Cute and Easy Headbands

So I'm shoe shopping (window shopping because I already own too many) and I see a display of really cute headbands. I tried one on, and not only did it not fit (I have a huge head) but it was 12 bucks! So I thought to myself, "Self, you can make one of these from your scraps for ten times cheaper and it'll actually fit your melon sized noggin" And thus this pattern was born!

What You'll Need:

16" x 4" Strip of scrap fabric (this is the top part)

8" of 1/2" wide elastic

15" x 2" scrap of fabric (for the bottom)

Matching thread

a rolled hem presser foot

What To Do With It:

1. Take the top strip of fabric and use your rolled hem foot to sew up each long side (make sure your hems are both on the same side (I already made this mistake) Remember you want the patterned side of your fabric down when you feed it into the curl. Don't worry about starting right at the ends (you're going to chop them down anyway)

2. Iron down your new rolled seams so the thing lays flat. Now trim off the stuff on the end that looks all crazy. Like so:

And set aside for a bit

3. Now take the 15" long piece. Fold the short ends down on themselves wrong sides together about 1/2" and press Then fold the whole thing hotdog style (yes that's the technical term) right sides together. It'll look kinda like this:

Then using a 1/4" seam stitch that puppy up, turn right side out and press.

4. Using a safety pin through the end of the elastic pull it through the tube. and pin each end about 1/2" back from the opening. Stitch across this a couple of times to make sure it's not going anywhere.

5. Take the top part of the headband and use your fingers to gather the short side up into little folds (press if you'd like) and stuff it into the open end of the bottom part. This takes a little tweeking and I found that using a pencil or pointed stick helped get it in there. Don't bother pinning it, it's too fat, just throw it under your presser foot and stitch across it a couple of times. This might take some doing if it's extra thick.

6. Repeat step 5 on the other side making sure you're putting it in without twisting anything so that it'll lay flat against your head.

7. Add decorative elements of your choice to one side (this is really convenient if one side looks a little wonky like mine). I kept mine pretty simple, but you can go all out, or just leave it plain. A yo-yo of contrasting (or matching) fabric and a button center would be really cute.

8. Now go show it off and make all your friends and relatives and even your enemies jealous!