Tame that Mane with No – Slip Headbands

My daughter Grace has curly hair, and that is putting it as mildly as I can.  She was born with the most beautiful, angelic ringlets.  When she was a baby, everywhere we went I was bombarded by people asking me if I permed her hair.  Seriously, who perms an infant’s hair?!  As she has aged and become more of a rough and tumble kid, most mornings look something like this:

Okay, I’ll admit, that is pretty much a worst case scenario, (Sorry Grace, I know that you’ll someday hate me for sharing this picture!) but as you can probably tell, it is a whole lotta hair and it is hard to manage.  There are very few hair ties that can hold that much hair, and even fewer barrettes and headbands that we have found that can come close to staying put for even an hour.  When Grace wears a headband, the sheer amount of hair forces it to the front and it ends up sitting on her forehead.  Because she attends a school that requires uniforms, she loves to wear hair accessories as her way of self expression, but we had all but given up hope until we decided to try our hand at making some no – slip headbands.  And let me tell you…victory is ours!  The great thing is that these headbands stay put all day.  But not just in Grace’s hair.  They stay in my thick but straight hair and also in my little one’s super thin, next to nothing hair.  It’s pretty incredible actually.  I’ve worn them while running, Grace has worn them while playing lacrosse and they stay put!

I love that the combinations and designs for these are pretty much endless.  All you will need is:

Ribbon (I prefer 7/8 inch ribbon.  If you use a thinner ribbon it will not stay put as well.)

Coordinating velvet ribbon (of the same width)

1/2 inch elastic (choose either white or black to blend with your hair color)

Thread

Cut one 16 inch piece of each ribbon and a 7 inch piece of elastic.  Set the elastic aside.  With the wrong sides of the ribbon together (so design side facing out), fold the end of each piece of ribbon in 1/2 inch.  It should look like this: (and I totally apologize for the iPhone pic)

Pin it and do the same thing to the opposite end.  Using an 1/8 inch seam allowance, sew the long sides together, making sure to leave the ends that are folded unsewn.

Now you’ll take your 6 inch piece of elastic and insert it into about 1/2 inch into the folded end.  Sew across width wise multiple times as this is the point that will get stretched and tugged most.  I went across four times.  Making sure that the elastic is not twisted, repeat on the other end of the headband.  Now you’re all ready to accessorize or rock it as is.  The velvet will keep the headband in place and won’t rip at your hair like some of the tutorials out there that use Velcro.

And just for my own entertainment, here is a picture of Grace as a baby.  Yeah, I guess it kind of did look like I permed her hair.

Linked to Practically Functional, 504 Main, Design Dining Diapers, A Little Claireification, Glitter Glue and Paint and Jennifer Rizzo