Some of you may have noticed that I chopped all my hair off recently. I really love the new style - It's perfect for summer and brings a much-needed hair change. You see, I hadn't cut or colored my hair for about 2 years, so it was getting pretty long and scraggly. I had been wanting to make a change but kept putting it off until one day when I was at the local farmers market, this woman was handing out roses with a discount coupon attached. I wondered why she needed to discount her services, but it turns out she had been teaching at the Aveda school in Denver and was leaving that job to re-start her own salon business. That was just the little nudge I needed, and I booked an appointment with her for that week. I told her I wanted a cut similar to Mia Farrow or Twiggy, and she really pulled it off with a modern twist. Also, because I was chopping off so much and because it was all natural (no dye or anything), I was able to donate the hair to Children With Hairloss, a nonprofit that provides free wigs for kids that have lost their hair. It was really a win-win situation all around.
Since cutting it off, I've been trying to come up with different ways to style it. I wanted to try a headband, so I figured I'd make one! This is the first post in a "one-hour one-project" series which will bring you quick and easy projects that can be completed in one hour or less! This headband project is super easy, is a good fabric stash buster, and only requires a tiny bit of hand sewing so no machine is required! Also, this project took way less than an hour. I think it probably took about 20 minutes top. You'll be wearing your new headband in no time flat with this method!
The supplies you'll need are:
3 strips of fabric, cut to 21 inches long and 2 inches wide
A circular ponytail hair tie
A needle and thread
As you can see, I didn't even iron the fabric.
Once you've cut your strips of fabric, secure them at one end with a safety pin. Loosely braid the fabric all the way to the other end and safety pin the other end in place to hold the braid.
Turn all the fabric right-side facing out, and make sure the braids are relatively evenly spaced out.
Now grab your needle and thread. Fold one end of the braided fabric around the hair tie and sew along the edge. It doesn't have to be pretty since it will be facing your head. It just needs to be secure enough to hold the fabric around the hair tie. Repeat with the other end of the braided fabric, making sure not to twist the fabric so that the "right" side of the fabric is facing the same way.
That's it! I'm excited to try this again with some different fabric. I might even break out the pinking shears to avoid the fraying on the edges of the fabric next time. But for now, I like how this first one is, um, rustic.
This method can also be used to make fabric bracelets or even belts. For the belt, you just wouldn't use a hair tie and would simply sew the end to hold the braid and avoid fraying, tying the belt around you with a knot. I'd definitely use pinking shears to cut the fabric for the belt version because that will get more wear and tear than a headband and will fray way more.
Happy braiding everyone!