How to Make Braided Coat Hangers

Braided coat hangers are a colorful, attractive way to protect your clothes from metal stains and help them hang straight without getting creases from the sharp edges of metal coat hangers. In addition, this craft is ideal for cold winter nights and these hangers often sell at craft fairs for several dollars a piece. Braided coat hangers brighten a closet and can even help you color-code your laundry room if you assign each member of the family a different color of hanger.

Things You'll Need

• Colored tights
• Scissors
• Metal coat hangers

Instructions

1. Cut the legs off colored tights. You will need two legs (preferably of different colors) for each hanger.

2. Wrap the mid-point of the pantyhose strands around the top of the hanger. You should have two strands of one color on one side, and two of the other color on the other side.

3. Start braiding. The coat hanger itself will be your third "strand." Move the top right length of pantyhose behind the hook of the hanger and push it between the two lengths of tights on the left. Once you have done this, pull it back to the right side. You will see that you have encased a small portion of the hanger in a knotted braid, and that the top right length of tights has now become the bottom. Use the new top length to continue the pattern until you have covered the entire hanger.

4. Tie off the ends with a pretty bow. When you have encased the entire hanger, as you might expect, nearly all of the right side will be gone but you will have more of the left side remaining, though it too will have been pulled into the checkerboard pattern that characterizes braided hangers. Use the ends to tie a pretty, multicolored bow. Double knot the bow so that the braid will not slip out.

5. Trim the ends off the tights. If the tails on the bow are too long, they may interfere with hanging the clothes. Trim off the ends using sharp scissors to keep the bow short and compact.

Tips & Warnings

• Starting out by holding the hanger between your knees with the hook pointing toward the floor makes the setup a lot easier.

References

• Craftown.com: Braided Coat Hanger Craft