny hairband.

Now get your topsy tailer ready.  Instead of just sticking it through above the hairband like the Topsy Tail and Tiny Topsy posts, use the pointy side to split the hair section in half, just as if you were going to divide each section into another part, and then tuck the end through under the hairband.  This little step may not be completely necessary, but it will ensure that your finished look is symmetrical.

Pull the tails through the loop and pull the whole thing down and through.  When I did this, the little tails didn't like to turn around inside out on their own, so I had to pull the tails down until they turned.  Then just tighten them up by splitting the tail and gently pulling the ends away from each other so the band slides up a little.  If the twisties don't go even, try pulling down on little sections of hair in the tail to flatten out the bumps.

This technique would also look really cute if you turned the rows the other direction going toward the back of the head rather than toward the ear.  Then you could add extra rows and go from ear to ear.