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Scrap Busting Fabric Headbands
These headbands are quick, under 30 minutes quick, and they bust your scrap stash pretty quickly. Before we start making a Rosie the Riveter headband for every day of the year we need to do some measuring and make some decisions.
Measuring For Fabric Headbands
Since everyone's head is different we are going to do a little testing and measuring so your headband looks and fits exactly the way you want it to fit.
First, let's figure out how long the fabric strips need to be cut. Grab some yarn or even a strip of fabric that's longer than 35 inches that can be sacrificed for the pattern. Tie it around your head and decided how much you want on either side of the knot. I like between 2 and 3 inches on either side of my knot. Have someone mark that for you or if you don't have someone that can help you, use a bobby pin to make the mark. I don't suggest cutting the excess off while it is tied in your hair. That's not the hair trim you want. Measure the length and write it down.
Our next decision is to figure out how wide we want our headbands to be. Since I'm sure you are like me and have a nice variety of fabric widths laying around start trying them on. When you find the width that works best for you, write down your width.
Now that we are armed with the measurements we need to do a little math. Get back here!! This is simple math, I promise! We are going to start with our length, mine is 33 inches. To our length, we need to add 2 inches, so my new length is 35 inches.
Next, we need to figure our width, we need to make sure we add on our seam allowances. It makes a huge difference in our final headbands. Trust me, I know! My width is 2 3/4". To that measurement we need to add 3/4". That covers our seam allowance and the little bit that gets lost when we turn our fabric right-side out. So I need to cut my strips 3 1/2" wide.
You need to cut two strips for each headband. The strips can be the same, matching like dark green and light green, or contrasting like green and purple.
Making Fabric Headbands
Pin your fabric strips right sides together. Mark three inches down from the end and mark the middle. With your ruler aligned from the center mark to one of the marks on the side, cut along your ruler. Repeat on the other side, making a point on the fabric. Repeat on the other end of the fabric.
Before we start sewing remember to leave a gap for turning, it's easy to forget that and then you end up having a date with Jack. I use pins just to remind me where to start and stop.
We are using a 1/4" seam. Starting in the middle of one side sew forward a few stitches and then backstitch, go forward until you get to the mark you made to make the point. Stop needle down and pivot.
Sew until about 1/4" away from the point and pivot again.
Sewing down the other side until you are at the mark you made and pivot once again.
Sew down the long straight edge and repeat the above steps for the pointed end.
Sew down the other long side, leaving a gap. Backstitch when you get to the end.
Turn your headband right side out, use your Purple Thang to push out the corners. Give your fabric headband a good press.
Move your needle to the right. Use your 1/4" mark to topstitch all the way around your headband, making sure you catch both layers on the opening.
There's your headband! You'll be able to keep your hair out of your face, look cute, and use up some of your fabric scraps. I can't wait to see all of your headbands. You can join our Facebook group so you can show them off.
This post is part of the Fabric Scrap Busting Blog hop. Be sure to check out our other project Wonderfully Wacky Quilt. If you want a printable version of this blog post sign-up for our newsletter below. If you don't see the sign-up form you can click here to sign-up.
