Guest blogger / DIY wizard / fashionista extraordinaire NIKI shows you how to DIY your very own urban turban / turband / hearban / call it what you wanna call it.
Before I show you how to make a new piece of head candy to adorn your dome, let me enlighten you with some fashion advice courtesy of my own. I have few rules when it comes to fashion (sometimes to my own demise — hello, drop crotch), but I do have one rule that I force myself to live by: don’t ever buy something that can be easily made, or purchased for pennies from a thrift or vintage store. Why? Because I’m cheap. And… eco-friendly. I like to recycle. But mostly, because I’m smart. And cheap.
But I digress. Back to the turband. Thanks to designers like Vena Cava and Jason Wu, the turband is the ultimate SS11 headpiece. It’s edgy, chic and puts last years straw fedora to shame (sorry, Coachella) and the best part is, it’s super easy to make. The DIY turband takes about ten minutes of your time and doesn’t cost a dime over ten bones.
WHAT YOU NEED:
+ A long piece of fabric. You can use just about anything, as long as its length is greater than the circumference of your head (math!). I used a piece of scrap fabric, but I would also suggest using a long silk scarf
+ A needle and thread. The thread doesn’t even have to match your fabric, but I would suggest using some that does just to be safe
+ A vintage button, brooch or an item of your choice which you can use to embellish your creation
+ Scissors
STEP ONE:
Measuring loosely, make sure your fabric is long enough to fit around your head and cut off any excess. Lay the fabric horizontally on your table on it’s back – the fabric I used was white on one side, and patterned on the other so by ‘on it’s back’ I mean with the patterned side down and the white side facing up.
STEP TWO:
Fold the top 1/3 and the bottom 1/3 of the fabric into the center. It doesn’t have to be an exact third — fold as much fabric in until your material is as wide as you’d like your turband to be. Then, fold the long skinny piece in half (from left to right) so the ends meet, as seen in the photo above.
STEP THREE:
Using your needle and thread, sew the ends together using a simple hand stitch (it doesn’t have to be perfect, as you can see from my messy stitching above). Be sure to tie a knot at the end of your thread before you start stitching so the very end of the thread doesn’t go straight through your fabric.
STEP FOUR:
Pull the thread (not the knotted end but the thread that’s still on the needle) so that the basic stitch you’ve done bunches up to cause a ruching effect.
STEP FIVE:
With the ruching pulled as tight as possible (be careful not to break your thread!) stitch over it to reinforce it. Don’t stop until you’re 110% sure that it’s secure. Then quadruple knot the end of your thread and cut your needle and left over thread free.
STEP SIX:
Turn it inside out and check out your sweet sewing skills! You can’t believe the ruching actually worked, right?
STEP SEVEN:
While you’re still rather impressed with yourself, slap a smug smile on your face and try on your turband! Guess what? It fits! You could leave it as is, but if you choose to embellish with that vintage button or brooch…
…Sew it into the middle of your turband using your leftover needle and thread. Make sure it’s centered and sewed on very securely – a wobbly button on your forehead will drive you crazy.
And that’s a (head) wrap. Thumbs up! You could’ve paid over $70 for your brand new headpiece, but back to my number one rule: why would you? It’s easy to make and costs less than your morning Starbucks. You’re welcome, young grasshoppers.
