DIY Easy Knit Turban Headband

I've been making a lot of headbands lately. I made a bunch as Christmas gifts but then never really stopped! They're just so fun! I had been seeing this style of headband around and thought, "I could make that!"

This is an insanely easy pattern. Spoiler alert! It's stockinette stitch with one cable. It follows a simple formula so whatever yarn or needles you want to use, you can easily amend the instructions.

Here's what I used for mine:

Yarn: Bernat Roving (surprised?) in Plum
Needles: US 13

CO 14

Row 1: P1, K12, P1
Row 2: K1, P12, K1

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until you are halfway done your headband.

Best practice is to measure your head first and divide the number by two. For example, I make my headbands 18 inches long so when I got to 9 inches I stopped. (Make sure to stop when you've finished a purling row so you're ready to cable.)

Cable Row 1: P1, cable 12 forward (slip 6 stitches onto your cable needle and hold in front, K6, K6 off your cable needle), P1
Cable Row 2: K1, P12, K1

Continue repeating the original rows 1 and 2 until the headband is long enough to fit comfortably around your head.

Bind off.

Use a yarn needle to seam the ends and weave in the tails.

HOW TO ADAPT IT:

This pattern is easily adaptable so you are free to make this whatever width with whatever yarn you want. It might take a few false starts to get the width right (this pattern took me 3!) but this is such a quick knit it's worth the extra time to make sure it's perfect!

Always cast on an even number of stitches. Subtract 2 for the knit edges and divide that number in 2 for your cable row. For example for thinner yarn:

CO 20

Row 1: P1, K18, P1
Row 2: K1, P18, K1

Cable Row 1: P1, cable 18 forward (slip 9 stitches onto your cable needle and hold in front, K9, K9 off your cable needle) P1
Cable Row 2: K1, P18, K1

Or if you have really thick yarn on really fat needles:

CO 8

Row 1: P1, K6, P1
Row 2: K1, P6, K1

Cable Row 1: P1, cable 6 forward (slip 3 stitches onto your cable needle and hold in front, K3, K3 off your cable needle) P1
Cable Row 2: K1, P6, K1

You get the idea! Any questions, leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading!

Favourite Christmas DIYs

Every year before Christmas I get super excited about all the things I want to make. Then I blink and it's Christmas Eve and I've barely wrapped any gifts yet. One day I will be on top of things! For now, here are a few of my favourite DIYs this year that I didn't have time for:

Vintage Inspired Hanging Birds - A Beautiful Mess

DIY Brass Tack Baubles - Fellow Fellow

15 Creative Tags compiled by Apartment Therapy

Balsa Wood Diamond Ornament - A Beautiful Mess

Holiday Snowflakes - The Pink Couch

DIY Labels // Custom Stamps

This is not so much a tutorial as it is a suggestion. I was initially hesitant to get a stamp made. I didn't really understand how easy it was going to be, or how inexpensive. When I was decorating my office I had to make a few trips to the Staples Print Centre and while investigating their pricing online, I saw they made rubber stamps. So I just went for it. I figured I'd be monopolizing the Print Centre employee (shout out to Eleanor!) that I may as well do everything all at once. The process involved a webcam chat with another Staples employe. All and all very exciting.

My stamp was only $10 but since I used a non-standard font, it was treated as an image and was created in a slightly different way, for slightly more money. The total was just under $20 and in my opinion was super worth it.

Now that I have my stamp, my opportunities are endless! I can use it on any sort of labels I want, whether it's this cotton ribbon, a different cotton ribbon, or if I want to stamp it directly onto the lining fabric. I can stamp it onto packaging ribbon, or as a seal on an envelope or thank-you card. I can change the inks as much as I want. I can use it on tags for craft shows, or on my friends' skin when they're not looking.

A worthy investment!

DIY Spike Necklace

When a good friend of mine was visiting recently we made it a priority to visit Queen West which, for those who don't know, is Toronto's craft mecca. Tons of stores dedicated to fabric, beads, yarn, buttons and ribbon...mmm... My friend spotted these spikey beads in one of the stores and bought a few in gold. I thought they were so fabulous that I had to follow suit and voila! A DIY was born.

