Homemade Headband Tutorials

I am an accessories lover, truly I am. I can't get enough of earrings, necklaces, purses, and headbands and am constantly looking for new stuff. I have a craft goal list and some of the items that I have been wanting to learn to make are earrings, necklaces, and even purses, but I decided to start with headbands.

I found a website that had several different styles of headbands and I love so many of them. I decided to start with the Wide Strand Headband a nice simple band. What you will need is...

Fabric
Elastic, 1/2 inch wide

You can check out the DIY's Wife Strand Headband tutorial that is already posted, but here is my tutorial and suggestions that go hand-in-hand with the DIY one.

1. You will need to cut out two rectangles; one 8.5" x 16"inches and the other 1.75" x 10" inches. I used computer paper to make a pattern to help me cut out the fabric.

2. Fold the larger piece of fabric in half (hot dog style) and sew the edges together, about .5 inch in or so. Do the same for the smaller piece of fabric. Once this is done, turn both pieces right-side out.

3. Slide some elastic into the smaller piece of fabric, make sure one end is lined up and even... sew the elastic and fabric are together on that even end.... don't worry about the other end, the elastic can stick out and don't sew it.
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4. Now you will need to make some pleats in the larger piece of fabric. (make sure you look at the pictures on the DIY for this). You will be tucking in some fabric to give a nice pleat, make sure the main pleat is about the same size (width) as the elastic piece. So pin the pleat down when you have the size you want, make sure the seam is face down and the elastic band is seam up when you pin all together.

5. When both sides are pinned/pleated, sew one of the sides together (pleat, main piece, elastic piece). When put together, flip it out and give the headband a try and see how much elastic you need to chop off to make it fit for your head. When you have an idea, put a pin to mark where you want to sew it.

6. Now flip the headband back to what it was in step 4; sew the main piece, the elastic piece, and the pleat together. Flip the headband around and you will have a beautiful headband!!!!!

And again you will probably need to read both sets of directions to get a good idea. I really like the pictures and tutorial provided by DIY, but they did get a little confusing, so hopefully mine will help fill in some pieces and paint a better picture. Let me know if you have any questions and if you are looking for some more wonderful headband ideas then check out the rest from DIY.