Friday 26 March 2010

Flat pattern hair band

This is probably one of the simplest sewing projects ever, but I made a few miserable prototypes before arriving at it. So to spare you the same frustration: a tutorial!

Most hairband patterns I've found involve sewing two pieces of fabric together. However hard I try, I always end up with something wobbly, like this:
Topstitching only seems to make it worse, so I'm not even going to show you that. I'm sure with patience it could be done neatly, but how long should a hairband take to make, really?

Another delightful thing about this hairband is that it won't mess up your bangs when you put it on, because it can be fastened at the back rather than being pushed back onto your head.

First, measure the length of the band.
Draw a line for the length, and mark the middle. Decide how wide the band should be at the ends and the top. (Don't worry about seam allowances yet.) Mark the widths and join the points up.

Cut this pattern out, then trace around it onto another piece of paper. Now cut the first pattern along its mid-lines. Stick it to the edges of the new pattern, placing the long mid-line edges at the outside. Add a seam allowance all the way round, smoothing the points at the widest part.
The outer edges are now longer than the middle of the pattern piece; to compensate for the wedge-shaped pieces that have been added to the widest part, take off something similar at the ends. (This doesn't have to perfect - just guess.)

Cut the pattern out of fabric. Start heating your iron up. Fold the fabric in half and sew the seam, leaving a space to turn it inside out. Leaving the gap closer to the middle makes it easier to turn.

Press the seam open so that it lies along the middle of the band. Sew the ends shut, clip the corners, and turn it inside out. Close the turning gap by hand.
Sew buttons on the ends (on the right side).

Loop an elastic band around the buttons to fasten.

50 comments:

Linda said...

This is lovely, thanks for sharing:)

Erika Mulvenna said...

This is fab - thanks so much for the tutorial! I'm trying to grow out my hair, and this will be perfect for keeping bangs out of my face!

creativegirl said...

i love the button detail! so clever

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, this is absolutely amazing

Anne said...

This makes so much sense! Thank you for showing how you created the flat pattern for the angled headband!

I linked to your tutorial on Craft Gossip Sewing:
http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-wide-fabric-headband/2010/03/26/

--Anne

Wendren said...

This is brilliant! Thank you for sharing. I am definitely going to use this beucase at the moment the headbands I use fall apart quite quickly after I make them ...and they always fall off. Love the idea of the elastic.

chris said...

Exactly what I was looking for! Thanks for sharing a great idea.

Anonymous said...

The button for the elastic band is great. I've seen ones that fold over to sew it in, but what would I do you do when the elastic wears out? This is so cute.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful! Your blog is an amazing resource and gorgeous to boot! I'm ever so glad I found it!

starry said...

Love your blog, I have learned so much from your tutorials.Thank you.

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

The button and hair elastic are such a great idea. I love this! Thanks so much for sharing, I'll be linking.

Red Door Home said...

Great idea. The buttons are genius!

Jenny said...

Thanks so much for writing this up! I'm all about a quick sewing project right now, and this looks great in your fabric! I love the illustrations too!

Julianna said...

Thanks for sharing! I'm adding this to my to make list!

Mrs. Kelley Dibble said...

Absolutely adorable! Saw this on One Pretty Thing and love it! Good job! I'll be making these for my 20-something daughters who are all under headbands right now. Thanks!

Anairam said...

Great tutorial - even a sewing-challenged individual like me should be able to do it. (I think.) I particularly like the fact that you can fasten it at the back.

Julie said...

Beautiful tutorial! Thank you for taking the time to put it together with such gorgeous illustrations. (One question: Have you had any trouble with hair getting tangled in the buttons? I'd hate to have to cut my 5 year old's hair out of a button. Ouch!)

Meg said...

Thank you for sharing this lovely headband. So simple, but so stylish :)

Doris said...

What an awesome idea using an elastic band!!!!! Lovely!

Anonymous said...

wow... I am so going to make one for myself. Thanks for the easy to follow tutorial :)

Gayle said...

Awesome tutorial! I love the headband and will definitely be making one!!

Jesse said...

Thank you! I'm glad it appears to be useful :)

Julie, I haven't had any problems with tangling and buttons myself, but I'm not as active as a 5 year old! It's hard to say whether it could be a problem.

Jana said...

So clever! Thanks for the tutorial.
Jana

Minh said...

