In the Buff!

We were planning an epic camping road trip this summer and between that and our new boat, we did a lot of shopping at a large chain outdoors store.  Near the cash, there was a display of "Buffs". I thought it was a clever use of a bit of fabric.  But the price?! $25Cdn, aprox. Sure, it's a "high tech fabric" and seamless, but really...I could probably make one, right?  Especially since I have a serger!  I've been using wide headbands (almost like a bandana shape but the back is elastic, not a big knot) to protect my head from the sun (and cover up on bad hair days LOL). But a multi-purpose item would be even better!

Pinterest to the rescue to find the sizes, and see if others have actually done this.  Sure they have!! This was my starting point.
I dug through my knit fabric stash and found some I bought for a shirt but then found some holes in it.  It wasn't a big piece to start with so I wasn't sure I'd be able to cut a shirt around those holes.  But I didn't care if the holes ended up in the buff, so I went ahead. Cut, cut, serge. I didn't finish the ends.

 Here it is as a hat.  This was very useful at night, for sleeping, when it got a bit chilly. I also found that if I left it just folded in half, it made a good sleep mask AND helped hold my earplugs/earphones in!

 It was quite windy on the whale watching boat, so I wore it as a balaclava for a few minutes, but my kids hate that look, LOL.  Here I am channeling my inner-Ukranian.

 Inside the whale watching boat it filled the gap at my neck.

This one was made from a men's athletic shirt.  I made it a bit shorter as I didn't think I'd need it as a balaclava or hat since it's more of a hot weather thing.  Here, I wore it for inner tubing down a river in Quebec.  Fast drying!

Here's another one from a men's athletic shirt.  This is the balaclava look. My glasses do get a little steamed up, but they are large glasses, so maybe with my older ones it'd be fine. I might make one a bit longer and see if I can fold it around my forehead like you do for around the nose/mouth.  Around my neck is a triangle shaped headband I made, but I never finished off the threads so it didn't get worn. I also made a couple wide headbands from bathing suit material for at the water park and white water rafting. It was awkward with the thick floaty strap I have for my glasses.  And I find if I make the headband tight enough to really feel secure, I end up with a headache very quickly--even with the stretchy elastic.

I made one from the left over fabric from a dress for Lucy.  I wear this one a lot too.  I really like them when I'm driving. I can wear it as a wide headband, but then if I have to open the windows (I have no AC), I can stretch it out so it really contains my hair and stops it from blowing in my face. Also, at work (supervising kindergarten kids outside at lunch--I get to do the whole hour outside now!), it works so much better than a hat!! Although I loved sewing the hats (well...more on that later), these just seem so much more practical for my lifestyle!