Fashion Friday DIY

Hi Folks! Today I bring you a fun Fashion-Inspired DIY Accessory. Now, I have never been one to keep up with or follow trends in fashion, but I have been noticing a lot of hippy and 60s inspired clothing out there lately. Big floppy hats, things with fringe (bangs included), high-waisted pants, shawls, platform wedges, crazy patterns and colours...and other gorgeous stuff! I thought I would try my hand at creating something for my hair that falls in line with some of these items, cause I can't wear any of those other things without looking like I'm headed to a costume party. I'm just sayin...

So today we are making a braided t-shirt headband...

Supply List:
- An old, t-shirt, preferably cotton and preferably a neutral colour (unless you don't want to dye it...pick a colour you like!).
- Fabric dye, any colour. I'm using Ranger's Colour Wash because I overheard Tim Holtz tell a woman it is a fabric dye, so I wanted to see how that worked out!
- Scissors. Nice sharp ones.
- Needle and thread.
- Optional: feathers, beads, narrow strip of yarn or leather, or other embellishments

Step The First: Cut off the bottom of your t-shirt. 3" to 4" is great. Cut all the way around the bottom, without first cutting up the side. I want this to be one continuous piece.

Optional Step The Second: Dye this panel of fabric following the manufacture's instructions on your package of dye. I'm using the Ranger stuff, so I poured a bunch in an old coffee can, and stuck, the fabric right inside. I left it there for a couple of days (I forgot about it!!). When I pulled it out, I squeezed all the liquid out, and hung it in the shower to dry. Then I ironed it, hoping that heat would set the colour.

Step The Third: Cut two lines running the length of your fabric piece. They don't have to be perfect thirds...just eyeball it. But don't join the cuts! Leave a space between the start and finish of your cut.

Step The Fourth: Now we are going to cut the fabric so we have one long strip instead of a loop. You are going to cut the piece that we left in between the start and finish of the cuts you did. You can cut immediately beside the start or finish long cuts, making them loose, but keep the opposite original cut attached to this larger piece. There's a picture below that will help this make more sense.

Step The Fifth: Starting at the non-loose end, we are going to make a simple braid. If you hold the entire thing up in the air while you do this, the loose ends shouldn't get all tangled up.

NOTE:  I guess I should have mentioned this sooner, but here's a little FYI to keep in mind. The t-shirt that you cut up should be wider than your head. Unless you have a strange baby-body and a giant head, this should work out fine. When we braid the pieces together, it will shorten the entire piece, so make sure you start out with enough fabric that you're not left with too little by the end.

Step The Sixth: Stop braiding as soon as you've got a piece that will fit comfortably around your noggin. Measure by holding it up to your noggin. You should have a nice dangly bit at the end of loose pieces that haven't been braided. We want this! It adds to the hippy-gypsy look. Please hand stitch the end of the braid so it won't come unraveled.

Step The Seventh: Now you can embellish the braid with a piece of ribbon, some feathers and beads, if you choose. This step is optional, but the most fun step of all! I threaded some of my homemade paper beads onto a piece of matching ribbon. Then stitched some feathers on either end of said ribbon.

This entire piece was then stitched to the end of the braid, and the stitches hidden among the loose pieces.

Step the Eighth: Once you have embellished the braid as much or little as you like, fit the entire headband around your head, marking (ie. holding) where the start of the braid meets the end. Sew these pieces together, making sure you stitch through all the layers.

Wear it out on the town!

I have two confessions to make about this DIY:
#1. I totally got dressed up just for it.
And #2, when I put the headband on my exact words were: "I feel like I should be playing a tambourine right now."

Also, I left my shoes out after I was done, went upstairs to change, and came back down to this...

I love Fridays at home...