DIY Scrap Fabric Headband or Belt

2012-08-30T03:09:00.000-07:00

There's an amazing place near my house called Reverse Garbage. They are basically up-cycling embodied: they collect 'high quality industrial discards' (aaaall kindsa crazy awesome junk) and sell it for low prices to the public. They also run workshops, talks and tours, and have a small gallery filled with upcycled goods from local artisans, crafters and designers.

I made my way in there for the first time last week, and was a little overwhelmed by all the 'stuff' they had! I decided to keep it simple and made a bee-line for the scrap fabric pile. I found two adorable patterned pieces for 20 cents each, and walked out happy as Larry after barely dinting my small-change fund...

The first was this pretty pink spotty number. in a great textured cotton fabric that's about 80cm long and 7cm wide. I figure I can use it as a natty headband in the summertime, to match my lazy sundresses. It's a little rough around the edges, but not so much that I need to do anything with it, really; just pluck the stray strings off, and it's good to go!

The second piece is a bit more interesting. The pattern is AMAZING, this beautiful Cath Kidson-esque stripy floral design. It also measures up at 7cm wide and OVER THREE METRES long. Whaaat the hell was I going to do with it? It's also overlocked down the one edge, with a shiny, synthetic lining still attached to it.

There's so much of this stuff, I figure I can go a bit wild and experiment with a few things. Woo hoo, craaaazy experimental crafternoons ahoy! No seriously, though, I'm not very good at DIY, but I WANT to be, so this is the perfect scrap of material for me to start practising with. It's cheap, there's plenty of it, and I have to be creative to work with the constraints of it's strange shape. Another small issue: I don't own a sewing machine. Which means that any sewing that I'm going to do - for the meantime at least - is going to have to be by hand. Fun!

Because I can be pretty unimaginitive, the first thing I thought to do was to tie it in my hair (yup, just like I did with the other piece of fabric...). Like I said before, I love the pattern, but I can't just cut off a length like the other scrap I have and chuck it on my head. First of all, the other fabric has the pattern on both sides, so if it moves around a little in my hair, you won't notice the ugly white backside of the material. This stuff is not only white on one side, but it also has lining still attached to it with overlocked stitches - meaning that I would have to cut it much narrower to even remove the lining, or unpick the stitches and have unsightly holes all through it. The material is also much thinner and frays a lot easier, so I would have to finish the edges off in some professional looking way, which is pretty hard without a sewing machine.

In the end, I decided to fold the fabric inside-out, sew down the one edge, and then turn it inside out so that it was like a nice 'tube', with the pretty fabric on the outside, then find some way to finish off the ends. And all without a sewing machine (I sound a touch bitter about the whole no-sewing-machine thing now, don't I?). Although this is a very basic project, I've documented it step-by-step, complete with the mistakes and observations I've made along the way. I hope it inspires you to try something similar, or maybe just find your own way to upcycle something that might have otherwise ended up in the trash!

DIY Scrap Fabric Headband (or Belt)

Step 1: Get Yo' Scrap Ready

As mentioned before, my scrap of fabric is about 7cm wide. I don't think you would want to go much narrower than this if you're using the sew-and-turn-inside-out method that I've done, but you can certainly go wider if you like. I would like to try a much wider one next time, if I can get a scrap the right proportions. As for length, I decided I wanted it to be long enough that I could tie it around my head with the knot at the front (so it looks a bit like a bow) but still short enough that I could tie it like a neat headband and have the tips tucked under my ponytail without being seen. After some experimenting with knots, I decided to go just over a metre long.

7cm wide and 103 cm long

Step 2: De-Stringaling

Basically, I just chopped away any stray stringalings that were hanging from the unfinished edge. Definitely not necessary for all fabrics, but this one seems to fray quite easily, so I wanted to make sure none of it was in the way.

Step 3: Iron, Lady

First I ironed the fabric nice and flat, so that it would be even when I folded it. Then...

I ironed it in half, inside-out, so that it would be easy to sew consistently. There was no real science or measuring that went into this (probably should have been), I just folded, ironed, and hoped for the best. It definitely wouldn't hurt to measure it to make sure you have a consistent width along the length of the headband! Oh, and in case you were wondering, my ironing board is a rainbow towel on the floor.

Step 4: Sew Good
I hand sewed down the length of the fabric, slowly and a little painfully. Not really. It didn't hurt, it just took forever. I used the overlocking as a guide for where to put my stitches - you can see in the picture - and from past experience, I would recommend you have some kind of guideline to sew along as well. No matter how straight I think I'm doing it, it's never as good as the real, measured thing, and it's a hell of a thing to try and fix up later. This took me a bit over an hour to do by hand, but I was multi tasking (practising my Spanish online and replying to emails), so it would have been a lot faster if I was focused more. Still, I would recommend that you at least watch TV or dodgy Youtube videos while you're doing it to break the monotony. Or, better still, use a sewing machine! Once I got to then end, I sewed along the edge to close it off, leaving the beginning side open for me to turn this thing inside out.

Step 5: Trimmings
Trim the excess fabric off, so your headband sausage isn't too stuffed.

Step 6: Inside inside inside inside inside outside
Now it's time to turn that sausage in on itself! The first thing I did was sew some reinforcing stitches at the remaining opening. I figured it would go through a bit of stress while I was turning it inside out, and I didn't want to undo all my hard work.

Then, I simply pulled the inside of the fabric tube to the outside, millimetre by millimetre. Ugh. This also took forever, but was extremely satisfying when I got to the end. Definitely a mindless Youtube activity!

Step 7: Iron, Man
Ironing the headband flat after turning it inside out isn't necessary, and depends on what sort of look you're going for. I think I needed to do it, because I left the lining of the fabric on, and it got quite bunchy inside, so the headband was puffier than I wanted. After ironing, it wasn't too bad.
Note: The stitches in this picture aren't mine (I wish!) they're from whatever this piece of fabric's previous incantation was.

Step 8: Finish Him!

Last of all, I used my fingers and the ridiculous novelty scissors you get in a sewing kit to turn the unfinished tip of the headband in on itself.

After ironing it flat, I used my very best teeny fairy stitches to finish it off in a neat row. I was all out of white thread (my first choice) so I went with a saucy magenta. Woo woo!

RESULT
Wukka-wukka! We have a headband! It was a little longer than I had envisioned, but that turns out quite well, because it's long enough to use as a belt too! Definitely designed to brighten up an LBD or to go floral-clashing crazy.

Lessons Learned
- I think a wider piece of fabric would work better for a headband, although, I think the narrower piece works better for a belt - an unintended bonus, but it will help me to decide which I'm likely to use it for next time
- I should really buy a sewing machine. Santa Claus? Easter Bunny? Anyone wanna bring me one?
- Upcycling is really kewl
- As much as it pains me to say, there is real value in being precise and measuring everything for consistent results
- I would have sewed the stitches a little closer together if I made it again. It's not a big deal, but I can see the stitches, and the gaps between them. Probably not a big deal visually, but I'm worried that it's more likely to unravel because of this. I must remember this before I chuck the headband through the washing machine...

And that's all folks! If you have any questions, let me know, but in the meantime, happy sewing!

Miss Spectacles DIY

DIY Scrap Fabric Headband or Belt