Tutorial: Anthropologie inspired hair ties

November 26, 2012

Written by Meg

A little while ago i stumbled across some adorable hair ties from Anthropologie – they had rave reviews – and i couldn’t help but giggle. As someone who sews i immediately recognised the fact that these hair ties in all the pretty colours (and the typically Anthropologie high price) were in fact made with fold over elastic.

So then i made some :)

In fact, i made a tonne. And it took a few minutes – so ridiculously easy. These have become my go to hair tie now, and they are literally cents on the cost of the Anthro ones. boom. And now i’m thrifty too.

Ready set, lets make hair ties…

So what is fold over elastic? It’s a soft elastic that is designed to fold in half and encase the raw edges of items like underwear etc. It’s very soft, and stretchy, and comes in cute colours. Because of those properties it’s also commonly used to make baby headbands – you’ve probably seen them on any baby you ever seen :) It’s useful stuff – and i often use it to finish the necklines and even sleeve hems of clothing for my kids.

Ok – so get yourself some fold over elastic in cute colours. I know some people have had trouble finding fold over elastic – but you can often find it in good sewing boutiques. I’ve had more luck in more “one of a kind” sewing stores, over large chain stores. If you live in DC/VA/MD then i can highly recommend G Street fabrics as having a great selection. When i lived in a small town in Iowa, without many sewing options – i bought fold over elastic on ebay in large quantities. It was really really cost effective :)

Cut your elastic into 12″ long strips ( after a bit of experimenting i found this to be the best length).

Cut the ends on an angle to prevent too much frey (and it’s cute)

Tie a knot leaving about 1/2 of the edge peeking out…

then make more!

Annnnd bonus… what if you want to make a sparkly one like Anthro? And you can’t find sparkly fold over elastic (that was my problem). Try taking some fabric glitter glue, spread a thin layer of your elastic and let it dry completely, then tie your knot and you’re good to go! I’m not sure how long this one will last – i’ve used mine once so far and it held up really well.

Yep, new favourite hair ties.

About Author

Meg

Meg is the Founder and Creative Director of Megan Nielsen Patterns, and is constantly dreaming up ideas for new sewing patterns and ways to make your sewing journey more enjoyable! She gets really excited about design details and is always trying to add way too many variations to our patterns.

22 Comments

Oldest

Newest Most Voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Jen

10 years ago

Ha, I totally noticed that too! If you do a search for glitter elastic or glitter fold over elastic it will bring up multiple search results for what is obviously the same elastic they’re using at Anthro, they think they’re so clever over there. I may copy you and make a few of these myself, I hate almost all regular hair ties.

Author

Meg

10 years ago

Reply to Jen

Thanks hun, i’ll try again! My searches were fruitless – i must be a terrible googler (hehehe new word?).
They really do think they’re so clever – it kills me how much they are charging. Gotta laugh! The truly funny thing is that i never would have made myself hair ties like this if they hadn’t done it first, for fear of them looking “homemade” – and yet when anthro does it its mainstream. It’s kind of a funny irony i reckon :)
You should definitely knock a few up, they’re pretty darn comfy. hugs!! xoxo

Miranda

10 years ago

I’ve totally searched for that same glitter fold over elastic for this exact purpose, to no avail. The glitter glue should work great! And if a little comes off in my hair, I’ll just look a bit angelic, which can’t hurt:)

Author

Meg

10 years ago

Reply to Miranda

i’m glad i’m not the only one!!! i was getting so frustrated not being able to find any :)
We can be angelically glittery together hehehe

Lucinda

10 years ago

Wow, $12 for 5 of them on their site? You could make dozens of them for that price! Will have to give this a try for sure.

Author

Meg

10 years ago

Reply to Lucinda

LOL i know right?! You could buy a grocery bag of fold over elastic for $12 – they are certainly genius business people over there :) You should definitely try some, we can all have buckets of hair ties hehehehe

Rachel

10 years ago

this is genius i have no idea how i never came up with this!!!!!!! Christmas gifts for all!!!!

Author

Meg

10 years ago

Reply to Rachel

YES!!! my first thought was – stocking stuffers!!!

JulieCC

10 years ago

My daughter recently picked out some brightly colored/multicolored ones like this at a tourist attraction – $4 I think for two headbands. I’ve been looking all over for “elastic ribbon” and can’t find it. But I just saw your post this morning and was at Joann’s today and all they have is Babyville foldover elastic (comes in white/patterns/colors) – which is cute, but I’m still looking for the bright ones, or glittery. I guess I’ll resort to glitter glue. ;-)

I’d like to find a width, though, that is half of what the fold-over elastic is since that’s the size my daughter’s headbands are. I do want to make smaller ones for pony holders.

