Boa Hair Tie

Well yesterday i had a problem. What to make for a little girls birthday party that a 6 year old girl could help with. We came up with the Boa Hair Tie. Here is a list of materials i used.

scrapes of polar fleece in different colors
13 inches of 1/4 inch elastic
string pearls
scissors
sewing machine

first i used my existing hair tie to measure the elastic it was about 6 1/2 inches and i doubled it to give the tie strength. then i cut a strip of polar fleece about 4 inches wide by 7 inches long. i then laid small squares of different colored fleece on top alternating colors. i also cut several 5 inch pieces of the pearls and laid them perpendicular on the strip. I then cut another 4x7 strip and laid on top. Next i went to the sewing machine and sewed two parallel lines down the center about 1/2 inch apart. this forms the casing. take the elastic and fold it in half run it through the casing using a safety pin. put short edges together and sew on the machine making sure to get the edges of the elastic in the seam. the seam is bunchy i cut away everything except where the casing is so that it lays smooth. here is the part the kids love. give them a pair of scissors and let them cut each individual layer of fleece one at a time in small stripes perpendicular to the casing. it is hard to get the cut to go all the way to the casing line without cutting the casing so i get it as close as possible and then pull the two pieces apart and rip it the rest of the way. now some of the stripes will stretch out and curl while others do not. I haven't figured out why yet but i like it that way. it is finished when all the layers have been cut into stripes. i could also be used for bracelets or doll head band (those are two of the things the girls came up with)

by Tamy Keen