How Many Bundles Are Needed In A Sew-In?

A dollar for how many times this question has been asked, and we are rolling in wealth! So this article will answer your questions and clear whatever doubts you have as residue.

The answer to, how many bundles are needed for your sew-in is, it depends; It depends on 

The length of the bundle, the desired hairstyle, the size of your head, the texture of the hair, the price you can afford, if you are using a closure, fringe, or frontal, how much volume you’re comfortable with, and the list goes on if you’re picky with your circumstances.

You see, bundles come in different lengths, ranging from 8 inches to 40 inches. A 40-inch bundle is scarce in the market, so the last findable length could be 30 to 34 inches. The shorter the bundle in length, the lesser the number of bundles you need for a sew-in, but the longer the bundle in length, the greater the number of bundles required for a sew-in.

This is because the shorter bundles, ranging from 12 to 16 inches, have wider wefts and can cover a wide span of the head, while the longer bundles are shorter in the weft. I mean, in width, the shorter-length bundles are more than the longer lengths; therefore, in width, the 22-inch bundle would be smaller than 12 inches.

The weights of every bundle are the same, whether shorter bundles or longer ones. In other words, the 12 inches to 30 inches weigh the same, but in the 12-inch bundles the width is more than the 30 inches.

How many bundles for a sew-in with 8-inch to 16-inch bundles?

So, for a style that involves 8 to 16 inches of hair, done with a closure or leave-out, it is advisable to use 2 bundles, because the width of the 12-inch would be enough to go around the head and still look full.

Frequently asked questions about this are, How many will I need for a ponytail? One to one-and-a-half bundles would suffice for a ponytail, and if you want an exaggerated volume, two will surely be enough. Another question is, what if you’re using a frontal? For smaller-headed individuals, one-and-a-half would be okay, but then two will be better for a fuller look.

How about from 16 inches to 20 inches?

This is when you increase the number of bundles to three, depending on the style you’re going for, with a leave-out, closure, fringe, or frontal, some people may go on to use four to achieve volume, depending on the style they’re going for; it is also enough to use three.

20-inch to 32-inch?

Three should be fine, or if it doesn’t seem enough, you could go further to four or five, and I’d draw the line at six, but a friend told me that someone out there has used seven, just to be safe.

Safe from what? Why all those bundles? Of course for volume, no gaps should be seen through your hair on your shirt while in a sew-in, the goal is to look as natural and as beautiful as possible, and because the width of the longer extensions (bundles) is not as wide as the shorter bundles more is needed to cover gaps and achieve volume for a well-cooked hairstyle…

It doesn’t end here; there is more! Have you ever heard of layering the bundles according to length?

For example, if your longest length is 24 inches, you can use 20, 22, and 24 inches, or you can combine 18, 20, 22, and 24 inches.

PRO TIP: It is better to use two of the longest length at the end while layering to achieve a fuller look at the back of your hair; for example, using a 22, 26, 28, and 28 or 18, 20, 22, and 22, or 16, 18, 18 or a 22, 24, 24, this is best so there won’t be gaps on your shirt seen through your hair.

Your choice of layering would be influenced by whether you are using a closure, fringe, a frontal, a leave-out, a Vixen sew-in, a track or rows, a full sew-in, or a partial sew-in.

For example, if your closure is 20 inches long, you can use four bundles of 22, 24, 26 and 26 inches. Other combos are 16, 18, and 18 with a 14-inch closure; with a frontal, you could reduce that to three bundles, for example, 24, 26, 26.

Definition of terms 

Okay, slow down; a bunch of new terms hopped out from nowhere, right? Well, let me define all of them.

Starting from the

Frontal: A frontal is a Swiss lace material where hair is individually tied by a person into each hole of the net once or twice till it looks like a head of hair that covers ear to ear. This is made to imitate the natural hair. When this piece is made, it is used to make wigs and sew-ins. The goal is to make the hairstyle or wig look natural.

Closure: Closure is like frontal, only that it is not from ear to ear; it could be 4-by-4 or 5-by-5, as in 5 inches in width and length.

Fringe: A fringe is like a closure, but the hair covers the temple or forehead.

Leave out: Leave-out is a hairstyle where the weave-on (extension) is weaved into your hair, but there’s a little portion of your natural hair that is left out, so when the hair is done, this part is combed out to blend with the hair weave, making it look natural.

Full sew-in: Is using the human hair weave to make most of your hair.

Partial sew-in: Is leaving out your natural hair at the front to the back while the weft weave is in the middle.

Vixen sew-in: A vixen sew-in is when your hair stylist leaves the middle, front, and back of the natural hair, making four parts that are braided, and the extensions are sewn in the braided part

Track or rows: Are when only in a few places some extensions are added to achieve either fuller-looking or longer hair.

The weft: Is the black line that joins the hair strands together at the top of the extension; this is what makes it a bundle. This is the part that determines the width of the different lengths of extension.

For example, the weft of the shorter bundles is wider than those of the longer ones; as I mentioned earlier, they’re the same weight, but the longer they get, the more the amount taken from the width is added to their length.

Hair extensions: Also known as hair weaves, are used to add length and fullness to your natural hair

Other conditions that influence the amount of sew-in needed

Hopefully, I could define all the terms. These terms are important to know when considering the style of sew-in. Since the beginning of this article I have only touched on the importance of length, but now I am going to inform you of the importance of the terms I defined, the texture of hair, the shape of your head, etc. and how they influence the number of bundles you are to use for your sew-in.

Texture: The texture of hair means the curl pattern of the hair, how loose or tight it is, this ranges from tight to kinky to curly, then wavy, and lastly, bone straight, which has no curl pattern at all.

for the texture, the curlier the hair is, the shorter and fuller it is. If a kinky hair that is 20 inches is measured side by side a bone-straight hair that is the same 20 inches, it would look shorter, not because it is but because the curls make it shrink, and if stretched, it would be the same length. So in a sew-in, for an 18-inch to 28-inch tight curly extensions, 3 bundles could be efficient because they are fuller than the straighter hair textures bundles.

Size of head: For a smaller head size or a larger head size, a lower amount of bundle or a higher number of bundles could be efficient. For example, a person with a smaller head could use two bundles of 16-inch to 18-inch hair and the look would come out beautifully with a closure, leave-out frontal, etc. And a person with a bigger head size could need five 30-inch bundles to get their achieved hairstyle.

Style of hair: For a Vixen sew-in, if you are going for 8 inches to 16-inch, then two bundles are enough, but from 18 inches to 30 inches, three bundles are good enough.

You can also use 3 bundles for the longer length if you want your sew-in to look like a normal-day silk press, and use four to five if you're looking for something voluminous.

For a ponytail, less would be needed; for a wig, depending on the style, the amount I described earlier for the sew-in could work for wigs.

For tracks and rows, for 8-inch to 16-inch, one-and-a-half bundles would be enough, and for 20-inch to 26-inch, two bundles or 2 and a half could suffice. 

Now that I have cleared that up, I’ll talk about the Frequently asked questions.

If you use up to seven bundles, wouldn’t that be too heavy? Well, I honestly think it is, but when you’re hotter than the sun in your hairstyle, nobody is thinking about that lol.

How about the cost? Well, the frontal and closure options are more costly than doing a leave-out, using more bundles will also cost more, and lastly, that depends on the hair stylist too, which differs with a lot of factors involved.

So, I hope this article has answered all your questions, and if not, ask away and I will always answer. Now go forth and make your crown mesmerizing.