Tubular Bandana Buff Tutorial

Where it around your neck!

Yay for Spring!  I actually like yardwork and gardening quite a bit and nothing helps keeping hair out of your face, bugs of your neck, the sun from burning your ears, or sweat dripping everywhere like the perfect bandana!

Gardening style- keeps hair up and ears covered.

It’s totally TUBULAR like they wear on Survivor.

Stoner beanie! Or bold fashion turban! Or crazy bag lady!

The most popular brand of these is BUFF brand.  They are seamless tubes so they must loom their own tube-tastic fabrics or something.

Apocalyptic home improvement expert!

But you can make one with simple jersey at home on a basic sewing machine!  Let’s make ours with a sort-of-kind-of-flat felled seam / french seam.  Read on for the tute.

Girl with the pearl earring!

Cut a 20″ by 20″ piece of jersey knit and make note of the direction of most stretch.

Looking at the image above, bring the two sides that are perpendicular to the stretch (marked in red) together and sew with a 3/8″ seam allowance.   Sew using a shallow zig-zag, a stretch stitch, or by SUPER FANCY like me and sew using a longer straight stitch BUT WITH STRETCH THREAD.  Use a walking foot if you have one and a ballpoint or stretch needle.

When sewing knits I always recommend starting 1″ into the seam, going forward a couple, then in reverse all the way to the beginning of the seam, then going forward to the end.  It prevents your machine from eating the project or creating those thread bird nests.

Trim the seam allowance to 1/8″.

Turn the tube right side out.  Press flat with the seam on the edge and sew again, with a 1/2″ seam allowance.  You are encapsulating the raw edge from your first seam.

Press the flange to one side.

This may seam weird, or even impossible, but it will work: arrange your tube with the flange seam right side up and against your machine.  Sewing inside the tube and going slowly, sew the flange down as close to the edge as possible.