Ruffled Headband

Headband headache- the pain that occurs when a headband squeezes too tightly just behind the ears. 

I love headbands.  I wear one pretty much everyday. They hide my curly mess and frizz and I couldn't live without them.  BUT...I hate when headbands "squeeze" my brains out.  

Not only are these headbands cute, but the entire band is made of elastic so they come with a no pain guarantee!  

Materials:

-21 inches of 1 inch wide elastic

-30" x 4" of fabric

-coordinating thread

-safety pin

1.  Cut fabric and elastic.

2.  Iron each short end of your fabric down about 1/2 inch.

3.  Attach a safety pin to the middle of the right side of your fabric (this is to make turning your fabric easier after it is sewn).

4.  Fold fabric in half right sides together and sew a 1/4 in seam.  Use your hand to keep the edges together as you sew.  The picture below shows 1/2" seam which is wrong.

5.  Turn fabric right side out by pushing the safety pin towards the opposite end from where it is pinned, allowing it to pull the fabric inside the tube behind it.  

6.  Remove the safety pin from the fabric and pin it to one end of the elastic.  Use the safety pin to insert the elastic into the fabric tube.

7.  Pull fabric towards the center of the elastic leaving 3" of exposed elastic on each end of the band.  Pin the fabric in place.

8.  Using a combination of pulling on both ends of the elastic at the same time and straightening with your fingers, spread the ruffles out on the band until they look nice.  Iron the ruffles in place.  Do not skip this step.

**If you have a quilting foot, switch to it now.  It makes sewing over the bulky ruffles a bit easier.  Your regular foot will work, just be sure to iron well to get rid of some of the bulk.

9.  Topstitch across each end of the fabric to secure fabric to elastic.  Use a 1/8 inch seam.

10. Topstitch along each side of the band to secure the ruffles in place using 1/8 inch seam.  This is not an exact science.  The ruffles create an uneven edge.  I find it easiest to pick a spot on the band to focus on and then keep everything in line with that point.  The ruffled edges may not stay exactly at the 1/8 inch seam.  Do your best to keep the sewn line straight, even if it means letting some ruffles exceed the 1/8 inch seam. Also be sure not to sew over the elastic.

11.  Fold the band in half, right sides together (both sides should be basically the same).  Sew the elastic ends together using a 1/2 inch seam.

12.  Fold the elastic ends open and topstitch the loose ends down onto itself (Sew about 1/8 inch in either direction from the center seam).  See next two pictures for clarification.

And now your done.  They look really cute as is, or spice things up by adding flowers, rosettes or buttons!

 **For the smaller baby size I used 1/2 inch elastic and 24"x 3" fabric.  I measured the elastic around her head for the length.  

All headbands above are now for sale in my etsy shop, Homestitchedbyellie.  Go check it out.