Soft & Stretchy Headband

When the big O was born one of our friends made some really cute little headbands for her out of some white nylons.  They were perfect for decorating our bald baby girl's little head... until her head grew... a lot.  I was still putting these headbands on her anyway since they were so cute, but whenever I dressed her in them on Sundays the headband always mysteriously disappeared before church even started.  Actually, the headband disappearances weren't that mysterious at all.  Bryan kept taking them off.  He said that they were cutting off the circulation to Olivia's head.  And, I have to admit, he was kind of right.  Every time we took one of those headbands off (after she had clearly outgrown them) there was a red mark on her sweet little head.  So we stopped putting them on her.  But she's a bald kid and I like to keep her looking feminine, so when I spotted some stretch knit fabric left over from my Tank Top Top, I knew just what to do with it.  Well, first I actually got sidetracked and made the Bunny Hat.  But then I moved on to my original plan and made Olivia her very own...

Actually, they were so fast and easy that I made her two of them.  Want one?


Here's what you'll need:

-some jersey knit fabric with a lot of stretch to it  
(Mine is from a left over tank top piece, so that is how the tutorial will be given, but if you're just using a regular piece of stretchy jersey knit you easily make it work just fine.)
-sewing machine
-general sewing supplies


*Note:
-This pattern was made for a child (O's head measures about 18" around), but--ha!--it fits me too, so you could probably make this exactly the same way for an adult.

Let's start!

Step 1: Cutting your fabric

 

-to make a wider headband, cut one 3" strip (through both layers) from the middle section of your tank top
-to make a skinnier headband, cut one 2" strip (through both layers) from the middle section of your tank top

 Step 2: Sewing your raw edges

Turn your strip inside out.

Sew a zigzag stitch near the edge all the way around your strip, leaving an opening about 1" wide.

Turn your strip right side out.

Smooth your strip out so that it's a nice rectangle shape again.

It should now look about like this.


 Step 3: Sewing your opening closed

Carefully tuck the raw edges of your opening inside your strip and pin in place.

Using a zigzag stitch, sew the opening closed.
Don't worry.  Nobody is going to see that little line of stitching.  We're about to cover it up.  :)


 Step 4: Attaching the ends of your strip

Overlap the ends of your strip by about 1/2".

Pin in place.

Using a zigzag stitch, sew strip ends together, close to the edge.

Ta-da!  You're done!

Leave it plain...

...or pop a flower on there.

Either way it will be nice and comfy.

Hooray!  No more red marks or squished brain! 


Now it's your turn to share headbands that you've made, altered, or embellished!  Link up!