Woven T-Shirt Headbands

I found instructions for do-it-yourself woven headbands made from old t-shirts and they were so cute, I had to try them for myself.
Three things I LOVED about this project:
1. It's so easy!
2. The results are pretty darn cute.
3. I had everything I needed already at home...in other words, this project was TOTALLY FREE! (and really, that's the very best part.)

Here's my finished result ^^

 I'll take you through a quick step-by-step.
What you'll need: a t-shirt or soft pants, scissors, needle and thread. That is quite literally it. I know, it's fabulous.

1.First find a soft old t-shirt that you like the color of (I used the legs off a pair of jersey tee pajama pants. Sexy, right?...Alright, I know they're not. That's why I'm cutting them up. I liked working with the legs of the pants because the strips you cut out are really long and mostly all the same length.)

2. Cut the material into strips. (I cut the legs of the pants off around the crotch, then cut up one side of a seam inside. Then I cut the strips, trying to keep them all about the same width. I didn't use a ruler, so mine came out a little uneven, but it didn't matter in the end.

I ended up with 12 strips of material (not counting the 2 strips that had the seams, which I tossed.) You could end up with more or less, depending on how wide you cut your strips. Obviously, one pant leg is enough to make at least 2 headbands.

3. Take 5 strips of material and stack them, laying flat on top of each other Stitch together the ends (you can do a clumsy stitching job here if you're not used to sewing--I sure did.)

4. Now lay the stitched ends down flat and fan out the strips. You may need to tape or anchor down the end so it won't move around while you're weaving. Pull the strips till the edges curl up so they look nice and round.

5. It's time to start weaving! This is so easy, but it does take a minute to explain/understand if you haven't done it before.
Start on your left side. Braid the strip on the FARTHEST LEFT with the one to the RIGHT of it. Then braid the new, middle strip with the one on the RIGHT of it.
Take this "middle" strip (the one that is in the middle of all 5 strips) and pull it over to the right. Now you're going to do the same braid, but BACKWARDS. So grab the strip on the FARTHEST RIGHT and braid it with the one to the LEFT of it. Then take this middle strip and braid it with the one to the LEFT of it. Take the strip that is now on the LEFT of the right side and pull it back over to the left side.
Repeat this process over, and over, and over, and over, until your strips are woven all the way down.

Here's mine when it's almost done of the way down ^^

6. When your headband is long enough (remember, it should be smaller than your head so that it will fit tight!) stitch these ends together too. Trim off any excess material.

7. Stitch this end and the other end and stitch the 2 together. Again, these don't have to be pretty stitches. We are gonna cover them up in a minute.

8. Once the ends are stitched together, your headband is actually functional at this point. Now, to cover up those (unsightly, in my case) stitches. Take a piece of material that is WIDER than your ends and will cover them, and stitch it onto the back side. Wrap it around and stitch the other end to the backside, being careful not to let any stitches come through the front of this "cover piece."

Now, let's see the results!

You can use the cover piece to clip bows and flowers to. So cute for little ones! Here is my headband (I made a me-sized one first, Ellie-sized is next up!) with one of my daughter's clip on flowers:

Thank you to Ashley for the fabulous tutorial from this website (you can also follow her tutorial here, as I am sure it's less confusing than mine):
http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2011/06/repurposing-tshirts-into-5-strand-braided-headbands.html

Happy crafting :)
xoxo

Rachel