Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Yo-Yo! What's on your noggin? Little girl Headband Tutorial

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I am a big fan of Heather Bailey fabric. It is a weakness I am slowly getting over. When I was parusing her blog one day I came across THIS tutorial for "yo-yo's". She suggests all sorts of uses for them but I thought they would make a pretty cute headband for the little miss. They are so much fun and would be a perfect craft for little girls because they have a little hand sewing and a little sewing machine sewing. Plus they are super fast and you can use scraps of cute fabric, my kind of project!! I will go over the making of the yo-yo's rather briefly because her instructions are sooooo much better, it would be like crayons vs. oil paints, but the headband part in more detail.
What you need
A needle and thread
Two round "items" one larger then the other
One piece of fabric long enough to go around the head of the person who will be wearing it
A small length of thin elastic
A button (or more its up to you)
Sewing machine
Scissors
Anything else I forgot but mention along the way ha!
Wham's "Wake me Up before you go go" to get you in the yo-yo mood :)


I decided I wanted to use two yo-yos stacked on top of each other. I have done only one in the past and it also looks super cute. I wanted her to match the boys so I grabbed the same fabric I used on Finn's Bow tie. flip your fabric over so it is on the wrong side and trace around one of your circle items with a pen or pencil. (In an attempt to save fabric I put mine as close to the edge as possible.)
step1headband
(Is that how you say pickles in German? Gherkins? I dunno but I thought the jar had character so I saved it ha!) Cut out the circle you just made and then do the same thing with you other circle object. In the end you should have two circles, one that fits nicely inside the other:
step2headband
Now you are going to thread your needle and with the wrong side facing up, fold over a little edge and hand stitch all the way around (I am sorry I should have used a piece to better illustrate.)
step3headband
The larger the stitch the smaller the hole in the center will be so I tend to do my stitch's rather large. When you are done do not tie a knot instead pull the thread tight (essentially shirring your circle) It will gather it all up making a fun little yo yo with a hole in the middle. Do the same thing with your other circle. I usually do some spreading out of the ruffle making sure it is even all the way around. Now you can stack them one on top of the other if you did two. You can either stitch them together now or do it when you attach the button. Once you have attached the button Voila! Cute little yo yo
yoyodone
Now take your length of fabric. Fold over the raw edges (yes, I ironed them, do you have the ask. I think I may have iron issues ha!) and sew them down. Don't worry about the ends. Now we are going to attach our elastic. Fold over one end and slip the elastic under it. Then fold it back over the fold.
step5headband
Sew the elastic in place. (I usually reinforce it by going back and forth a few times.) Do the same thing on the other side making sure to flip it so that your elastic will lay flat when you are all done.
step6headband
Evie has lots of little head bands that are just plain like this. I put little squares of stick on velcro on either side and it makes it stay in place great. (My mother in law taught me this when I sewed one of my very first headbands and I thought it was so cool) But today we are going to sew on the yo-yo we just made to give it some va va voom!
step7headband
How cute is that!! I have a few yo-yo's that I connected to bobby pins with hot glue that I love.
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I have learned that if I put it on and immediately distract her (while simultaneously keeping her hands down) Evie will forget about it and keep it on! Happy sewing far away friends!
Cheers
Kelly




7 comments:

  1. Oh shes cute beyond words!! I wonder if my daughter would wear one- because I totally LOVE it!!!!

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  2. She is adorable and so is the headband! Thank you for the info on making one!

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  3. Just in time, I was looking at Heather Bailey's yo yo tutorial yesterday but this is exactly what I am going to make for take-homes for my daughter's birthday. Gherkins might be German but down here they are the closest things to dill pickles in miniature form you can find in the Southern Hemisphere. I am a Texan living in New Zealand- expensive fabric here, too, but at least it's available. Amazing that you are in Dili. Loving your blog!

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  4. What did you mean about the elastic on either side. Do you use it to attach the yo yo or to make the headband stay on the head. Maybe a dumb question but I was a little unsure what you meant

    casey.nyssen@gmail.com

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  5. No Gherkins is not the german word for pickles it's Gurken or more specific it's Gewuerzgurken :)
    Just found your lovely blog via lovinthemommyhood, very nice photos and your tutorials are super lovely too! (thanks for sharing them for free)
    all the best wishes from Berlin, germany

    Josefine

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