Madison's Needle Instructions
Identify the loose hairs you intend to pull into braid or cornrow. Apply hair jam, oil or wax to loose hairs you intend to pull into braid, cornrow, or twist (not mandatory, but recommended for best results, and avoiding stress to hair).
Twist loose hairs between your thumb and index fingers.
Pull the twisted up hair through the nylon part of the needle (the eye of Madison's Needle is the made from nylon).
Push and pull Madison’s Needle through the braid, cornrow or twist in a sewing motion, leaving a large enough portion of the eye of Madison’s needle out.
Never push the needle between the two sides of the eye (nylon) it will make a knot (see "wrong way" diagram below), which you will have to undo.
Hold loose hairs in the opposite direction of the way you pushed and pulled the needle through the existing braid, cornrow or twist. Allow the twisted hairs to slip through your fingers, as you pull Madison’s Needle until it is completely free of the braid, cornrow or twist.
Play the video to see this done. Finishing tips: Apply braid lotion if available. Continue regular braid maintenance routine.
Wrong way: Never put the "TIP" of the needle between the sides of the "EYE" during the sewing motion.
Right way: Loop in a sewing motion without putting the "TIP" between the "EYE."
For longest lasting results: (A) Apply a liberal amount of edge control, braid jam, gel, or wax to loose hairs and twist between fingers. (B) String eye of needle with loose hairs.
(C) Push the tip of the needle through the bottom of the first plait in the braid (preferably where the extensions start, if loose hairs are not long enough, push the needle through as soon as possible) pull the tip through the top of the braid.
(D) Push the tip in through the bottom again, at least a 1/4 inch from the first entry point. This will make a loop as shown above.
(E) Continue with two wavy in and out patterns. (F) Now pull the tip and eye of the needle until it is free from the braid, cornrow or kinky twist.
(F) The sewing pattern you've made should be similar to the one shown above. Now, pull the tip and eye of the needle until it is free from the braid, cornrow or kinky twist.
Tip: The sewing pattern from start to finish should replicate the one above. This is also the technique used for replacing box braids that have fallen out. For box braids, you will want to do two loops instead of one. Therefore, after completing steps C and D, repeat C and D again, 1/4 to 1/2 inch after the first loop. Pulling hairs through the same location repeatedly will make it more difficult to pull the hairs out when removing your braids, keep this in mind when using Madison's Needle.