Jessica's fourth headband and a little bird

My last headband for the week is my favorite...I have been wanting to try this combination of fabrics for a while, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

I used the same technique as for the reversible headband {link--http://presserfoot.blogspot.com/2009/11/reversible-headbands-tutorial.html}. The band is made up of a cotton print on one side and a bias-cut scrap of a sweater, which I interfaced for stability, on the other. I made the ties out of the print fabric, and then added my favorite part, the little pink birdie!
I scanned a scrap of the print into the computer and then enlarged it so that the bird was about 2" x 1.5". Then, I cut him out of a felted sweater scrap that I'd fused (with Steam-a-Seam) to some more of the printed cotton. A bead eye and a little bit of stitching later...


and this sweet little headband is complete.

Did I mention that it's my favorite of all?

However, it's wee-person-sized, and my wee person is a boy...so I'm giving it away! Head over to my blog {link--http://justgiveitago.blogspot.com/2009/11/my-first-giveaway.html} to enter to win it (plus a couple of other little goodies).

What fun it's been to blog in this space this week...many thanks to Kelli & Rian for having me. Happy headbanding!

Jessica's third headband - adding ribbon

For the second fabric Rian and Kelli sent, I decided to add a ribbon for two reasons--first, the print is great, but I needed something to cool off the colors...and second, who doesn't love a ribbon?

Easy, easy--just cut ribbon to the same length as the band:

and sew them together, centering the ribbon on the fabric.

Finish as in the pattern.

Done!

On to something even more fun...headbands for the holidays! Of course you can give one (or a few!) on their own, but why not...

make a few different hair accessories and give them all together:

hair elastic w/ button from Lenny DaVinci
pinwheel bobby pin from Little Jenny Wren
fabric covered barrette from Angry Chicken

or give them complete with a spot for organizing:

hanging frame for bows, etc. from Little Birdie Secrets--switch out the glass for cork and add some hooks for headbands, etc.

or make one, buy one:

feather headbands by KAANG on etsy--gorgeous.

or how about a headband along with a salon gift card...

all dressed up!

Remember my scraps from the first headband? I certainly didn't want them to go to waste...check out my tutorial at Give It a Go.

Tomorrow, last but not least...a sweet headband for kiddos, and a giveaway!

reversible headbands tutorial

Making the headband reversible turned out to be really easy...just a couple of adjustments and an extra scrap of fabric were all it took.

When you choose your fabrics, it's important that they coordinate, since you'll be able to see both of them on the ties no matter which end is showing on the band.

For the band, cut one 2 1/4" by 18" rectangle of each fabric. Sew them together along both long sides, leaving the short ends open as in the original pattern. Unless your seams are perfectly straight (mine never are!), you'll be able to see some of the bottom fabric wrapping around to the top. So, as you press, take care (I used a knitting needle) to coax the edges straight as you move the iron over the band. Since the seams show on this version, you may prefer to topstitch along each long edge for a more polished finish.

For the ties, cut two pieces from each fabric, and sew one of each together as in the original pattern.

Sewing the elastic in is the only (sort of!) tricky part. In the original pattern, the elastic goes between the bottom and the tie, like this,

so it doesn't show while you're wearing it.

To accommodate the reversibility, you'll need to place the elastic a little differently and it will therefore be slightly exposed, so it needs a casing. This part is so simple--it took me ten minutes, tops. Start by cutting a piece of fabric double the width of your elastic plus 3/8 of an inch, and an inch and half longer than your elastic (mine was 1 3/8" by 5 1/2" for 1/2" elastic).

Fold and press lengthwise, and sew with a very scant 1/4" (closer to 1/8") seam.

Use a safety pin to turn the casing right side out (it's pretty tight, but it'll work, I promise). Press it, then use the safety pin to insert the elastic into the casing. The fit should be fairly snug. Once you reach the other end, sew the elastic flush with the casing edge:

Then, repeat on the other side.

Now you're ready to sew the elastic and ties into the headband. Sew the first side as in the original pattern. Then, flip one side of the headband over so that each print is showing on one end, and insert and pin the elastic and tie:

You'll want to take a second to check and make sure that the elastic won't be twisted when you wear the headband (ask me how I know!):

You can see that one tie is above the elastic and the other is below--this is what you're going for.

