Rhonda's Creative Life: Headbands and Other Easy Gift Ideas

Now that my hair is long once again, I find that especially when I'm working and I'm looking down for any length of time, I want to wear a headband. One day I was in my local Joann's fabric store(this is not a fine fabric store)and while I was waiting for my turn to have my fabric cut, I noticed that two teenage girls were having a stretch sequined band cut. The lady who was cutting asked them what they were going to make. They told her headbands. I didn't want the sequined bands, but I thought, "this is a good idea." So off I went to Soutache. Soutache is a wonderful shop here in Chicago that specializes in ribbon, beautiful ribbon. Maile is the shop owner and has impeccable taste. You can find her brand new website here, http://soutacheribbons.com/. When I told Maile was I was doing, she said, "Hmm, I never thought of making headbands with the stretch ribbons." So I thought that if I had not thought of this, and a woman who makes her living selling ribbon had not thought of it, then I should share my simple little headbands because you may not have thought of it as well!!

While I was at Soutache I found some wonderful stretch ribbon

It's a little difficult to see what I'm wearing, but it is a pleated satin ribbon that I added velvet beads to.

You can see the definition here so much better.

To make the headbands, simply stretch the ribbon around your head to determine how much you will need. Pin the ends together.

Stitch the ends together.

Once sewn, turn the ends and tack down by hand.

You can stop here, but my ribbon has the pretty little pleated areas and I had beads, so why not dress the ribbon up a bit?

To the brown ribbon I added some polished wooden beads.

I also found a stretch wool trim. These pieces are 3" wide and come in green, grey and black.

I love my headbands.

They take all of about 10 minutes to make unless you're like me and decide to sew on beads. Add about a half hour for the beads.

To the grey wool headband I added a wool felt flower that I made from felted wool scraps.

And it works great as an ear warmer. Lucky me.

The ribbons that I used are not on the Soutache site, but if you are interested, Maile told me that she will be happy to fill orders, just give her a call (773)292-9110. She no longer has the pleated satin ribbon in black, but she does have it in brown and pink. It's on sale and the price is $5.00 per yard. You will need no more than 1/2 yard to do a headband. The stretch wool is $15.00 per yard and again, 1/2 yard will be sufficient. This is a great idea for stocking stuffers!!

In case you are looking for a couple of other quick and easy gift ideas, I thought I would give you a link to a few things I have posted for Fabulous Free Pattern Friday.
A super easy fleece hat.