Kristen Sew Krafty: Fat quarter Project One : The Headband

My daughter unwittingly issued me a challenge - how many projects could I make from one fat quarter? I took the challenge and together we came up with three projects (really they were her ideas - I just made them happen :-)

My teenaged daughter LOVES all things camo. And she thinks I can sew anything her heart desires. On one of our trips to Walmart, she found a camo fat quarter and asked me to make her a headband. I was busy perusing other fabrics and absent mindedly answer "sure" and kept perusing. The poor camo fat quarter sat on my desk at home for weeks - with my daughter frequently reminding me about the headband I promised to make. Finally, I found the time to make her headband. After cutting out the headband, my daughter asked if there was enough for some other projects. She told me she would also like a sunglasses case for her new shades and a pouch for her garmin watch, extra bands, and charger. So I put on my creativity hat and these are the projects we are able to do with one fat quarter (and a scrap from another project). I am actually going to turn this tutorial into three posts because there are a lot of pics. So here is project number one: The headband

Here is the fat quarter I started with:

First cut 2 pieces at 3" x 22".

here they are cut, but folded in half so they actully look shorter

Then fold each end in about 1/2" and iron - this makes the edges finished when you sew in the elastic

Next, fold one of the pieces in half on the long side and sew into a long tube. Repeat with the second piece.

Flip the tube right side out

Place the seem in the middle of the tube and iron flat - like this

Nest you are going to lay the two tubes across each other in a big "x" shape

the one on the bottom should be facing seem up and the one on the top should be facing seem down

Next you are going to fold the two pieces over each other - the result looks like a knot

Now we are going to add the elastic. Cut a piece of elastic about 2-3" long. Insert one end of the elastic into one end of the tube.

then align the 2 tubes on top of each other and stitch across - make sure to stitch across several times so the elastic won't come out when you are stretching the headband to put it on.

Do the sme thing to the other end. At this point, I put the elstic in and pinned it with a safety pin. Then I had my daughter try it on to make sure it was the right size. After it was the right size, I stitched that end also - making sure to stitch several times again so it waas secure.