A little girl's headband

Kellie is a mom, wife, tree-hugger, and Martha Stewart wannabe. She blogs regularly at Greenhab: The Browns Go Green and the Green Phone Booth.

I've been mom to a boy for 4 years now, but just recently became mom to a little girl. There are so many cute things out there for little girls - clothes and shoes and purses and accessories - I can hardly stand it. This is definitely where Doting Mom and Environmentalist don't mix very well. I'd love to go right out and buy every adorable thing I see, but it's just not the environmentally responsible thing to do - not to mention that times are a bit tight. But throw a little Crafter in the mix and you have a winning combination!

My little girl Macy is growing out her hair right now. It had been shaved at one point and I think it's super cute short but, like every little girl, she wants long, flowing hair. Needless to say we've been using lots of clips, rubber bands and head bands. I thought for her Christmas stocking I'd whip up a bunch of headbands with elastic that will actually stay on her head.

Here's how I made them. I'd urge you to measure the head of the person you're making this for and use those measurements, not mine!

Materials: scrap fabric, elastic.

Cut scraps for the headband: A front and back (Same fabric, or coordinating so that it can be reversible). I measured from behind one ear, over my head, to behind the other ear and added 1/4 inch to each end for seam allowance. I made mine 3' wide (plus seam allowance), but would recommend a small width for children.

Cut your elastic. This time I measured from ear to ear, under my head, pulling it so that it's snug but not too tight.

Cut a scrap to make the casing for the elastic. You'll want to take the length of the elastic and add about 4 inches to get your casing length (Ex: my elastic was 9 inches + 4 inches to allow for stretch = 13 inches long). I made the casing piece 2.5 inches wide.

Once your pieces are all cut, you'll put the 2 headband pieces right sides together and sew both of the long sides. Turn right side out, press. Turn each end in 1/4 inch and press.

Fold the casing in half, press, sew, turn right side out, press. Then, using a safety pin, thread the casing with the elastic. Be sure not to let the elastic slip back inside.

Finally you'll insert each end of the casing/elastic into the open ends of the headband. I folded in the corners so that the ends were about the same width as the elastic casing, then sewed it all shut.

I wanted this to have a gathered look where it was wide at the top, then gathered more towards the ears. Unfortunately that just didn't work well with the fabric I used, which was fleece. (Good thing I have a lot of fabric scraps to practice with!) Next time I'll cut the headband fabric so that it's wider at the top (middle) and more narrow towards the ears.

Here's the finished product. I was having a hard time modeling it and taking the photo, so Macy modeled it for me. You can see here that it's a bit too wide for a child's head, but I thought it looked like a good size on me. I'll be making hers more narrow.


I can't wait to make some of these in coordinating prints and solids so that they're reversible. You could also use a ribbon to tie it closed instead of elastic. I thought elastic would be best for my little girl since she's not tying bows herself quite yet.