I've been a bit surprised by the reaction to the vintage button hair ties I made and posted this week. I've also received a fe emails enquiring about them and a few questions about how they are made.
I honestly thought I was being a little bit of a dork in posting a pic of them and I never imagined the reaction to them or thought others would want to know how to make them themselves. So as a way of saying thank you for all your lovely comments and emails, in return I have put together this DIY tutorial for you all.
So here goes, my first proper DIY blog post.
Supplies you will need:
* scissors
* needle and thread
* a selection of vintage buttons (ones with shanks, see pic below)
* no snag hair ties, the ones without the metal thingy on them
Before we get started, make sure your buttons have shanks and that the whole is a decent size to fit a double thickness of the hair tie elastic through.
To make the job of getting the hair tie through the shank easier take your needle and thread, and double over the thread and tie off the end so you have a loop of thread, that the needle won't come off.
Next take your needle and thread and hair tie, and loop the thread over the hair tie, making sure you pass the needle below the knot. If you've done this correctly you will have captured the hair tie and it should look like this.
Now pass the needle and thread (with hair tie trailing behind) through the shank of your vintage button. Continue to pull through until about this point below.
At this point you can remove the needle and thread either with scissors, however I prefer to be patient and use the tip of the needle to loosen the thread wrapped around the hair tie and free itself out of the loop.....that way you won't end up with a random bit of cotton around your hair tie.
Once the thread is removed you will need to pass one side of the hair tie through the other looped side, see below.
Continue to pull through the shank until it is tight, and flick over the smaller loop so it sits snug on the other side of the shank, see below.
Then sit back and admire your work.