I think I wrote on Hive before that whenever I find a fabric I really like, I end up turning it into a mini furoshiki, a simple Japanese traditional square wrapper.
Then I realized I do the same with headbands too. When I was little, I always had short hair, so I never tied my hair up (or couldn’t). Around middle school or high school age, my mother once lent me her wide headband, saying, “It’s useful when washing your face.” I loved it, and I think that was the beginning of my life as a headband person.
In Japan, it was easy to find ones I liked at shops like Muji, but in Germany I rarely come across headbands with both patterns I enjoy and fabrics I like (natural fibers with a little stretch, maybe around 5%). So eventually I thought: why not just make them myself? A classic maker & immigrant solution 😉
Recently I wanted to make a simple black headband — something that works well with patterned clothes, or for catering events where I prefer a more modest outfit. So I went to a fabric shop to look for black fabric, and there it was: a really nice zebra print fabric. Of course I impulsively bought that too along with the black fabric, came home, and immediately started sewing.
The size I like is slightly wide, so I can tuck the hair at the back inside when needed. I usually cut the fabric about 50 cm wide (along the stretchy direction of the fabric) and 24 cm long, then sew the long edge with a zigzag stitch, right sides together. After turning it inside out, I sew the short edges together as much as possible, and finally close the opening by hand. Once you get used to it, the whole thing takes maybe 20–30 minutes.
And honestly, the comfort of having all my hair up with a headband during hot weather is just so good. I’ll probably still be wearing them when I’m a granny.
ドイツも暑くなってきました。そんな季節に特に気に入っているのがヘアバンドで、ドイツではお気に入りの布を見つけては作っています。今回は詳しくはnoteに書いたので、よかったら覗いてみてください。
Oh, that's so fun. I think when I'm a granny, I'm going to have to learn how to sew. I can't see myself doing it at the moment, but I just love the idea of having an idea, like making a headband and then going to the shop and buying fabric and just making it. How empowering!
It really is empowering ;) I still love that feeling of turning an idea into something real. Ja, sewing is a perfect hobby we can start and continue when we are granny.
This was nice, I think I need to learn how to do headbands for my daughters that way we can decide and make according to the colors we want.
That's the good part, that we can choose fabric and print we like ☺️