What You Need:

Pliers, wire cutters, small spikes, large spikes, jump rings and a clasp.

We found these spikes at Arton Beads in Toronto. They came in gold and silver, plastic or metal. These ones are plastic so the necklace is light and less of a weapon. Each pack came with roughly 25 beads at only a few bucks a pop. Not bad!

Cut two lengths of chain: 17 inches for the short spikes, 18 inches for the long spikes.

If you think you might want a different length for this necklace, always always always cut more chain than you need. Then you can trim to your heart's desire.

To attach the spiked pendants to the chain, you'll be using your pliers to open and close the jump rings.

Starting with the smaller spikes and the shorter chain, string the pendant onto the jump ring and slip it through one of the links in the middle of your first chain.

I started from the middle and worked my way out to ensure that my cluster remained centred. It's a massive pain to do all that work only to have to redo it!

Space them out about two chain links. The spacing totally depends on the size of the links of your chain so test it out. For my chain, I found 1 space left in between looked nicest.

Try to keep your chain as flat as possible when attaching your spikes.

Keep going until you have 2.5 inches of spikes (17 spikes), or, really, however many you want. You don't actually have to listen to me ;)

Once you get a ton of them on the chain they start to fall into a big cluster.

Move on to adding the longer spikes to the longer chain. Repeat the steps above in attaching the pendants however this time I left 3 spaces in between spikes, having a total of 3.5 inches of spikes (13 spikes).

When you are happy with how the spikes are looking, use two more jump rings to attach the chains (again, careful not to twist them) to your clasp and pow!

Ways to change it:

- Increase the number of spikes per chain.

- Increase/decrease the length of chain, creating more a different shape in the final necklace.

- Add a third strand of spikes, maybe a different colour.

- Paint the spikes using a bright nail polish.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

Favourite DIYs Lately

There are some seriously fabulous DIY tutorials out there. Here are some of my favourites:

Honestly WTF—DIY Pearl & Safety Pin Necklace

Design Sponge—DIY Wall Organizer

For the Makers—Fitzgerald Floral Embroidery

Swell Mayde—Gold Gilded Geode Ring

Of course there's always the one unattainable DIY. A friend has promised that when he wins the lottery and becomes a carpenter, he'll make me a piano desk. Until then… Until then…

Apartment Therapy

There's already a B on it and everything. Just be mine!

DIY Short Necklaces

This past week I have become obsessed with short, beaded necklaces. Inspired by gorgeous spring jewellery collections, I encountered two problems: poverty and wanting things immediately. So bring on the DIY.

I bought many of my beads (including those lovely turquoise stones) at my favourite bead store in Toronto, Chaton Beads BUT just this weekend I learned (the hard way) that Chaton Beads is no more. Sadness. Yes, there are a dozen other bead stores on that same block, but this one was The One.

Anyhoo, this DIY is waaay quicker than my other necklaces and adds a lovely pop of colour to any outfit. Also it really doesn't matter what beads you use so if you can't decide, just make several! I set out to only make one, but clearly went overboard. Nothing new here! *blush*

What You Need:

Beads (whatever you like, enough for a 2-3 inch strand)
Fishing line (beading string)
Pliers
Wire cutters
Small crimping beads (Full disclosure: the ones I used were way too big so they turned out quite wonky. I'll likely redo them at some point because I can't deal with wonky.)
Jump rings (4 per necklace)
Chain (2 strands at 8.5 inches each*)
Clasp

The finished necklace measures 19-20 inches, dependent on your beads. *My advice regarding the chain is to always always cut a bit more than you think you need and clip it later once you've tried it on.

Step one. Decide on a pattern. Honestly, this part always takes me ages. AGES.

Cut several inches of your fishing line.

String your crimping bead and a jump ring onto the fishing line. Loop the string back through the crimping bead, leaving a tail. Pull tight, and smoosh the crimping bead shut with your pliers. Your string should be trapped.

