ruffled headband

Hi everyone!  I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving!  Today I wanted to share with you a great idea I had for a ruffle (or more accurately – a gathered) headband.  It’s very simple and a it would make a great stocking stuffer or gift for a friend in the office.

ruffled headbandruffled headbandruffled headband

You’ll need:

ruffled headband

22″ x 4″ piece of fabric (or 42″ x 4″ for more gathers as in the red/white headband)
15″ x 3″ piece of fabric, interfaced
light weight fusible interfacing (15″ x 4″)
6″ piece of 1/4″ wide elastic (4.5″ for child size and 3.5″ for toddler size)
the ruffle headband pattern (found here)

To gather the fabric, set your sewing machine to the longest stitch length and sew two parallel lines 1/4″ and 1/2″ away from the edge of the 22″ long (or 42″ long) piece.  Sew all the way to the edge and don’t back stitch.

ruffled headband

Pull the bottom threads and gather the fabric to be approximately 15″ long.

ruffled headband

Lightly iron in place and iron the interfacing on the wrong side.

ruffled headband

Take your pattern piece and cut out the headband from the top (ruffled) and bottom (15″ x 3″ plain) pieces.  The pattern piece I’ve given you is only half.  Either cut on a fold or make a larger pattern with a file folder.

ruffled headband

Pin the two pieces (right sides together) and sew along the sides with a 1/4″ seam allowance creating a long tube.

ruffled headband

Turn right side out and press.

ruffled headband

Turn ends inward about 1/4″ and press.

ruffled headband

Insert a 6″ piece of elastic inside and sew to close and secure elastic.  Pull the elastic around to the other side of the headband, making sure it doesn’t twist and sew into place.  NOTE: For a child’s size use a 4.5″ piece of elastic and for a toddler use a 3.5″ piece.

ruffled headband

And here’s the result:

ruffled headband

If you start with a 42″ piece of fabric, your ruffles will look more like this:

ruffled headband

There you have it!  They’re really quick and lots of fun!  Happy Sewing!

ruffled headband
17 Comments

17 Comments on The Ruffle Headband

  1. excellent! I am making a few different kinds of headbands for my friend for christmas – and this will be a perfect addition to the mix. Thank you!!
    lindsay

  2. To turn it inside out: grab a safety pin (with a head that can fit through the opening). Attach the pin to one side of one end and start pushing the pin through the center. It will take a bit of time, but it will work and you’ll get the pin out the other end, then you can pull the rest of the headband right side out.

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