Easy Headband Tutorial and Pattern!

I love the look of headbands!  I just can’t stand the hard plastic ones biting into my head like they do.  I’ve been looking for a good pattern for a cloth one, and haven’t found one that I liked.  Then I saw one my sister was given for her birthday one year, and decided I wanted to make one too.  I used that as a pattern to create my own.  Here’s the inspiration piece.

It’s just the right thickness, and narrows on the sides.  I tried making one with the ribbon like in the picture, but it came untied about five thousand times.  I had to ask my husband to either hold my hair out of the way, or to tie it…and let’s just say that it was too much of a hassle! :)  I decided to use elastic, but then I realized it wouldn’t match.  And THEN I had an epiphany!  I would cut up the elastic headbands that you can buy in the store, and I could get colors to slightly match the headbands (and be more comfy too!)

There’s my finished product. 

(I would show you my whole face, but I promised my husband that if I had a blog I wouldn’t show pictures of us and our faces…so just imagine a smiling girl with naturally curly hair. :)

Want to make your own?  Well today’s your luck day!  I’ve made a tutorial, and even a printable pattern for you!  I haven’t figured out how to make the pattern downloadable for you though, so if you want it, leave your email in the comments and I’ll get it sent to you!  (If you’d like your comment deleted so your email isn’t up on cyberspace, just let me know and I can do that for you!:)

You’ll need:

Headband Pattern (leave your email in the comments and I’ll get it to you!:)

A scrap of fabric (I’ve estimated that 1/4 yard makes about 2 headbands)

Elastic Headband  pictured later in the post

Iron

Sewing Machine/thread…blah blah….

First, cut out your material with the pattern.  (I cut bigger than the blue pattern for seam allowances, but I adapted the printable pattern for this…if I email you with one I’ll explain more thoroughly! :)

Fold right sides together and pin.

Plug in your iron.

Sew the long side with about a 1/4 inch seam allowance to make a long tube.

 

Turn the tube so the right side is out!

Iron the tube so the seam is in the middle and facing you.  We’re doing this so the seam will be against your head and won’t show when you’re wearing it!  If you have a pattern on the headband that you want shown, you can adjust the seam to be more to one side if needed.

Close up of seam being in the middle.

You have 2 raw edges.

Fold them under so they look like this on each end.

 

Now we’re ready to put the elastic in!  Here’s one of the sets of headbands I used.  I used the “Creamsicle Cupcake,” colors and the “Starry Night,” colors.  “Starry Night,” is a mix of browns, golds, and black which I really like.  They were three dollars for 6 headbands at walmart. There are really thin headbands, really thick ones, and middle ones.  I chose the middle thickness.  One head band is big enough to make 2 headbands and have a bit left over for another project.

Cut about a 7 inch piece of elastic headband.

Stick the elastic inside the end of your headband on one side. (Once you’ve sewn one side, you’ll do this exact thing with the other side).

Sew at about 1/4 inch seam allowance.  I changed my needle position all the way right or left depending on which side of the headband I was sewing on to make it easier.  If your machine has a hard time getting over the “bump,” to your elastic, find something flat and narrow to put under your foot near the back of your machine.  You could use a small ruler, piece of cardboard, plastic knife, etc.  (I have a tool that came with my machine for that).  It will just tilt your presser foot so it doesn’t have to “climb.” If that made no sense, let me know and I can take a pic for you!

Once you’ve sewn one side, put the other end of elastic in the other end of the headband (make sure your elastic doesn’t get twisted!), and sew it as well.

You’re done!  Now you can make 20 to give to friends for fun! :)

Linking to these parties.

As always, comment if you have questions!