Is there some kind of magic trick to do a french plait?

[christmastreewithhairyfairy]

I have had long hair for at least 2 decades, have 2 DDs with longish hair, and feel like I REALLY should know how to french/dutch plait by now. But I can't seem to learn! I have watched countless youtube videos and understand the basic concept, but when I try it on a DD it just looks crap - loose and wobbly. I have never managed to do one on myself at all, I just end up dropping all the strands.

Please say there's some kind of trick I just need to know? Has anyone else been shit at plaiting and then somehow magically learned?

I can do one with my eyes closed

Sit on the sofa and you can rest your arms on the back if you get tired. Pull really tight as it'll loosen throughout the day.

Practice!

Ha, I was hoping it was going to be easier/quicker than practice as I am mega lazy

One issue I find is that the strand I am picking up from the side and the main middle strand I am trying to join it with stay sort of separate. On other people's hair they look really nice and smoothly joined. Where am I going wrong?

Can't picture what you mean. Is your hair actually long enough? You do need quite a bit to do it on yourself ime.

I was exactly the same. I had to practice loads. I watched this YouTube video which really helped. I can now do a reasonably neat French plait on my dd's hair. No idea how I would do one on my own though!

I think it's all about how you swap hands that keeps it tight

Aargh I am bad at explaining it! I mean when I am grabbing an extra bit from the side to add in, it doesn't sort of meld well with the main plait down the middle, so I end up with sort of lots of weird little strands and it looks messy/

My hair is pretty long - past my shoulder blades at the back. But it is also very thick and badly behaved, I end up breaking loads when I try and do any fancy hairstyles.

Oooh miaow the gadget sounds exciting - off to google

Miaow is it like this?

Medium thank you for the vid, I will check it out. Both DDs are getting plaits tomorrow whether they like it or not

Maybe you need to straighten your hair a bit. My hair is wavy and I get kinks when plaiting if it's not straight and smooth beforehand.

If it's getting the original strands and the bit you're adding to stay together that's the problem have you tried wet hair and one of those back combing brushes with a pointy end? I don't know what they're called but they are brilliant for making French plaits extra neat

I can to them on my dds hair. Weirdly I can do two plaits easier than one?
You have to pull quite a bit to keep it tight and keep it tight when holding the extra strands.
I find it easier to do on hair that hasn't just been freshly washed.
I used to practice on those dolls heads my dd had.
I am dying to do an upside down one with a messy bun, but the girls won't let me try. 😂

Don't start with you! Start with them. You need to start at the top at the front, in the middle. Do two or three plait folds to start it off, then whichever side you are next folding over, scoop a bit extra hair from that side of the head with it into the plait. You need to pull it gently put firmly into the plait, so that it doesn't go loose and wobbly.

Next, you do your next fold, and scoop a bit extra hair from that side into the plait - the key to a really neat French plait is getting equal amounts of scoop from each side and in each scoop as you go down the head, but practice gets that.

I think a Dutch plait is done exactly the same, but instead of scooping and going over into the plait, you'd scoop and go under to form the plait, so the plait sits on top of the rest of the hair like a 'spine' down the centre of the head.

I avoided what I think time describing when I first stated doing it by combing the new bit of hair in and then placing the comb back on the table near me. The combing helped with that problem and needing to put it down got me into a good habit of holding the already plaited hair tight with the middle and ring finger knuckles of the other hand.

time = you're

Thank you all for the tips! DDs will be modelling for me a lot over the next few days. It is always a challenge because DD1 has hair that is even madder and more uncontrollable than mine, plus she has ADHD so can't sit still! DD2 has lovely silky hair but a bit of a toddler attitude so it depends what kind of mood she's in as to whether she will let me.

Crashbang how do you use the pointy brush exactly? Use the pointy bit to grab the extra bit of hair then comb end to comb it in?

It is very easy, once you know how. I would get someone to show me if I were you - hairdresser or friend - as I found the videos a bit confusing.
You can plait wet hair but I usually do it on dry 'day old' hair.

If your hair is long you could try doing a normal plait.

I can do them but it did take a lot of practice to get them neat. What helped me was to not start at the top of my head at first, to kind of take the hair from the level of the top of my ears, it was less fiddly than starting higher and I think made me get used to how to hold all three pieces at the same time, cross them over etc. Also, like a pp, I find doing two is a bit easier than one, so maybe try that as well?

To practice, I'd just do it messing about when watching TV of an evening with DH.

How dexterous are you in general as I think that makes a lot of difference . I'm pretty good at them , but it's a similar technique to plaiting a hoses tail and I was doing them from a very early age .

DD's plaits start slipping almost instantly! I have found that putting a band round the first central piece of hair makes it stay in a bit better, and I try and comb the sides against the skull as I merge the strands to make it look neater notice I'm not providing a photo as proof here

I have joked about getting one of those girl's world-type heads to practice on. My DD has very long hair so less of it would be a good starting point!

What you could do cheat is use clear loom bands to hold each part of the plait as you do it, then when you've finished, carefully snip them out.

If you do it properly the plait should stay put.

Even fishtail plaits slip a bit - the plaits are still there, but if they start off on the top of her scalp they will be starting on the back of her head by the time she gets home!

I'm thinking tomorrow that I'll just do a fishtail starting at the base of her neck because it's the scalp bits that slip! Although fishtail braids take me ages!