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.