When you wear it, an inch or so of the elastic will show on one end, but since it's covered, it won't be noticeable.

Your finished headband will look like this--two for the price of one!

Tomorrow, embellishing your headband, plus some fun gift ideas (with an extra tutorial!).

Jessica's first headband- step by step

First thing--I'm crazy about this headband.

Not to get into a huge personal saga when we've only just met, but I don't love my hair. I usually think hair accessories are great on other people, but can't figure out how to make them look normal on myself. This one, though, I finished, photographed, and wore to the grocery store without a speck of self-consciousness.

It came together pretty quickly, with just a couple of hiccups. I didn't time myself, but even with some "frustrations" with my printer and then with the bobbin, I'd guess it only took me about a half an hour to make. The pattern is well written and the diagrams are very clear.

A couple of tips if (when!) you decide to make your own:

The pattern calls for an eighth of a yard of fabric. Rian and Kelli sent me a full eighth, but it was a very tight fit:

I ended up having to shift that tie over even a little bit more, and the second one still scooted off the edge a bit (I compensated by sewing a scant 1/4" seam along that side). It all worked out OK, but if you're buying fabric for this project and would rather have a little more wiggle room than I did...
you might want to splurge on a quarter yard.

When I trimmed the seam allowances at the points of the ties...

I went a little too far--be careful to leave a bit of fabric so you don't end up with this:

At least it was fixable; I just re-sewed a new point a little farther from the edge.

I was most nervous about putting in the elastic. Again, the directions are clear, but I was afraid of everything shifting around before I could get it all sewn together.

It actually worked fine with only one pin, and I have to say that this elastic-under-the-ties concept is ingenious. I'd suggest shortening the elastic just a little more than you think you should...I ended up redoing it, and it could probably stand to be a little tighter still.

The highlight of this project should probably be that I think it's adorable, or that it didn't slip off my head (isn't that so annoying!?), or that both my husband and son noticed it ("Did you finish your headband, Mommy? It's pretty!"), but honestly, it's that I finally had a reason to photograph myself in the mirror.

Next up: Can I make a reversible version?

Welcome this week's guestblogger : Jessica

Freshman year of high school, everyone else was singing showtunes or making something out of clay, but I was learning to sew in a sweltering room in a hidden corner of the fourth floor. My Christmas gift? A sewing machine. Almost twenty years later, I’m still plugging away on that same old Singer…except now I also knit, bake bread, take pictures, read too much Curious George to a three-year-old…and keep track of it all at Give It a Go.

I’m thrilled to be here this week because I love sewing, Presser Foot, and everything Heather Bailey…but also because it’s the nudge I needed to figure out how to really rock a headband. Join me, won’t you?

December's Project & the Chinese New Year

This is indeed my first appearance of the month. I have been hiding behind massive piles of boxes, furniture, and junk. Those of you who have done it before will know what I am talking about...the dreaded move. Our house went on the market last night. What makes this move a little more challenging (advise please!) is that we are moving to China and basically need to sell, give away, or finally give up and trash everything we own. There have been some bitter sweet moments for sure. Getting rid of stuff is very liberating...and that's what I keep telling myself over and over, "It's just stuff." But on the flip side I really like some of our stuff and have great memories attached to it. I will, of course, be keeping my sewing machines. They will be my carry-ons on the big day (that means my kids will just have to walk), but for now they are sitting on the top shelf of a closet with no sewing table in sight (it is in the "to sell" pile). Now that all the major work on getting the house ready to sell is done I am hoping to be able to bring the sewing machine down and do a little Christmas sewing. Which brings us to December's project!

This will be a no pattern, use up all of your scrap fabric kind of a project. That means that every one's projects will be totally and completely unique. I can't wait to see the results. There will be no give away this month, as the goal is to use up what you already have, consider it a Christmas gift to Mother Earth. See below for a little inspiration.

A Larger Pouch

I made one more perfect box pouch the tie up the end of the week. This time I decided to make it larger. Now I think it is a great size for scissors and pencils. Much more practical for me.

In order to make the pouch larger I simply cut out the rectangles at approximately 12x8 inches. The only other change I made to the tutorial was when I made the corners they measured at 1 1/2 inches deep and 3 inches across. Other than that it was the same exact tutorial.

