PROJECT: Tee Shirt Headbands

The next project I want to share with y'all is a great way to repurpose some of your old tee shirts. I love making things out of old tee shirts because I have so many of them and there are so many different colors and designs that can be used from them. Below is a picture of the project I am going to walk you through, a tee shirt headband, modeled by my friend Diana.


Here is a photo of just a headband:


Now I will walk you through a tutorial of this easy project. First is to cut strips of a tee shirt. I have a huge collection of old tee shirts for this so I chose a combination of 5 colors and cut one inch strips off the bottom of the tee shirt. I wanted to do a bunch of these headbands so I went ahead and cut oodles of strips (this is a time where the cutting mat and rotary cutter are AMAZING!!!) --


I took one strip each of the 5 colors I wanted to work with and cut the loop once (the strip of tee shirt will be in a loop if you cut it off the bottom of the tee shirt in one piece). Now you have 5 long strips, each one inch wide. Next I layered these all on top of one another and sewed across one end to hold them together while I braided them.


To braid the strips together I did a 5 strand braid which is really easy once you get it. I clipped the piece to a book with a binder clip to secure it while braiding, but you could use whatever you wish to do this. First you lay all 5 strips apart then take the outermost strip on one side and bring it in going over the first strip and under the next strip and leave it now in the middle of all the strips. Repeat this step from the other side.




In the above photo you can see better how the braiding is done. The light blue strip was on the outermost left side so I brought it into the center by going over the dark blue strip and under the dark green strip then left it in the middle. The next step would be to bring the gray in from the right by going over the white strip and them under the light blue strip. Then return to the left side again.

Continue braiding until your headband reaches the desired length. I make mind about 16/17 inches because they have some stretch and I also add an elastic piece at the bottom so they can fit many sizes.


I sewed again at the end of the headband to hold the strips together.


Now it was time to add the ending pieces. I used black hair elastics (half of one for each headband) and some black ribbon.

I cut enough ribbon to wrap around the end of the headband then placed it under the headband with the hair elastic on top of this. I used a dot of hot glue to secure this and wrapped the remaining ribbon around the end.

I did this for the other side also, using the other end of the elastic. I then hand sewed over the ends to make sure they were nice and secure since they would get a lot of tugging later.

Here is the finished product



Also here are some photos of me sporting some of the other headbands I made that day




This idea was originally planted in my head by this awesome shop on Etsy which sells 5 strand headbands. However theirs are made out of painted fabric and suede and have different closures.

Theif and Bandit on Etsy

If you like my version with the tee shirt fabric and aren't crafty or do not have the time/supplies for this project, I have made them for sale in a new etsy store, CreationsByBonnybee!


I started this store in addition to my jewelry shop, Bonnybee Designs, to sell other handmade goods people might like, particularly ones seen made on this blog! So if you like it, but can't make it, buy it!

Thank you all for following and I would love to hear from you in comments below...Do you like this project? Are you going to try it? Do you make headbands of another variety yourself?

Happy Crafting,

*Bonnybee

PROJECT: Week of Cosmetic Bags! Day #5

Friday, Cosmetic Bag #5

Today was the final day of Cosmetic Bag Week and here is the 5th bag I made. I think this one came out great and I once again used the fantastic iron-on vinyl. Below is the finished product followed by the tutorial!


I followed this tutorial from crafster.org. The first step was to cut out all the pieces. The tutorial has the measurements written out in centimeters and my cutting mat and ruler is only in inches so I converted cm to in and rounded the numbers to the nearest 1/4". There are a lot of pieces to cut for this one:

- 4 rectangles (one in each of the materials: outer fabric, inner fabric, vinyl and interfacing) measuring 10" x 6.25"
- 4 rectangles (2 of outer fabric and 2 of inner fabric) measuring 8" x 1.5"
- 8 squares (2 each of outer fabric, inner fabric, vinyl and interfacing) measuring 2.75" x 2.75"
- 2 rectangles in outer fabric only measuring 2.5" x 1.5"

you will also need one zipper at least 9" long and coordinating thread

Next I attached the vinyl to the right side of inner fabric and interfacing to the wrong side of the outer fabric by ironing. After this I shaped the rectangle pieces into rounded rectangles by making a template with a piece of construction paper and marking and cutting all 8 corners.



Next step was to attach the two side rectangle pieces to the zipper. Do this by folding over the long edge and then sewing both to the sides of the zipper using a zipper foot. The second picture shows the zipper a few steps later but you can still see how the rectangles were attached.



Then it was time to attach the tabs and side squares to both ends of the zipper. Using the two 2.5" x 1.5" rectangles made of the outer fabric, I made the tabs by folding each long edge in 1/4" then the whole piece in half and sewing along each long edge.