I love the fabric you chose for the headband, and the button and elastic band idea is genius!!

Very Shannon said...

Love this tute, I cannot wait to give this a try! You're in our link luv roundup today! Come by for a peek! http://bit.ly/cQKk4F

Denise Kiggan said...

What a lovely tut!

Anonymous said...

Absolutely adorable :)

Simies said...

Great tutorial! Thank you!

Kirsten said...

Good Day,

I just wanted to let you know that I have linked to this great tutorials in my post Project ideas on Made by Lolly.

hair model said...

it si very cool hair accessoris

Lindseyj said...

Great tutorial! I struggled a bit with drawing up the pattern (but that's my fault, not yours...), but after that it was super easy! Now that I have a template I'm going to make heaps of these. Thanks!

petalbelles said...

This is brilliant! Thank you for the tutorial!

April in Autumn said...

Just wanted to let you know that I made this tonight. It took me about an hour (and I'm a super slow sewer) and I'm wearing it right now. I love it so much! Thanks for the tut!

Jacqueline said...

Love the idea -- why not sew the elastic to one side of the fabric and use only one button. Seems that would be easier to fasten. But this is a really great idea. Thanks.

And Live said...

i think he way to get an even finish on two fabric headbands is stabilizer/interfacing. i really like the button idea!

Unknown said...

Looks great. Cant wait to make some for Chrissy presents.

angela flicker said...

What a great tutorial! I mentioned this tutorial on my blog (http://angelaflicker.com/2011/03/making-a-house-a-home-sewing-tutorials/), and I encouraged people to give it a try. Thanks for giving this out to people for free ;)

Rebecca said...

thank you very much, this is just what I need... :) I would have made a terrible job of it otherwise!

Ashley said...

I love this pattern. The elastic hair tie and buttons is a fantastic idea! I don't mess up my bangs when I put the headband on and it holds it perfectly tight on my head. Thank you so much for sharing!

Jill said...

I love the idea but I'm confused on the pattern....do you cut the interfacing and the fabric out of the same pattern??? Is it the same size or is the interfacing smaller...also I don't understand when you say to fold the fabric in half....it doesn't quite make sense to me...wouldn't you fold each piece inward?? I'm confused lol

Jesse said...

I didn't use interfacing for this, as the double layer of fabric seems to be stiff enough, but you could easily add a layer of interfacing. As for the folding, the end result is that you've folded each piece inward, but in order to sew the edges together,you need to fold the fabric in half so that they meet.

Hope that helps!

Anonymous said...

awesome tutorial thank you so much for putting it up! I have been looking for something like this with the buttons
THANKS again!:)

Megan said...

Just tried to make this. Totally didn't work. I'm very frustrated. I tried to follow your directions, but found them confusing. I have a big bubble in the middle and I thought I ought to cut it out (I find that picture with the triangle cut outs totally confusing) but in your pictures you didn't do that. I wish you had pictures of an actual one being made and not just drawings. I'm a total amatuer, but I HAVE made dresses and things from patterns before. Not sure what I'm missing. Really wanted this for my family pictures later today, and now I'm out of time and have to start all over. Sorry.

Jesse said...

Oh no! I'm sorry my instructions didn't work for you. I think the clearest picture of what you should be aiming for is 5th drawing, the fabric folded in half. You could cut a piece that shape and trim the ends and go from there. The preceding ones are more or less just illustrations of my thought process, getting from the usual pattern to this one.

The bubble could be because there's too much fabric along the seam, and you could try stitching a shallower curve?

Berta said...

Maybe a Video would be better for us amateurs. I would love to make this for me and my daughter, but I'm clueless on sewing. So this is very confusing.

Anonymous said...

This worked nicely. I made one as directed. On the next one, I sewed an elastic band to one end before turning. By doing so, I needed only one button to hold the headband in place.

Jesse said...

Great idea - that makes it much simpler!

Alicia @ Felt With Love Designs said...

This is awesome! My daughter loves headbands but the store bought ones never last long. I'm going to make her a bunch of these! Thank you for sharing!

Gingi said...

Great tutorial! Thank you! Would you be willing to share your measurements that you used for your headband? Thanks again

Jesse said...

Sorry, it's been a while and I don't have the notes anymore, but just hold a tape measure roughly where you want the band to sit.