String your beads onto the fishing line, tucking the tail through the beads as well, effectively hiding it.

When you come to the end, string your last crimping bead and jump ring on the fishing line and this time when you double back through the crimping bead, string your fishing line through a few beads only and pull the end tight. Smoosh the crimping bead. Trim the tail. (I realize that was a tongue twister.)

You're done the strand! It was so quick and easy that I made several. Whoops.

Using jump rings (and pliers to open and close them), connect your chain strands to the clasp and to your beaded strand.

Wear it.

DIY Collar Necklace

Hello again! Time for another DIY!

The Peter Pan collar trend is still going strong, although I must admit I wasn't always on the bandwagon! I'm still not 100% convinced that I could rock one of these collars on a blouse, so I made a more subtle one in necklace form. Also, if I had a cameo she would be right smack dab in the centre. But alas I do not. Maybe you do??

What You Need:
Beads (I used 66 for this project), eye pins, jump rings (3), clasp, round-nosed pliers, pliers, wire cutters.

String your first bead onto your eye pin. Using your pliers, bend the wire at a 90 degree angle.

Using your wire cutters, clip the wire so you are left with just under 1cm.

Using your round-nosed pliers, bend the wire to form a loop. Leave the loop slightly open. Set aside.

Repeat with your next bead. These beads are going to be linked together to form the "chain." Slip your second bead's eye pin loop through your incomplete loop to connect them. Using your round-nosed pliers, close this loop. See photo for illustration:

Continue these steps until you have two lengths of 19 beads each, and two lengths of 14 each.

Note: the numbers of beads listed is simply what I used for this project. Feel free to make it longer or shorter dependent on the size of beads you use! It's up to you!

The two longest chains are connected with one jump ring. Two more jump rings are used to connect the beads to the clasp. Use your pliers to open and close your jump rings.

Here is where the jump rings should be attached:

The final step of this necklace DIY is attaching the shorter bead lengths that will serve as the loops of the collar. One end of each also connects to the jump ring in the middle (as shown in the photo below) but the other two are to be connected in the middle of the longer chain. I have connected mine after the 9th bead from the front jump ring.

Note: changing this position will change the shape of your collar so feel free to experiment to find what style you like.

Using your round-nosed pliers, open the loop just enough to slip it through the loop from the bead's eye pin that you're connecting it to, then close securely. That was a bit of a mouthful, so here's a close-up of what this connection should look like.

Do the same for the other side. And you're done!

Not the greatest photo, but here's what it looks like on!

DIY Painted Leather Bookmark

Hello, all! While I could do totally do necklace DIYs forever, I felt it was time for something new. :) So as I was staring at my pile of leather scraps leftover from past clutches, I had a fun idea for what to do with them—make bookmarks!

Supplies:

Ruler, scrap of leather (2 x 10 inches)*, bristol board/cardboard (also 2 x 10), paper scissors, fabric scissors, sharpie/pencil, exacto knife, gold craft paint, paint brushes, palette, cutting board, binder clips.

*Leather scraps are fairly easy to find on the cheap. Any fabric store that sells leather will have a bin full of bits and pieces of every size and texture.

I cut my stencil the same size as the bookmark to make sure it didn't shift around. And now it also serves as a pattern for future bookmarks!

Inspiration, as they say, is quite literally everywhere. I swiped this chevron pattern from the vents inside my ancient elevator. I'm glad I took a picture when I did because my elevator is being renovated starting this week!

Mark your pattern. I left 2.5 inches for the fringe and centred my design on the remainder of the stencil.

Carefully cut out your stencil with your exacto knife over a cutting board.

Mark your fringe on the back of your leather 2.5 inches from the bottom. Cut the fringe with fabric scissors (or you can use your exacto knife if you don't have fabric scissors).

Place your stencil on your bookmark. Since I used a thin material for the stencil I found binder clips necessary to keep it in place.

Paint two coats.

Remove the stencil. Touchups with a small brush were needed at this point.

Finished!