DIY Braided Ribbon Headband

Do you ever have so much of a craft supply that you look for projects specifically featuring that supply?  This braided ribbon headband was one of those projects.  My first year teaching I inherited a ton of supplies, including a big box of ribbon.  Skinny ribbon, fat ribbon, sparkly ribbon, rope-like ribbon….you name it.  I used some ribbon for my Rustic Wood Slice Ornaments, but wasn’t sure how to make good use of more of it.  I happened to stumble upon a tutorial for braided ribbon headbands and thought it was perfect for putting all of that ribbon to work.  They turned out really cute and could be a fun accessory for both little girls and women.  If you don’t like headbands, you can attach the braid to a clip, pin, or belt to add a unique handmade touch to accessories.

Materials

• Ribbon (I used 1/4″, but you could use any width): About 3 yards
• Elastic
• Hot glue and hot glue gun

How to Make Braided Ribbon Headband

Fold your ribbon in half to find the center.  Place one side of the ribbon over the other to make a loop.  For the sake of this tutorial, I’m going to explain how you will make the headband if you start with the left strand on top of the right.

While holding the first loop, make a second loop to the left of the first.

Stick the left loop through the right loop and pull the right side tight.  At this point you’ll essentially have a slip knot.

Repeat the same process on the other side.  Pick up the right strand, make a loop, send it through the left loop, and pull tight.  You’ll want the slack from the bottom part of the loop pulled tight to form the side part of the braid (see below).

(You’ll want to pull your loop tighter than the picture above to make it easier to braid.)

Continue to braid by repeating the previous steps: make a loop, put the new loop through the existing loop, pull the slack tight, then pull the thread of the existing loop tight.

Continue braiding with the same process until your piece is long enough to fit your purposes.

I decided to add some elastic and make mine into a stretchy headband.

As you can see, it looks great, but the ribbon tends to stretch when pulled, distorting the pattern a little bit.  If you have a plastic headband available, you can keep the braided pattern by hot gluing the braid to your headband.  (That would have been my choice if I had one available.)

If you don’t like any of these options, you could always hot glue the ribbon, let the ends dangle, and you’d have a cute bookmark!

Like ribbon crafts?  Check out this easy way to make perfect bows with a fork.