This is a really simple trick — I feel bad making a whole blog post out of this.
And this is a weird fact about me — I have never thrown out a pair of nylons.
Not once. Not since I purchased my first pair with my own money, which was in 1993. Twenty years, y’all! It was a Junior High dance and I wore opalescent white nylons that made my legs white and shimmery like a unicorn. Obviously, it was awesome. My dress was rusty red velvet with a scalloped neckline (just like Chelsea Clinton wore on television (!!!)), my hair was big, my skin was bad, and my song was A Whole New World, the theme from Aladdin as sung by the spirited duo of Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle.
Oh, Peabo.
Unfortunately my pretty nylons got snagged on Heather Smirl’s braces when she went down break dancing to Rhythm is a Dancer and I had to move on to other things. My shimmering unicorn nylons joined my mother’s old flesh colored cast-offs in the rag bag and were used to store root vegetables in the pantry (‘sup panty hose), polish furniture, and tie back overgrowth along the side of the house. An unjustifiably unglamorous finish for such a delicate creature.
Nowadays I find more befitting ways to use my old snagged up pantyhose. Everyone knows the DIY Spanx trick right? You just cut control top pantyhose off at the knee? But then what do you do with the leftovers? You do lots of things – like headbands. Two legs of nylons can yield up to 20 headbands.
The How
Take sharp scissors and cut straight across. Then 2” down, cut again. Try it on— too tight? Cut off a half inch and see how that feels. Too loose? Try cutting another band that’s 3” wide and see if that works. Generally, the more thin and delicate the fabric, the wider you will need to cut, whereas thick and colorful tights (like I used here) will require cuts much closer together. Experiment!
If you end up with leftovers, no problem, just wrap them around a couple of times and use them as pony-tail holders.
BAM. You’re welcome.
PS: On a related note with another weird thing to do with nylons, Chardonnay, Pantyhose, and Other Advice from my Mother.
great idea!
These were my absolute favorite for making messy buns when my hair was longer.
So much gentler on hair than elastics.
takes me back…waaay back to my highschool years where my black tights would begin as tights and eventually end up as hair bands, thigh highs, and a strapless bra. periwinkle would have been MUCH cooler. and now i will share with you the story of my depression era raised granny and how she gave me all the waistbands from her adult nappies so that i could add flowers to them to create headbands. no lie. i miss that lady! you are nifty.
A strapless bra? That is a new one! How did that work? Just cut a section from the thigh? Now I’m thinking about this and see it would be easy to make halters or asymmetrical ones too. Hmmmm….thanks for telling me!!!!
the waist part…from band to crotch…cut it out and shimmy into it. though it does have a tendency to um..roll but in my lighter teen years I rocked the tights bra with all my sixties dresses.
awesome!! never once thought of that (and i have a ton of snagged tights to do stuff with)… although have you done this with fishnet type tights? please do tell!!
No fishnets yet. I think it might be hard though. The couple of fishnets I ever wore were not very elastic. If you found some with some decent stretch, I don’t see why not?!
oh, and i’ve never had fun with a bag of opossums, my dear… maybe we need to transplant some of your wild and crazy ones out here to my house!
A whole new world! Of comfy looking headbands! Nope, I didn’t know about this, OR about the free spanxxxx! I’m sorry your unicorns got snagged, tho, they were clearly very special to you.
Thanks Michelle. Yes, they were special to me!
Great idea. And I’m sorry for the loss of your unicorn nylons. Thanks for the Peabo link. Made my day. 🙂
Also, here’s me at my 8th grade dance. I made a bow from two glue gunned ribbons in teal and purple. Our theme song was “A Whole New World”. I had that sheet music! http://instagram.com/p/XbozSHpnQ6/
Also, I was obsessed with Chelsea Clinton and watched her interview with Socks the Cat. I thought she was so cool, cause she was my age!
Super fun! I think my daughter would love this!
Or use them as potholder loops or for finger knitting fun rope, both so much fun! xoxoxoxo
I love this idea. And if, for some bizarre reason, you already have enough headbands these would make great waste-bands for home-made tutus.
Thanks for waxing elquently about your 8th grade dance experience, It’s leaving me nostalgic and I am off to listen to “It’s so hard to say goodbye to Yesterday” by Boyz II Men, and tease my bangs.
Aunt Peaches, I am loathe to admit this to you because we are virtual besties and what-not but……A Whole New World was my “first dance” song at.my.wedding. Wedding. Turns out I am YOUR old crazy Aunt Dee.
My mom always cut them in strips about an inch wide(especially Leggs sheer energy) and they made the best rubber bands. For mail, sewing patterns. They last forever and don’t dry rote or break like rubber bands. Also they make the best book markers, just slip them over the book and you will never lose your page or marker.