Black Lace Headband Tutorial

I did a white lace headband tutorial a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to see what other looks I could create from lace. If you explore the 'by the yard' lace and fabric trimmings aisle at your local craft store, you can find a lot of awesome headband materials. It's crazy how cheap it is to make a classy headband. And it really doesn't take long at all. 

Materials needed:

• black lace (I actually found the exact lace online! Yay! It wasn't this expensive at all--I paid around $1.50 for 13 inches)
• thread
• needle
• scissors
• ruler/measuring tape (if you feel it's necessary)
• elastic (1/2 inch braided) 

Now, I don't have exact measurements for you since every head is a different size. For your lace, measure your head from ear to ear. I just put the lace on my head and guess the length. No need to really measure. For the elastic, the length depends on how tight you want your head band. My white lace headband was too tight, so I decided to cut a little more slack in my elastic. I cut roughly 8 inches of elastic for this headband. 

To determine your elastic length, you can try my method of putting the lace on your head how you want it. Secure the points behind your ears with your middle fingers. Then, stretch the elastic across the back of your head with your thumbs and pointer fingers. It's kind of awkward, but it gets the job done. Pinch the elastic at the length that feels comfortable, then cut. 

Thread your needed. I fold the lace on each side so that it is the same width as the elastic. Place your elastic on the back of the lace and begin sewing a crap-ton of stitches. If you are picky, you can use black thread so the messy stitches aren't noticeable, but as you can see from my gray thread, I really don't mind exposed messy stitches.

The sewing isn't an exact science. Sew until you think it's tight, then give a tug. If anything rips or tears, then you should probably keep sewing. I'm sure if you are handy with a sewing machine you can whip this headband up in no time, but hand stitching works just fine for me. Once you sew on side, repeat on the other side of the headband. You can double check the tightness before you sew the second side. I think I trimmed a quarter inch off of my elastic at this point.

This headband actually stays on my head if I wear my hair down. I'm pretty impressed with that. As always, leave comments or questions below!

Floral Headband

This is such a 'springy' headband. I had an abundance of flowers stashed in my container of old hair flower supplies and I thought 'hey, let's make something!'. If you have seen my Simple Hair Flower tutorial, this one starts out the same. The only difference is the headband, really. To be honest, this headband is not my favorite. Probably because it's fall and pink is just not a fall color. Oh well! It was fun to make!

I much prefer metal or plastic headbands to elastic bands. I explained in my Lace Headband tutorial that me and elastic bands just don't go together. Weird shaped head? I don't know. This could be adapted to an elastic headband, but it would require some excessive sewing, but I chose to stick with a simple plastic headband. These actually stay on my head.

Materials Needed:
   headband (I bought a three pack from Target)
   glue gun
   glue sticks
   fake flowers (from home decor)
   buttons (or anything else you prefer)

You could make some fabric flowers out of ribbon or fabric scraps if you can't find any fake flowers you like, but you'll have to guess how to make them since I haven't tried that yet. Someday! I'll keep you posted.

When you find flowers that you like, disassemble them like the third picture. You want each layer to be separated so you can glue them for security.

I wanted to do three flowers. Two flowers consist of two layers and a button center, and one flower consists of three layers and a button center. Start by applying a little bit of glue to the center of your first layer. Let it cool a few seconds and place your second layer on top. I turn the top layer a little so the petals cover the gaps between the first layer's petals. Pinch them together until cool, then add your button.

Repeat this for all of your flowers. Once your flowers are done, it's time to glue them to the headband. Squeeze a generous dollop of glue onto the back center of one of your flowers. I started with one of the two layer flowers.

Place the flower on the headband and give a squeeze. Hold until the glue sets. Next, I placed the second two layer flower. I wanted the two small flowers to be on either side of the larger flower. Lastly, place the third flower. Again, hold it in place until the glue sets.

I think I might set this headband aside until next spring. Or maybe I will go find some festive fall foliage and make another one for this season. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. Thanks for visiting!

DIY Lace Headband

Even though I have the wrong head shape for elastic headbands (if I look up they just slide right off my head), I still like making them. If you are lucky enough to have the "right" shaped head, or the discipline to not move your head too much while wearing a headband, then this may be the project for you!

Supplies Needed:

• scissors
• needle and thread
• 1/2 inch braided elastic 
• lace

Skills Needed:

• ability to sew a big mess of stitches with no particular sense of order

I bought about 10 inches of lace from Joann Fabric. I do believe this stuff is meant for wedding dresses because it was around $18 a yard. Use a coupon.  The piece I bought was around $3 after my coupon. The braided elastic was under $2 and you'll have a lot left over for other headbands or random projects.

To start, I stuck the lace on my head to see how big I wanted it and if it was actually going to look good. I mean, you can stick anything on your head, but it doesn't mean you should. Anywho, the lace went from ear to ear and I called it good there. I trimmed the edges of the lace to make sure there weren't sharp angles and then I moved to the elastic.

Depending on how tight you want your headband, you're going to have to take the reigns with how much elastic to cut. I don't know your life...or your head size. But for my head, I lightly stretched the the elastic around the back of my head from ear to ear and that was about 8.5 inches. It's a little tight. I probably should have gone with 9.5 inches, but YOLO. Just kidding. Kind of.

Now, thread your needle. I overlapped the elastic and the lace slightly, with the elastic touching the non-beaded side of the lace. Sew the crap out of it. If you think you sewed it enough, give it a tug. If you hear thread ripping then sew some more! Repeat on the other side of the lace.

And there you have it! If you have questions or anything like that, leave them below.