A bow for my hair

Last year I made a couple of hairbands, HERE... you can see the Christmas one that I made..

But I had made one earlier last year that never got blogged. The other night on Twitter there was talk of Tyvek, and I was reminded of this Tyvek hairband. So here is how I made it.


First I cut some card buttons using a Sizzix die.

I coloured them using LETRASET PROMARKERS then I stamped patterns and script over them. 

Next I coated them in clear UTEE

Now onto the base of the hairband. My local haberdashery shop sells plain white bands. They have a cotton covered one, and a satin covered one. For this you need a cotton one. As you will be using markers to colour the fabric you need a tight weave. The satin one would just bleed too much.

So here is my plain band, it is a rigid plastic band with a plain white covering. 

I coloured it in with LETRASET PROMARKERS... obviously they are not strictly fabric markers, and you do have to work carefully. Work quickly and only very lightly touch the fabric and then they shouldn't bleed. 

Next I took a piece of Tyvek. This stuff is a super strong woven paper, with a plastic feel. You can buy it in stiff sheets like paper, or as a much softer pliable fabric. It is not easy to find, but if you search online you will find it. in America many envelopes are made from Tyvek. So if you have friends over there get them to send you Tyvek envelopes. 

I cut my piece, wrapped a smaller bit around it and voila! a bow. this was just to test out the size.. 

I opened the pieces out and started to colour them. I used only markers and stamps, but you could colour yours with whatever you want. 

Then it was formed back into a bow..

Now the fun part. this stuff melts and shrinks really well. It is trial and error though. The more you heat the more it shrinks, the closer you get the more holes appear. So it is a case of do a bit at a time, keep adding a little more heat until you are happy. Keep the heat gun moving at all times, and beware, too much and the whole thing will disintegrate. 

I just love this melted and mangled, mashed up bow. 

Now it is just a case of stitching stuff together. I stitched on the buttons first, and then the bow.  As you can see the buttons don't go quite to the ends, if they did it would be uncomfortable to wear, the end buttons would stick in your ears. 

...and yes I have worn this. I did a demo last Autumn for Letraset, and I wore this the whole day. 

I hope this inspires you to make some headgear. As Christmas is looming, why not follow my link at the top and see the instruction for a festive hairband. 

Darcy x