How to Make a No-Sew Bandana From a Shirt!

Survivorman (Les Stroud) is one of my idols. His outdoors skills are absolutely amazing! If you watch Les, then you'll know he usually wears a bandana.

Bandanas, besides being common in different cultures, are used to keep sweat out of eyes, and also stuff out of hair. Paintballers like bandanas to keep paint out of their hair.

I had never worn a bandana before, and didn't own one either. So I was determined to make one. But oh no!, I didn't have enough spare cloth. So I used my resources. :-) It's economical, and it fits in your pocket for those situations when you need it!

Now, this makes a bandana that is perfectly fine for wearing, but it isn't perfectly symmetrical. But if you wear it on your head, no one should notice.

Also included is my favorite method on how to put on a bandana.

Warning: Certain colors can be taken as a sign of gang affiliation, and you can be killed for that. Check with your local authorities on what colors local gangs use, and avoid those!!!

Hope you enjoy, it's good to be back.

Step 1: Materials

- A shirt with hems on the sides on around the sleeve near the shoulder that you don't want any more - whatever looks good to you. I used a camo shirt that was ripped and too small.

- Yard/metre stick

- Scissors

Step 2: Lay It Flat, Cut It.

Lay your shirt down on a flat surface. I used the back of my shirt because the front had a chest pocket, and I didn't want to waste time taking it off, or leave it on.

So once it's down, take your measuring device and measure across the shirt. Bandannas are usually around 2 feet each way, so hopefully you will be close to that. I was at about 20 inches on my Men's Medium shirt.

If it is close to that size, then you should be well off, unless you are making one for a child or whatnot.

So then, take your scissors and cut on the far side of the hem. You want the hem on the bandana, so don't cut it off, or you will have some sewing to do. Cut up the side, around the sleeve (keeping the hem!), and around the collar (keeping the hem!). What you have done is remove the front, sleeves, and collar of the shirt.

Your bandana should look like the last picture.

Step 3: How to Tie a Bandana

Lay the bandana on a flat surface. It should help, though you can do it in the air, on the fly, too.

Take a corner and fold it to about the center point. The farther you fold it, the smaller the bandana will be on your head, and vise versa. Once you put it on a few times, you should know how big of a fold you need. (Picture 1)

Without letting it unfold, press the folded edge and section to your forehead. (Picture 2)

Maneuver your hands to back and grab the left and right corners. Make sure the middle corner is flipped back on top of your head where it is out of the way for now. (Picture 3)

Tie a simple knot with the left and right corners at the back of your head. (Picture 4)

Bring the middle corner down to where it rests above the knot you tied. (Picture 5)

Take the left and right corners in your hand again and tie another knot. This should secure the middle corner between the two knots. (Picture 6)

You can pull the middle corner, which will hang down a bit, to adjust the bandana a bit.

This is my favorite method, since it is secure and won't easily fall off.