Headband

We took family pictures a few days ago. It was a lot of fun... we had a great photographer. I also had a lot of fun figuring out what we all were going to wear. I liked my dress but it definitely needed something else.

I had some fabric (extra from a project that didn't turn out) that coordinated nicely so I decided to make a headband I had seen on one of the crafting blogs I follow. Problem was I couldn't find the tutorial when I went looking for it. I did save a picture of it so I decided to give it a try anyway. I took pictures along the way, but I'm not calling this a 'tutorial' exactly... you may have to fill in some of the blanks on your own, but I can at least get your wheels turning.

So I started with two strips of fabric about 2.5" wide. One about 16" long and another about 32" or so... but I didn't measure them... see what I mean, not a tutorial! I rounded the ends of the shorter one... I placed it on my head and said, "about there!" and then I cut... it's how I roll.



Then I basted the longer strip and pulled the bobbin thread to make a ruffle. I really like ruffles :)



Next I put WRONG sides together and sewed the two layers together (kinda like basting a quilt without batting). You can iron at this point... it gives it a different look, but I like to make fluffy thing (like, "IT'S SO FLUFFY I'M GONNA DIE!"... I love that girl!).





Alright. Great... Doesn't look like much yet, but we are getting there.



Now, trim around the headband using the unruffled pieces as your guide.





Next you need some type of binding. You can use a coordinating fabric for this but I had some ribbon that went well so I decided to go with that. Attach it using your favorite binding attaching method... this is like The Quilter's Headband. You'll notice I switch to a walking foot... the fabric and binding can get kinda bulky... it's not necessary, but it helps.





You are suppose to pin at this point... but I hate pins and try to avoid them whenever possible. It might have made the underside look better but I was planning on not using the opposite side so I opted for the quick way. If you want to use the other side then go ahead and pin... or even hand stitch your binding!



OKAY... almost done. Admire your piece...







The last part is attaching the ribbons.

If you decided to make your own binding then will need to make two long pieces for tying. Take two strips of fabric as long as you want for tying (I like just a little longer than the main part, about 18") and twice as wide as the desired width... say 5 inches. Then with right sides together fold the fabric in half (the right sides are "kissing" now). And sew a seam like you are going to make tube. Also sew a seam (on an angle for pretty-ness) at the bottom of each stripe. Use a safety pin to turn your tube right side out and press.

Now... sewing on the ribbons...



You'll need to hem them, so take care of that...



And then fold over in thirds, like you would do a letter to stuff in an envelope.



And top stitch onto the headband. There might be a prettier way of doing this, but I knew I wasn't going to use the underside of my headband.



And Viola! Ahhh, so pretty.



Now I must confess that after playing with the headband a bit I decided it needed a little structure to help it stay in place. I tried bobby pins and various clips I had, but nothing held it in place well. Everyone's head is shaped differently and it may work for you without structure. However, ultimately I ran to Walgreen's and purchased one of those plastic headbands to hot glue to the underside. It worked great! and you can't even tell I did it... but now it's definitely not reversible. I, of course, picked ruffle side up!

Look how great we look!






More pictures to come, I promise.