Haramaki!

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Haramaki, aka belly warmers! Once the exclusive uncool domain of the health-conscious, pregnant, and samurai (if you're old school). I've been pondering a more fashionable alternative during the summer, but now it's getting cold! I really wanted something to cover the space between my low-rise pants and shifting t-shirts.

The answer? Head down to the fabric store and get you some cute, super-stretchy fleece, it's haramaki time!







As you can see, they're really just tubes of fabric. These are varying shapes and sizes, since the fleeces are of varying stretchiness and I was making it up as I went. With fleece, you really don't even have to hem them if you're careful! I plan on making some lighter-weight ones out of jersey if I find some nice prints.



They should fit you from around the bottom of your ribcage to the tops of your thighs, but it's easy to adjust for personal taste. It really does warm you up a lot! It's like wearing a hug. :D



I like wearing them under my shirts, but obviously you can be more creative with them! The fleece in this one was less stretchy, so I had to adjust the top to hug the waist better. Even so, it's like 3-5 minutes of sewing, max.



Here is the article that inspired me to make my own. It has lots of cute pictures and ideas.





I call it my evil eye necklace! The silver beads have little eyes on them, and it reminds me of the Turkish nazar beads.