Custom Fit No Slip Headband for Moms and their Little Ones

Custom Fit No Slip Headband- for Moms and their Little Ones

I love wearing headbands but I seem to have a hard time finding ones that fit my head. I have a lot of thick naturally curly red hair that the average hair accessory has a hard time fitting around. I also have a toddler that doesn't have a lot of hair yet but was born with spina bifida. Her head is not huge and she was blessed to have not developed hydrocephalus or require a shunt- but even with that in her favor- Rachel can be hard to fit for a toddler headband.

My red hair tamed by a french braid and headband.Ignore the white hair- fetal surgery has a way of quickly changing your body chemistry.

Tootsie and her headband.

Supplies Needed

Scrap material or fat quarter
Tape measure
Scissors
Elastic tape- any width
Puffy paint

Measure the head circumference of the individual you are making the headband for- measuring the head where you would like the headband to sit after making.

I measured my head where you see the headband placed on me in this picture. This measurement subtract 1.5  inches will be your headband length.

Cut your material to your headband length. The photos I used were of Tootsie's headband being made from some leftover material of a skirt I had just finished making myself.

Next you will cut your headband to width. For an adult I would recommend using 3.5 inches wide and for a baby/toddler I would recommend 2.5 - 3 inches wide. For Rachel's I used 3 inches wide.

 With right sides together fold material in half length wise- press with iron.

Sew raw edges together using 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Turn inside out.

Place fabric flat with seam mid line and press.

Turn each end in about 1/4 inch and press. You will be inserting your piece of elastic tape into these open ends. Cut a piece of elastic tape that is approximately 3 inches long.

Feed one end of your elastic tape approximately 1/2 inches into one of the open ends of your headband. Stitch the opening closed securing the elastic tape.

With one end of your elastic tape secured- I would recommend pinning the other end of the elastic tape into the remaining open end of your headband.

  Once pinned into place- try on your headband (careful not to cause an injury with the pin) and adjust the length of your elastic tape accordingly. On my first run with Tootsie's headband- she was finishing a nap so I had not tried on her headband but stitched the elastic into place. To make a long story short- the headband was too small.

Once your elastic tape is adjusted to the desired length- stitch into place. I do not recommend cutting the elastic tape shorter before sewing for a headband for your little one. As they grow and the headband starts to become too tight you can use your seam ripper to open the end of the headband with the extra elastic in it and lengthen it to fit again. (or if you are like me and like to learn the hard way- it is good to have extra elastic)

The finished (short) headband. The next step will be to make your headband non slip.

Turn the headband so that the inside center area is facing supine.

Add small dots of puffy paint in a domino like pattern to the inside center of the headband. If some of the dots are too big (as the puffy paint bottle can be a trouble maker at times) take a toothpick and dab some of the puffy paint onto the toothpick and place it as a different dot. The dots do not need to be perfect or big to work. If using a light colored material be careful to use a lighter colored puffy paint. (We only had one bottle of black and one bottle of hot pink at our house).

Carefully manipulate the inside ends of the headband to be supine also without distracting your wet center dots.

 

 Add more dots in a similar pattern to both ends of the headband. On the left hand side you can see one of my huge dots after the bottle got the best of me. Let the puffy paint dry according to the instructions on the bottle. If you are too impatient to wait for the puffy paint to dry- you can use self adhesive "hook" pieces of Velcro. I have done this also but it does not have the staying put power that the puffy paint does. You can also add dots of puffy paints to toddler socks to help make them less slippery.

Tootsie's headband staying put as she shakes around in her high chair. Mine stayed put after 45 minutes of rollerblading with a good wind outside. I declare puffy paint as my new fashion/beauty must have- I will be adding it to some other headbands I have bought that just slip off.