My friend Alex has an entire drawer filled with the scraps of cut clothing. Cut t-shirt sleeves, cut dress bottoms—if she’s trimmed something, she has the scraps.
She finds some pretty creative ways to use them—one of which is tying the goodie bags she makes for our THON committee shut—but my favorite is the braided headband I saw her wearing today.
I loved it so much that I stole some scraps and begged her to teach me how to make it.
Thanks, Alex! This was the perfect lazy-Tuesday DIY and made a perfect lazy-Tuesday headband.
The Project: Braided T-Shirt Headband
The Inspiration: My friend Alex!
The Materials: T-Shirt scraps. Scissors.
The Steps: I started out with the cut bottom of a t-shirt. Alex had shortened the all the way around, so the t-shirt bottom was still connected in a loop. The first thing you need to do is cut the seam, so it is in one long strip.
This strip can usually be shortened A LOT, but make sure you keep it long enough that it will still wrap around your head and have some length on the ends to tie your band together.
The next thing you’ll want to do is cut your band to get it ready for braiding. Just like the scarf I made two weeks ago, you’ll want to cut your band into strips, leaving about an inch at the end so they remain connected. You’ll need three strips for this simple braid.
Now comes the easy part! Braid your three sections together, just like you would with your hair. You can make this as tight or loose as you want. I made mine somewhere in the middle, so you can see the braid, but it still has some ability to stretch.
Once you finish braiding, tie the two ends together. You can loop the open braided ends underneath the fabric that wasn’t cut to make it easier to tie. Trim any extra fabric from outside your knot.
And you’re left with a simple braided headband! Perfect for lazy days and when you just can’t figure out what to do with all your leftover fabric scraps. Thanks again, Alex! 🙂
Lauren, I love it! Thanks for sharing. I have four younger sisters, and I am always looking for fun things to do with them when I’m home. Maybe we will have to give this one a try next week! (Also, I am definitely going to keep this accessory in mind for THON 2014!)
This looks great! Have you tried weaving other colors and textures into the braid as well? I definitely want to try this sometime!
I feel like I’ve seen these around before and yours looks very professional! I would love one; however, I don’t wear headbands… don’t really work well with glasses.
So cool! I doubt I could do that because I am awful at keeping my hands steady (and just arts and crafts in general) but looks fun, and comes up with a great product!!
I tried this project! I was feeling artsy and attempted it, but it didn’t turn out as well as yours. Maybe I’ll use your tips and try again!