Author

Meg

10 years ago

Reply to JulieCC

Oooo yes i know what you mean. Personally i haven’t seen any that thin – but i’m sure there must be some around, i know i’ve certainly seen narrower on elastic. I bet Maddie (www.madalynne.com) would know, she is a wiz at all things lingerie construction (which i believe is what the narrow elastic is used for).

Amy

10 years ago

Reply to JulieCC

Hi Meg, I meandered over here from Jen’s post on hair ties. This is such a brilliant idea because my long heavy hair needs nice little hair ties that don’t pull my hair out. I don’t know why I haven’t thought of it before! I have a little crush on foldover elastics and use it for lingerie. Most of the time FOE is 5/8″/1.5cm. Sometimes you can find narrower (like 1cm or 3/8″) but it’s harder to find at retail. I do Etsy searches because it seems like making baby headbands is quite the thing! Look for “narrow foldover elastic” or something like that. Also, white foe is really, really easy to dye… even Rit colors come out brilliantly.

Author

Meg

10 years ago

Reply to Amy

Amy! Thanks so much for the tips! I hadn’t thought of dying FOE before – and now i DEFINITELY need to try!!
I’ve certainly had trouble finding the 3/8″ elastic, so i’m really grateful for he Etsy tip :) I would love to start sewing lingerie – down the road i suppose!!
And seriously – i have hte same issue with heavy thick hair – i have been loving these hairties, so far they’re the only ones that don’t hurt me, and seem to stay in all day without loosening (which is somewhat of a miracle). FOE is so magical, one of my favourite notions :)
Thanks for popping by and saying hi! XOXO

JulieCC

10 years ago

I found a few places online to buy it – still would like to find some B&M stores that carry it, though!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/97799193/5-yards-sparkle-glitter-elastic-you?utm_source=googleproduct&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=GPS&gclid=CLC7kLvP7bMCFYVFMgodYyAAmg

http://bitsybands.com/Colored-Elastic-Fold-Over-Elastic/c13_87/index.html

http://www.pamperedprincesspretties.com/category_182/58-Glitter-Elastic.htm

Author

Meg

10 years ago

Reply to JulieCC

Julie, thanks so much for including those links!!! You are a doll! I had a lot of trouble finding true glitter elastic – and you’ve saved all the work :) thanks hun!! XOXO

Katie

10 years ago

This looks great — totally trying it! I have a ton of FOE sitting down in my sewing room so I might even whip some up before work tomorrow!

I’ve seen cute FOE at all my local big-box fabric stores recently–Joann’s, Hancock’s, and Hobby Lobby (for those in the US). The big box stores are starting to carry more cloth diapering and children’s underwear materials and kits and now they usually have FOE in cute colors in that section.

(And, by the way, your cool factor just went off the charts now that I know you used to live in Iowa. That’s where I grew up:) ).

Debi Gary

10 years ago

Reply to Katie

I was so happy to see this as I have been looking and looking for this elastic. Will def check it out. I’ll add an idea I saw at a boutique while on vacation…they added beads like the Pandora or Troll type that go on the braceltes to the elastic before tieing it…added some additional bling to the hair tie. I’m going to try it as I have a lot of additional beads. Will make great gifts. Thanks again.

Author

Meg

10 years ago

Reply to Debi Gary

Debi i LOVE the beads idea!!! That would totally make a great gift – and they would look so cute on your wrist when you’re not wearing them. awesome idea!! xoxo

Author

Meg

10 years ago

Reply to Katie

Oooo Katie thats awesome! The last time I was at Joanns or Hancocks was about 6 months ago, so i guess i’m a little out of date :) I’m really happy to hear they’re carrying more FOE and cloth diapering stuff (i had sooo much trouble finding cloth diapering materials years ago!).

meanwhile, yes!!! it’s the first place we lived when we moved to the US – we lived in a little town just outside of Cedar Rapis :) Its where my kids were born and it’ll always be special to me.

hugs! xoxo

Sumé

10 years ago

Just made a bunch!! Thanks for great idea…

Anthropologie Inspired Hair Accessories | grainline

10 years ago

[…] you guys see the post Megan had a week or two ago where she showed how to make some Anthropolgie inspired hair ties? Yeah, me […]

Crafty: Handmade Valentines - ISLY | I Still Love You

10 years ago

[…] elastic, so I made 12 elastic hair ties. These things are cute and effortless to make (tutorials: 1, 2, 3 or purchase: 1, 2, 3, […]

Joseph

9 years ago

The halogen bulbs with which star lights are equipped are capable of
creating dots on ceiling, walls and floors. However, LED conversion
equipment and fluorescent mix, often the lamp is damaged, the
ballast fever. These futuristic lights are perfect accent
pieces to those spaces where you find boring and dull.

Tutorial: Anthropologie inspired hair ties

Further Reading...