Upgrade your services this season by adding a great braid technique that can be used in a variety of ways. In this tutorial, Anna Peters, Sam Villa ArTeam and owner of re:TREAT Color + Hair Design Studio @retreathairstudio shows you how to create a top stitch braid.
“So often we refer to hair as fabric…from its texture, to how we treat it, and how it appears. Incorporating this minimalist Top Stitch Braid not only gives us endless options of placement and versatility in designs, but its simplicity is in the detail and can easily elevate anyone’s style,” explains Peters.
How to Create a Top Stitch Braid
- Establish where the stitch braid will be placed to determine the starting and ending points.
- Take two small sections of hair from the starting point, making sure these sections will reach all the way to the end point.
- Cross sections over each other to form an X at the base, these will become the stitch strands. For a cleaner stitch, smooth strands with a Sam Villa Signature Series Sleeker Professional Straightening Iron.
- Take a clean section using a long tail comb from hair above or below the braid (based off desired end result). Lay the section between the two stitch strands, keeping hands close to the head. Grab two stitch strands and twist so that the top strand is on the bottom and the bottom is on the top. With an X as the base again, take another section of hair and neatly lay between the stitch strands and twist. Continue this pattern to the end point and secure with a bobby pin or elastic.
- Between each stitch, the section of hair woven through the stitch braid can now be pinched and pulled to desired fullness or defined even more by sliding the Sleeker beveled plates along each pulled out section to enhance in the pleats…or leave smooth with condensed volume.
“Sewing different fabrics together was definitely my inspiration for this braid. Let your creativity take over, play with different tools like the Sam Villa Artist Series 2-in-1 Marcel Iron and Wand to create smooth glam waves or the Textur iron to turn up the volume. Have fun discovering all of the different ways you can sew this Top Stitch Braid into your next style!” she adds.
Shop The Products to Get The Look:
Sam Villa Signature Series Sleeker Professional Straightening Iron
Sam Villa Artist Series 2-in-1 Marcel Iron and Wand
Sam Villa Professional Textur Iron