Here are a few pics:

Cube Pouch - Grand Plan

I've finally finished the grand plan I had for my cube pouch, and here it is.

A set of five nesting cubes with various closures for little ones to play and practice with.

The littlest guy ended up being sort of oblong, but I'm just going to pretend I meant it to be that way.

He fits inside this two inch fella

Who fits in this three inch lace up job


Who buttons into this four incher

Who's all snuggled up in the five.

To make your own set of nesting cubes, use the following measurements. Please note that I've amended the measurements I gave for a five inch cube in my previous post.
5" cube- 11"x10.5" corner seams will be 5" long and 2.5" from the point.

4" cube- 9'x8.5" Corners seams will be 4" and 2" from the point

3" cube- 7"x6.5" Corner seams will be 3" and 1.5" from the point

2" cube- 5"x4.5" corner seams will be 2" and 1" from the point

1" cube- 2.5"x2.5" corner seams will be 1" long and 1/2" from the point.
I cut my 1" cube 3"x 2.5" and I didn't seem to need the extra half inch when things got that small. I haven't tested the 2.5"x2.5" measurement but I think it will work. I also didn't put inner lining in my 1" cube. That probably affected the measurement of my finished project as well.

The longer side of your fabric is the side you want to put your closures on. So, on my 5" cube I sewed my zipper along the 11" side of my fabric rectangles.
If you're using buttons, snaps or anything that needs to over lap rather than meet flush, add and extra half inch to shorter measurement, bringing things back to square. That will give you an inch of overlap in the center to accommodate closures.

If you have questions, you can email me at uniquety(at)gmail(dot)com.

Box Pouch Tutorial by Eva

After my first pouch I got to thinking it would be fun to kick it up from a "box pouch" to a "cube pouch" So I did a little experimenting and turned out this 5x5x5 inch cube.



To make a pouch this size, cut your pieces 11"x11" rather than 8"x6" and when you pinch in the corners, make the seam 5" long and 2.5" from the point rather than 2" long an 1" from the point. (but that's not really what this post is about)

I did a few things differently the second time around. Some out of necessity and some to accommodate personal preference.
The first change was the inner lining. I have at times kept a supply of pelon on hand for use in various projects. Right now though, I'm fresh out. I do, however, have some random flannel in my stash.

The chances of me using this sewing themed purple flannel for anything else are rather slim so pouch lining it became.
For my big 5 inch cube I doubled up on flannel to give it some extra stability. A smaller pouch would do fine with a single layer of flannel as inner lining.

Here's the personal preference part. Raw seams make my eyeballs bleed.
In this instance, rational thought tells me that pinking is a perfectly sufficient method to finish seams, but I don't own a pair of pinking shears (also I'm hardly ever rational when it comes to finish work) What I do have is a serger.
So, after layering my fabric, just as outlined in the tutorial (interior right side down, interfacing, exterior right side up)


I serged around all four sides of both pieces.


This meant I could skip step 3 from the tutorial because my layers were already stuck together.
If you're not a raw edge hater like me, but you're having trouble keeping your layers lined up and neat as you sew, spend an extra minute on step three and stitch all the way around your pieces with your regular machine.
I also serged off the excess fabric at the corners so there are nothing but neatly serged edges inside.

To be completely honest I'm not all too fond of serged edges either. I keep fighting off the urge to cut coordinating bias and bind up all interior seams or oufit each pouch with a turned lining. Either of those options would make the inside of my pouches a thing of beauty and both would be complete overkill. As long as I'm being honest here, the serging is probably even over complicating things, but I gotta be me.

Want to know what I'm going to do with my cube pouch?
I'll tell you later.

My first pouch

I also finished my first pouch and I must say it is a real winner. Super easy and well written tutorial, very fast to make (took me under an hour), and very professional finished product.

The only thing that suprised me was how small the finished product was. It is the size of a mini - individual size - banana bread loaf. So I am not sure what I am going to use it for. Originally I was thinking sewing supplies, but it won't begin to fit scissors. I am sure I will find something perfect for it though.


I am ready to make another pouch. This time I think I will try to make it a bit bigger. I will let you know how it goes.

So I am curious now, what are you going to use yours for?

P.S. for all those wondering this wonderful tutorial is the Perfect Box Pouch by Indie House.