By Aldona Bird
Newsroom@DominionPost.com
When the weather is hot and humid, getting long hair off your neck is a must. With many people still rocking pandemic hair (lack of) cuts, bun makers are great to have on hand for a quick way to style long locks.
While you can buy various renditions of bun makers, with a few minutes and few supplies, you can create one yourself.
To make a fabric bun maker, you will need:
- Non-stretch fabric
- Scissors
- Thread
- Sewing machine or needle
- Pins
- Wire (optional) and pliers
- Iron
This project is perfect for using up scraps of fabric from other projects. Consider using darker solid colors to wear for professional occasions, use brighter colors and prints for casual and fun times. For dressier evenings, you can use velvets or brocades.
Whichever fabric you choose, cut two pieces out — four and a half inches by at least 15 inches (can be longer, depending on the final look you prefer). Cut these out of the same fabric or complementary fabrics.
Fold one piece of fabric in half in both directions and mark the center point on the wrong side. Measure and mark out three inches on either side of the center to make a six-inch line running lengthwise. Evenly around this line, mark a rectangle, six inches long by a quarter inch wide, and tapering to the center at the ends, rather than having corners.
Place the two fabric pieces right sides together. Pin them together, and then sew along the marks, leaving a three inch gap in the center of one side. This is your turning gap.
Carefully snip down the middle of the sewn rectangle. Turn the project right side out through the turning gap. Iron flat, including the gap (keeping the edges tucked under).
Sewing the outer edges is a little tricky. You can fold them into each other about a quarter inch and top stitch to secure. Alternatively you can roll it lengthwise, right sides together, fold the outer edges over the roll, so the right sides are together and stitch a quarter of an inch in. Pull the fabric out to continue sewing the right sides together, all around the outer edges. Pull through the turning gap.
If you want to make the edges of the bun maker stiff, use a wire — 39 inches long, and fold the end into small loops to keep them from poking through the fabric. Sew a channel for the wire along the outer edge by top stitching half an inch in, leaving an inch gap.
Thread the wire in through the turning gap, into the gap in the outer channel. There will be enough wire to overlap slightly, so just work the wire in until it is all inside the channel. Smooth out the fabric. Top stitch to close the channel gap, being careful to not sew over the wire.
Top stitch along the inner hole and around the outer edge, about a quarter inch in from the edge, and you’re done.
To use the bun maker, pull hair through the inner gap, slide it about halfway up your hair and then twist until all hair is wrapped around the fabric. Pull the ends of the fabric bun maker up, and twist them together at the top — arrange them to look like a bow.
If you opt not to use the wire, make the bun maker longer, and tie the ends together and let them drape down over or under your bun.
This is an easy way to style hair to keep it up and out of the way when working outside, around the house or for a quick and cute look for going to the office or out with friends.
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