How to Make a Headband? 2 in 1 Tutorial

How to Make a Headband?

It’s been incredibly hot around here lately so between the heat and planting a garden I needed a way to keep my hair out of my face! To solve the problem I designed these two fun and functional adult-sized headbands. They’re a great way to use fabric scraps that you love and didn’t want to throw away! I did a regular headband style that’s reversible and a 3 strand headband, both with elastic at the base.

Three-strand headband materials list

  • 3 strips of fabric 1″ x 18″
  • 2 strips of fabric 1″ x 1 3/4″
  • One 3 1/2″ piece of 1/2″ elastic (elastic not pictured)

Reversible headband materials list

  • 2 strips of fabric 1″ x 18″
  • 2 strips of fabric 1″ x 1 3/4″
  • 2 rectangles of fabric 2″ x 18″

 

Step 1 Folding

Fold the rectangles into quarters and cut off the corners (second photo below) to form the headband shape.

Step 2 Prepping your fabric for either headband:

For either headband, you’ll make double-fold bias tape out of the long 1″ strips and a single-fold bias tape out of the short 1″ strips. To do this, iron the strip in half. Then open it back up, fold both sides toward the center crease, and iron again. You now have single-fold bias tape. For the two long long strips, fold in half with the raw edges inside and iron one more time.

Step 3 Sewing the three-strand headband

First, sew shut all 3 long strips of bias tape.

Then sew the three strips together at the ends.

Step 4 Sewing the reversible headband

With wrong sides together, line up the front and back and sew the strips of bias tape onto the sides.

Step 5 Finishing both headbands

Stitch the elastic strap to each side. Wrap your single-fold bias tape around the seam where the elastic is sewn on. Fold under the raw edge, pin down and stitch along the top and bottom.

And here’s one last shot of the completed headbands!

Additional notes:

  • I based the size off of a store-bought headband that fits me well. When you get to the elastic stage, you may want to safety pin it in place before sewing it down to make any adjustments necessary for a comfortable fit for you.
  • Rather than using homemade bias tape as directed, you could also use store-bought.
  • These directions have you make 1/4″ bias tape. If you’ve never used bias tape before or if you find it’s tricky to work with you may want to make yours a bit wider. If you cut your strips to 1 1/2″ rather than 1″, your bias tape will be 3/8″ rather than 1/4″.
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Hi, I’m Lindsay Conner, an author, modern quilter, editor, and founder of the Lindsay Sews blog. I’m a Baby Lock ambassador and Stash Books author who loves writing modern sewing and quilt patterns for beginners and weekend sewists! I live in Indianapolis, Indiana with my husband, son, and two loveable cats, Murph and Chloe. I’ve been crafting for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I saved my dollar bills for trips with my mom to Jo-Ann Fabrics, where I’d find new floss for friendship bracelets or mini cross-stitch kits. Because my mom has always shared my love for crafting, she bought me my first sewing machine, a Hello Kitty Janome.

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30 comments

  1. Great tutorial! I love the headbands…I’m going to have to make some very soon. Thanks for sharing!

  3. Great tutorial and such pretty headbands… this may become a weekend project! Thanks for sharing!

  4. Love, love, love these. I will be making these for sure. Thanks for sharing.

  7. Beautiful headbands – and a great tutorial!
    Hi there
    Just stopped by to let you know that I featured your shirt to purse upcycle on my round tuit post this week!
    Round Tuit 53
    Thanks again for linking up! Hope you have a great week!
    Jill @ Creating my way to Success

  8. These are so sweet!! Thanks so much for linking them up to Think Pink Sundays – I shared them on my FB page! 🙂

  12. I love these, and have never seen a tute for a skinny headband! I’m all over that one! Pinning!! 🙂

  13. I think your headbands are just darling! I wish I could make them and wear them, but I have an oddly shaped head. (That may explain my blog’s title.) Thanks for sharing!

  15. I love headbands.

    Thanks for linking up at Bacon Time. Wow for a first party I can’t believe we had over 300 links. Can’t wait to see what you share next week. I have a special give away planned just for the linkers at the party.

    I would love it if you would grab the party button to add to your collection!

  17. This is SOOO great!! thanks for such a comprehensive tutorial, i am gonna give this a try! and i pinned this to my pinterest 😉

  19. Awesome! I am so loving headbands right now, and this tutorial will help me make some super cute one. Thanks!
    Andee

  21. Adorable! I have a bunch of old clothes that I’m trying to upcycle and this is definitely going on my craft list!!

  22. These are great! I will be bookmarking! 🙂 Thanks for linking up to {Sew} Modern Monday and have a great week!

  23. Oh, these are fab, and saves me trying to work out a pattern in the 5 remaining days before I head off to the sun on holiday, thanks!

  25. These are awesome! Love that they are soft and not made of hard plastic that irritates the ears! Will have to try these! Thanks so much for sharing with the Pink Hippo Party!

  27. I’ve made a sweat band before, but never a headband! I need to give this a try! Thank you for linking up to Sew Woodsy last week!

  29. I got my fabric all cut out and realized I didn’t have 1/2″ elastic – bummer. Can’t wait to finish these! For some reason I was so nervous about cutting off the corners on the reversible. I’m still not sure it looks quite right LOL
    Thank you for sharing this tutorial!

  30. I loved this idea! I whipped one up last night in about 15 minutes. I am planning on making several of these to match my wardrobe…finally I can wear my hair down and keep it out of my face! Thanks sooo much for this tutorial.

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