Personalized fabric headbands are a fresh choice for summer.
I love the look of the monogrammed headbands I've seen in my childrens clothing catalogs, but most cost more than $20 with personalization. That is a little pricey for me trying to outfit two little girls, so I have started making my own using headbands purchased at Dollar Tree. The headbands pictured above were originally covered in silky animal print fabric and embellished with plastic jewels. Although the original styles were a little too wild for me, I liked the shape of the headbands, so I bought several.
To make your own fabric-covered headband, carefully remove the fabric covering from a dollar-store headband and use the fabric to loosely trace a pattern on tissue paper. Play with the dimensions, wrapping the headband with the tissue to get an impression of the headband. Then cut out the pattern, allowing enough width to wrap around to the underside of the headband. Iron the tissue-paper pattern smooth, then fold the pattern in half. This crease will be helpful for centering the name on personalized fabric.
Next, pick fabrics and trims.
Lime and raspberry are fresh picks for summer, but they are always in season in my book!
Keep in mind that pastel and lighter-weight fabrics might need to be lined if the plastic headband is dark. Measure the width of your headband and monogram the fabric, if desired. Then center the tissue over the monogram, and trace the pattern. Cut out the fabric, place it face-down on wax paper, and cover it with a coat of spray adhesive. Then start wrapping the headband, working outward from the center and smoothing any wrinkles from the fabric as you go. You should have a little fabric left dangling from the ends of the headband. Fold this up to the underside of the headband, and secure it with a little hot glue. Finally, hot glue a length of ribbon or coordinating trim to the underside of the headband to cover the fabric edges. Allow the headband to dry completely before wearing.
Finally, sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor -- fresh-picked style for summer!
