Tutorial: Headband

I showed you this headband that I made the other day.

And today I’m going to show you how to make one for yourself!

First, measure the circumference of your head, at the spot where you’d like to wear your headband. I have a small head—22 inches around.

Cut a 5” piece of elastic. I used elastic chord which can be bought by the yard at Jo-Ann’s. You can also just use thin elastic. You can see that the piece in the picture is only 4”. That’s because I goofed up!

Only 4” of the piece will actually add to the length of your headband, but you’re having to take 1/2” into account on each side for sewing to the fabric.

Take the size of your head and subtract 5 from it (so I subtracted 5 from 22 which is 17). You’re subtracting 5, not 4 (the length of the elastic) because you’re allowing for some stretch in the elastic so it sits tight on your head. I don’t like headbands that slip off. That number (17 in my case) will be the length of your headband. Now add 1 inch to it to allow for a 1/2 inch to fold over on each end to finish it off. Are you confused yet??? So really, you’re just subtracting 4 from your original head size. I just gave you all the extra numbers so you understand what they mean. And if I haven’t lost you yet…

Cut a two strips of fabric in the length you came up with (in my case, 18).

Now you’re going to have to decide how wide/thick you want your headband. The one in the picture above is a 2” headband. I wanted to play with something a little thinner, so this time around I decided to make a 1” headband. Now that all’s said and done, I think 1.5” is the perfect size. I also have a 3” headband cut out, and it’s shown next to the one I’m making tonight. Add 1 inch to the width you’re wanting (for 1/2” seam allowance on both sides) and cut out your strips in that width. At this point I had two strips 18” x 2”.

If you’re making a headband wider than 1” wide (final product), you’ll want to taper the ends off. I did that by folding in half width wise, and then length wise, and half way started half way between the fold and the ends, and cut an angle so the end pieces were only 1” wide (while folded). The unfolded strip had an end that was 2” wide (remember, seam allowances). For a thin headband, you don’t need to worry about tapering off.

Now, facing right sides together, sew down each side with a 1/2” seam allowance.

This is what you’ll have.

Turn the thing inside out. Turning mine inside out took longer than every other step of this project combined. I have a really cool fabric turner hook thing, but I have no idea where that safe place I put it away in is.

Press it (or if you’re lazy like me, just pin) and sew down each side with a 1/8” seam allowance (this stitching will be visible)

Fold your end piece under by 1/2” and put one end of your elastic cording in the middle of it. Sew across it several times to make sure the elastic will be held in place.

Now the base of your headband is finished!

And now it’s time to embellish. As you could see, I used pink thread for this headband. So to keep it nice and coordinated, I decided to go with pink flowers. I made 3 and cut out a piece of felt.

Played with a few flower arrangements…

Finally decided on what I liked and spread glue all over the piece of felt

Stuck the flowers on it and added some glue where needed to help hold it down

Thought it could still use one more rose, so I added a 4th one.

Then it was time to figure out how to wear it. Don’t expect to just throw one of these babies on… they take some work! But after experimenting a bit and playing with different looks, I thought I had a good look.

Oh, you want to know who my florists is because you like the bouquet on my head? I do my own floral arrangements.

And then, as you start to pull it off, you end up finding the perfect way to wear it!

If you make one (or really make anything from one of my tutorials), I’d love to see it! Send me an email at nolanandjill {at} gmail {dot} com with your blog address, or just attach pictures to the email.

***UPDATE:  Looking for a tutorial for the flowers? Go HERE for a post linking you to some of my favorite flower tutorials. Still need help? Let me know and I'll make a tutorial too!***