Attach the tabs and squares to the end of the zipper by placing the zipper piece face up, folding the tab in half and placing it on the zipper, and placing the 2.75" squares face down on top of the other two pieces. Then sew across the lined up raw edges.


The top of the bag was now completed and it looked like this.




Next the top of the bag was attached to the body of the bag (right sides facing each other). I marked the centers of the side of the outer fabric rounded rectangle and the unattached short end of the zipper piece. I do not have a good picture of this step for the outer fabric so here is a photo of when I did this step for the lining.


Next it was time to fold the sides of the bag up to the zipper piece and pin and sew this seam. I clipped both sides of the seam to make sewing around the curve easier. Before you sew both sides shut make sure to unzip your zipper so you can later turn it right side out. After both sides were sewn the outer layer was complete.




Next it was time to make the lining in a very similar way. I finished the inner edges of the long rectangles (which were not attached to a zipper yet) and attached them to the 2.75" inner fabric squares. There are no tabs to make or attach this time around.



Then I attached the top piece to the body of the bag (the rounded rectangle piece) the same way as before.



Once both sides were sewn, the lining was also complete. The last step was to combine the lining and the outer fabric.


To combine both layers I slid the outer half of the bag into the lining of the bag with wrong sides together and hand stitched the lining to the zipper. After this I turned it right side out and was all done!






The shape on this one came out great and once again, the vinyl worked great. Finally, my week of cosmetic bags is now complete! I would love to hear from you all about what you think!

Which bag did you like the best? Will you try any of these tutorials? Do you have any other patterns you like to use? I am really getting into making cosmetic bags and think I will have to do some more! I will make sure to share any others I create but before then I have oodles of other projects I am excited to try, so check back soon to see what I craft up next!

*Bonnybee

PROJECT: Week of Cosmetic Bags! Day #4

Thursday, Cosmetic Bag #4

I have made yet another cosmetic bag for your crafting enjoyment! This one starts off with a funky pattern but is pretty easy to construct. I got the tutorial from a post on craftster.org which you can find here. I will walk you through my process and you can check out this tutorial for more information!
Here is the final product:

You will need a zipper at least 7" long and enough fabric to cut 2 pieces of each using the pattern pictured below. I once again lined my interior fabric with iron-on vinyl (see Cosmetic Bag #3 for an explanation of this product) and adhered a layer of interfacing to my outer fabric. For great details on how to draw the pattern see the tutorial linked above. This is the one I drew from their instructions.

After cutting out your fabric pieces and ironing on any extras you would like to use, the first thing you will do is prep your zipper. This bag, like Cosmetic Bag #1, also has zipper end covers to make it look nice, but these are really easy to do. Cut two 1" square pieces out of your extra exterior fabric. Place the first square right side down, right next to the metal crimp at the end of the zipper. Leave most of the square on the inside of the metal crimp (and about .25" to the outside of the crimp) and sew. Unzip your zipper and repeat this process with the other square 6.75" away from the metal crimp. Flip the squares so right sides are now facing up and press. You will now have nice little zipper end coverings like pictured below.

The next step is to attach the top of your fabric pieces to your pretty zipper. Lay the pieces as follows: Outer fabric right side up, zipper facing down, and right side of lining facing down and align them all evenly at the top edge. You will now have a little zipper sandwich to sew up with a zipper foot.

Repeat this step with the other side of the zipper and remaining two fabric pieces. Now flip your work to right sides out and wrong sides together and top stitch on either side of your zipper.

Next I took time to embellish my bag a little with a fun assortment of cute buttons to add something extra.

After this it is time to sew up the edges of the bag. To do this turn the outer fabrics right sides facing each other and do the same for the linings. Sew around the edges, using a .25" seam allowance but do not sew around your square cutout areas. Also leave yourself a 2 inch opening in the lining to turn your cosmetic bag right side out later.

This picture shows one of the angular cutouts and the opening in the lining which you should not sew up yet.

Now it is time to sew up the cutouts in a way that will make the base of the bag. Pinch the opening with the two sewn sides of the cutout together and the other corners facing out. Pin and sew across the opening.

Repeat this will all 4 corners and trim excess fabric. The bag should now look like this:

Now it is time to turn the bag right side out through the opening you left in the lining.


Once turned right side out and cleaned up, sew closed your opening in the lining. THE END!


As you can see my bag looks a little wrinkly. I think this is because the thick interfacing and vinyl got wrinkled when I scrunched up the bag to turn it right side out. Again I did not want to iron it because the inside is plastic but I believe the wrinkles will go away after some use.






I am pleased with how it turned out and think this is a very practical and useful shape for a cosmetic bag. What do you guys think?

I have one last cosmetic bag planned for you all tomorrow! However now that I have started these, I am already thinking of so many others I want to try! I am afraid I will soon have more little zipper pouches than I could ever use...

*Bonnybee