keeping the hair out of my eyes.

last week i was doing some sewing & i found myself constantly blowing at my bangs to keep them out of my eyes. my hair is in this self-imposed, weird stage. my bangs are long, much longer than i’d like. but i’m just not sure what to do with them. i’ve been attempting to go for that swept to the side bang look, but my bangs just do really go there. i’m not sure if i should go back to the straight bang look, or if i should just grow them out… (although, i think i look kinda boring without bangs. i need them for the little umph! they add to my face.) not able to make a decision, the bangs are now, just in the way. anyway, back to my story. not having any bobby pins on hand (& i can’t wear traditional headbands because they just make my head hurt), i ended up tying a piece of fabric around my head, a la 1950′s housewife style. later i found myself liking the way it looked & i realized if i’d just sew a bit here & there, i’d have the makings of an awfully cute headband (or ascout, ha ha ha), that wouldn’t give me a headache.
so if you’re at all interested in making your own super chic headband, here are the instructions: (click on the pictures to enlarge.)
1. cut two strips of fabric. (i actually used two different fabrics, so that mine would be reversible.) you’ll also want to measure your head to get an approximation for how long the fabric should be… i cut my fabric 2.5″ x 33.5″, but i didn’t want really long “tails”.
2. using a hard edge (i used my fabric ruler), draw a curve (on the wrong side of the fabric) from the midpoint on the 2.5″ edge (at 1.25″) to the midpoint of your length (for me it was at 16.75″). (you’ll want to draw this curve twice, along the top long edge & the bottom edge as well). once the curves are drawn, fold both fabrics in half & cut. does this make sense? basically you just want a slight curve that comes to a point on the short edge… (check out the pictures.)
3. with the right sides of the fabric together, sew (using a 1/4″ seam) around the edge of the headband, leaving approximately 2-3″ open (so you can turn it).
4. using your fingers, turn the headband right side out.
5. iron your headband, especially along the seams. also really iron at the “opening”, folding under the edges of the “opening” & create a good crease.
6. using your sewing machine, top-stitch the entire headband, getting as close to the edge of the fabric as you can… making sure you stitch down the edges of the “opening” so that “opening” is now closed.
7. tie your new creation around your head & your finished!

Tagged as: craft, create, head band, how to, tutorial