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Colorful knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame from craft book author & designer Heidi Gustad.

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How-to: Nautical Headband

August 20, 2012 Leave a Comment

I’ve had short hair for a longish time now, so I tend to miss out on trying cute braiding or updo ideas I see on Pinterest or other blogs. Lately, I have been getting more and more into headbands, like my bronze laurel headband, when I want to get creative with my hair. Today, I wanted to share how I made my new favorite hair accessory, a nautically-appropriate cord headband. If you enjoy macramé, knot-tying or the metallic belt I shared a couple weeks ago, you’ll be all over this project.

How-to: Nautical Headband | HandsOccupied.com

Supplies

1 yd navy cord

2 yds each of white and red cord

liquid stitch

ribbon

a few inches of elastic

straight pins

scissors

waxed paper

needle & thread

Directions

Cut your red and white cord into 2, 1-yard pieces each. You’ll have one 1-yard piece of navy cord, 2 1-yard red cord pieces, and 2 1-yard white cord pieces. Line up one red and white piece together, and one red, white and the navy piece together. Fold each set in half. Weave each set as one, following the animation below. If you remember my Olympic belt tutorial from a couple weeks ago, it’s the same basic sailor’s knot, also known as a Carrick Bend, that I used in that project.

How-to: Olympics-Inspired Knotted Metallic Belt | HandsOccupied.com

After your knot is tied, carefully tighten it until it lays evenly. Since one end of the knot has 3 pieces of cord instead of two, this step is important to make it lay just right. Then, braid the strings on each side of the knot. Since there are an even number of strings to braid with, you end up with a nice symmetrical braid with alternating V’s in each color of cord.

How-to: Nautical Headband | HandsOccupied.com

How-to: Nautical Headband | HandsOccupied.com

How-to: Nautical Headband | HandsOccupied.com

At the end of each braid, secure the ends in place by hand sewing. Since cord is a little different than fabric, it’s hard to make a knot that doesn’t pull through the cord. You’ll want to use a looped/doubled over piece of thread like this:

How-to: Nautical Headband | HandsOccupied.com

How-to: Nautical Headband | HandsOccupied.com

Here’s what the finished end with the navy cord looks like.

How-to: Nautical Headband | HandsOccupied.com

To secure the knot and keep it flat, secure each end of the knot similarly to the braid ends. Make sure that any exposed stitching is on the back side of the headband, the same side your braid sewing is on.

How-to: Nautical Headband | HandsOccupied.com

Adding the elastic

Measure your head circumference and cut an appropriately sized piece of elastic for connecting the ends of the cords together into a headband. Sew the cord to the elastic and trim excess cord length.

How-to: Nautical Headband | HandsOccupied.com

How-to: Nautical Headband | HandsOccupied.com

Cut enough ribbon to wrap around the ends of the cord and cover the end of the elastic. Use Liquid Stitch to glue the ribbon in place, and use straight pins to keep the ribbon and glue lined up as it dries. Set the headband on waxed paper to dry safely.

How-to: Nautical Headband | HandsOccupied.com

You can add even more Liquid Stitch all over the ends of the cord to keep them from fraying or sticking out of the ribbon.

How-to: Nautical Headband | HandsOccupied.com

When it’s dry, carefully remove the straight pins, and you’re all set to rock this cute and comfy headband. I’ve worn this thing 2 or 3 times a week since I made it. A great way to add some variety to my limited repertoire of short hairstyles!

How-to: Nautical Headband | HandsOccupied.com

Filed Under: DIY Style, Fourth of July, How-to, Macramé Tagged With: diy, headband, macrame, nautical, patriotic

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now!

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

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#handsoccupied #intarsia #colorworkknitting #intarsiaknitting
When it’s August & the crew has the day off, the When it’s August & the crew has the day off, the only thing to do is a Knitflix marathon! I hadn’t seen the latest season of Stranger Things and had a TON of knitting to do, so we decided why not make a day of it? For non knitters, this is a pretty accurate depiction of what a dream day looks like for maker types. (Plus or minus a cranky but cute house pet.) 
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What does your dream knitting day look like? 
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Just making this for fun & to see how it feels to distill a yarn day into a short video like this. Big thank you to Jamie & Mariah for being my friends, even though they said “it’s okay if you don’t tag me in this.” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 
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To Make by Danielle Davis (@writesinla) / Knitstrips by Alice Ormsbee Beltran & Karen Kim Mar (@ik_knitstrips) / This Long Tread by Jen Hewett (@jenhewett) 
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New on the blog today! This former Librarian revie New on the blog today! This former Librarian reviews three making-related books for kids, teens & adults. And there’s a copy of one up for giveaway too! 📚 
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To Make by Danielle Davis (@writesinla) with pictures by Mags DeRoma (@magsderoma) / Knitstrips (@ik_knitstrips) by Alice Ormsbee Beltran & Karen Kim Mar / This Long Thread by Jen Hewett (@jenhewett) 
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I’ll share preview page-through videos for these this week too, but for now the written reviews are at the top of handsoccupied dot com along with my search bar if you can’t find ‘em. All giveaway details are listed in the review post. 🤙🏻 
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I think about the wrong side of my intarsia knitti I think about the wrong side of my intarsia knitting kind of like some embroiderers do: I get (probably too) excited when the back’s neat and tidy. Are you this way? Is it just me? 
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Pictured is the wrong side of a large primary color intarsia swatch I knit for an upcoming design in @brooklyntweed Arbor. When I pulled it from my studio, I thanked my former self for talking the time to knit, weave in ends, & block a clean swatch already. As critical as they are, I’m excited to not have to make one today. I’ll advocate for swatching all day long, but I won’t pretend it’s like the funnest step in the process! 😆🧶
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