My Headbands

If you've been following my blog or Facebook page you will have noticed headbands feature quite heavily in my wardrobe, they are one of the few designs I consider almost "perfected" and when I start to sell my work in the future (when I actually have time) they will be the first to go on sale. As a former toy maker, working on smaller, more intricate designs is actually more my comfort zone compared to larger works (which is the opposite of what most people have told me).

The idea to make my own headbands came from two situations, the first being when my daughter found a headband that had glued on flowers and leaves (like the standard ones you find in store) and absolutely trashed it, the flowers were too easy to pull off. The second was when I ordered a beautiful handmade headband off one of my favourite fashion designers only to find that again, every time my daughter got her hands near it, a flower would come off! I also noticed that headbands mounted on a hard base hurt my head and squished my glasses against my face. This ended up with me just not wearing pretty headbands. I decided that if I couldn't buy the perfect headbands, I'd just make them!

The first aspect of these is that they had to be mounted on a stretchy fabric "sweatband" type of headband, no hard bases. The second is that everything must be sewn on with a strong sturdy stitch, no glue and thirdly, they must be machine washable as everything just gets dirty in my household . The result? I now have a collection of headbands that match every outfit and my daughter can pinch and play with without damaging them! (just one less reason to screech "AMY NO!"). At the moment I am making them out of whatever felt I have leftover from my toy making days (which includes a mixture of polyester, acrylic and wool). The polyester and acrylic fabrics hold their shape better and don't warp as easily, but in the future I would like all my products to be as natural as possible, which means using the wool blend. I will have to trail the wool some more and see if that's actually the direction I wish to go in.

The first headband I made was my beloved cherry blossom one, I got the inspiration whilst driving past the trees that were in bloom. I was still pregnant with Jasper and too fat and awkward to waddle around larger garments, so simple headbands where I could just sit at my desk were perfect. The flowers are just two layers cut out of two shades of pink. The tricky part is the stitched detailing, which is also what holds the flower to the headband. The center of the flower is a small button as I thought that a satin stitched circle would be to difficult on such a small scale. There are six flowers going all the way around the band, meaning there is no "wrong" way to wear it, the only problem is that you lose some of the stretch from the stitching, so six is the maximum you can have. I've made this headband twice (one for me and one for my best friend) but if I were to make it again I would probably make the flowers smaller and make more of them, since actual cherry blossom flowers aren't that large I don't     think people actually identify that that's what they are.

The next headband I made was my sunflower. I made this specifically to match my Interrobang skirt. This one is actually really simple and easy, it just involved lots of cutting as there is three layers of petals. Each layer is sewn onto the headband on it's own and then the center of the flower is satin stitched on top. I laughed when I fist tried it on as I didn't realise how big I had made it! But it turned out the be a good thing as it really does look amazing! I always get stopped and complimented when I'm wearing it out and about. Although my dad did say to be careful in case a bee lands on me (he thinks he's funny). This one is mounted on a $1 headband I bought from ebay, don't buy them! The are awful material, fall apart easily and are child sized (lucky I have a small head).

The best thing about making my own headbands is that I can match them to any outfit. I purchased a tie-dye purple and blue skirt and whipped up this butterfly headband to match the colours! This one I broke all the rules of "how to design stuff" and just fiddled around with cut out felt pieces. There's a few hidden stitches that I had to put in just to make it sit flat, but the bulk of the stitching is the horribly uneven satin stitched detailing. Apparently I'm the only one that thinks this as I still get plenty of compliments. It also goes very well with my TPF shrug.

My latest design has been a poppy for friends. This one was super easy but super effective! two layers of large petals with a large button for the center. The hardest part is hand sewing the button (not a fan of hand sewing) and getting the shapes of poppies odd leaves just right. My friend got four compliments in one shopping trip for her blue one. it makes me super happy when other people get complimented in my designs.

In conclusion, I absolutely love these, they are what really completes my look and brings it all together. I have been road testing them for six months now and they're still going strong (even when thrown in the wash on my regular cycle). I have no issues with my daughter pinching them and wearing them around (except for when she takes them to day-care and loses them). I wear them for hours at a time without getting uncomfortable or a headache. They are defiantly a winner!

This blog has been a "backtrack", all future headband posts will be as I make them and include "how to" instructions

Until next week!

-Sami