Todays project is made by my good friend Barb Nesbett. Barb is one of the nicest people on this planet. I was lucky enough to have met her when we were both in the process of adopting our Daughters from China. Our Daughters were from the same orphanage so we were thrown together, along with 12 other families, to journey across the Pacific to become instant parents. That was a little over 8 years ago...time flies! Over the years I have received some wonderful homemade gifts from Barb whose favorite hobby is sewing. She recently gave my Daughter a pair of reversible headbands she had made so I asked her to share the how to's with all of you. It is such a fun way to use up those smaller pieces of quilting fabric!
For this project you will need:
Plain metal headband
Fabric
Sewing machine and thread
Muslin, or other fabric to make your headband pattern
Air erasable sewing pen
To start:
Create a main pattern piece for the headband by cutting a piece of muslin, stabilizer fabric, or pattern paper: 15 1/2" long by approx. 2 3/4" wide.
Keep 4 inches at the 2 3/4" width (the top middle part of the headband where it is the widest) but then trim the sides evenly tapering to approximately 3/4" width.
Pin or use quilters tape to hold your pattern in place and cut two different pieces of fabric.
Place the two pieces of fabric right sides together and sew using a 1/4" seam allowance. Make sure to leave one 3/4" end side open for turning.
Turn fabric right side out by using a chopstick to gently push the closed end through.
Flatten and press.
Turn your open end in 1/4" and press.
Now you need to sew two lines with a 5/8" opening down the middle of your fabric headband. Pick a side to sew on thinking about the color thread you use. This created channel is where you slide the metal headband into. You can do this by measuring and marking 2 lines centered 5/8" down the middle of your headband piece using an air erase pen.
My friend found it easier to create a second pattern piece as a template for the 5/8" channel lines. To do this copy your first pattern piece but make it 1/4" smaller all around. Now cut a 5/8 seam down the middle of the pattern. You then lay this pattern on top of your fabric headband and use the cut opening to trace your 5/8" line with an air erase pen.
Sew along the marked channel lines using a small stitch.
Slip your metal headband in and sew the 3/4" open end closed.
You can buy the plain metal bands at the dollar store, or here:
http://factorydirectcraft.com/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=5213BK&submit.x=0&submit.y=0
When you want to reverse the fabric on the headband you can easily flip the fabric over. You do not flip the metal headband.
XOX,
The Rebel Crafter
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