The handy dandy bandana has been a useful item for over a century. I am talking about the 100% cotton variety made in India. While its more humble uses include wiping sweat and blowing the nose, it occurred to me these brightly printed squares have an unlimited potential for converting into fashion accessories. Here is one idea for crafting a bandana into a necklace. In addition to a black and white bandana, I have gathered thread, fusible adhesive, beads, metal rings, a jewelry clasp and fabric markers. For tools you will need only scissors, a needle, a hot iron and some glue.
First I looked carefully at the design and picked out a large-ish motif. To me, it resembles a phoenix. I cut it out and fused it to a piece of felt. I also cut two 7 inch long strips from the bandana border, which included the row of paisley shapes. I started experimenting with colors, filling in the white areas of the cloth.
Next I folded up the strips so that only the paisleys showed. I secured them by fusing the raw edge to the inside fold. I colored the paisleys on the strips in a random pattern. Here are my pieces after this step.
After experimenting with the beads, both placement and sequence, I came up with this arrangement. I then joined the central motif to the strips with more rings.
Finally, I sewed a ring at the back end of each strip and added a jewelry clasp. To secure the beads and keep the fabric from unraveling I added dabs of white glue to the thread knots and the strip ends.
Here is the finished object. Yes, that’s me in the photo. I’m smiling so I must like it.
This was a really fun project. As soon as I finished it, my mind began to race with lots of ideas for other accessories I could make with a simple square of printed cloth.
Daily Fiber 
Very clever and beautiful!
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Thank you.
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