Archive for March, 2010

Looking for a bit of St. Paddy’s day fun with the kids?  We’re going to be watching this old classic.

Do you remember it?  It’s Darby O’Gill and the Little People.  And it was one of my favorites as a kid.  I loved the leprechauns, the trickery, and the music…

“Oh she’s my dear, my darlin’ one, my smilin’ and beguilin’ one.  I love the the ground she walks upon.  Me darlin’ Irish girl.”

Guess who’s singing that little lyric?  Why, it’s the very young Sean Connery, that’s who (before he became, Bond, James Bond.)

Now I just need to come up with a green treat.

Maybe some Key Lime Cupcakes.  They look wonderful, but they taste even better.

Mint Brownies are always a big hit at our house.  They may come out the winner.

Either way, it’s the time spent together that we’ll love.

Making a fabric headband cover is easier than you think.  It all starts with inexpensive thin headbands from the grocery store.

For this project you will need a small piece of fabric…. mine was 15 1/4″ x 1 1/2″ and your cheap headband.  Oh, and a sewing machine.

The first step is to measure your headband with a fabric measuring tape.

Next step is to cut your fabric.  Since my headband measured 14 1/2″ x 1/4″.  I cut my fabric 15 1/4″ x 1 1/2″.  I came up with my totals by adding 1/4″ to the length (for safety sake) and (2) 1/4″ seam allowances.  For the width, I decide that 1/2″ wide would look nice.  Again that allowed for (2) 1/4″ seam allowances.  You can use that same formula to figure out your headband… since they are all slightly different.

Carefully fold your strip in half and press.

Press in your 1/4 inseams on both sides.   (You are making what is essentially like a binding.)

Now fold in half and press well.

Press a fold in on each end.  I like to press the edges in at a slight angle so they don’t stick out once it’s stitched.

I hoped this view would show the angle I was talking about.  As you can see, this headband is pressed and ready to stitch.

Now stitch all the way around the headband.  I’ve moved my needle position as far as it will go to the right, for my Pfaff it is “6”.  And I am stitching about 1 millimeter from the edge of the fabric.

Now I know what you might be thinking.  If I’ve stitched all the way around… how the heck am I going to get the headband into the inside?

By cheating.  That’s how:

I’m using a seam ripper to open a little hole about 1/2″ from my bottom seam on the back.  As they say, there is more than one way to skin a cat…. if you wanted to be fancy, you could make button hole before stitching the whole thing together…. you might even leave one end open and try to fold in the seam and shut it with the headband inside.  For me this was the easiest, fastest way… and since it’s in the inside, it will never show.  For longevity sake, you might want to treat the raw seam with fray check.

Now slip your headband on in.  You may need to stretch the fabric just a bit to get the end of the headband in all the way.

Now on goes the shamrock and pinchers beware!  They will get ten back in return when you are wearing this sweet little headband.

For other days, I think I’ll make some fun flowers to go with this darling headband.

This project was very fun and easy…. I’ve made two for my girls in no time…. and all with scraps and things I already had!