Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post for a giveaway!
In the culinary world, an amuse-bouche is a single-bite appetizer-like food. It basically means something to “amuse your mouth” (or tickle your taste buds)–a quick fix of deliciousness. This little project is my sewing amuse-bouche in a way. I’ve been so bogged down in projects that are dragging out (the Lady Grey and a slipcover for our sofa before my inlaws arrive for Thanksgiving!), that I needed a quick sewing fix that I could do in a tiny amount of time. This little headband fascinator was inspired by a tiny picture I spotted in a 1950s magazine and I set out to replicate it straight-away! Plus, it injects a little plaid into my wardrobe (I’m still looking for the perfect vintage plaid dress that doesn’t break the bank), which is so perfect for this time of year. I think this would be fantastic in various fabrics for the holidays, for yourself or as gifts. Want to make one for yourself? I documented the steps so read on–it’s super easy!
- 1/2 yard of light to medium weight fabric (any fiber)
- plastic headband, 1/4″ wide (I purchased mine here)
- loop-turner (recommended, but you can use a needle and thread or small
- scissors (paper and fabric), pencil/pen, ruler, paper, thread to match, needle
On the paper, make three pattern pieces to the following dimensions (you could also just mark on your fabric, but if you want to make multiples, pattern pieces are the way to go!): Headband Cover 1 3/8″x14″, and mark to be cut on the bias. Headband Bow 5″x15 1/2″ marked to be cut on fold (short end). Bow Knot 3 1/2″x3″ to be cut on straight or bias.
Lay the pattern pieces on the fabric, according to the grainlines marked. Cut one of each.
With Headband Cover, fold right sides together and sew a 1/4″ seam down the long edges. (If you sew a little more than 1/4″ that is okay–you want this to fit tightly over the headband.) Grade seam allowance. Turn tube right side out using the tube-turner.
Slip the bias tube over the headband, easing it over the entire headband. Trim the ends if they are too long to about 1/4″ longer than each end.
Turn the edges inside and slipstich closed using the needle and a single thread.
Pin long edges of Headband Bow, right sides together. Stitch with a 1/2″ seam allowance, leaving a 2″ opening at the center to turn the tube.
Press seam open, centering it at the center back of the tube. Do not turn right side out yet!
On the short ends, draw a parallel line 1/2″ from the bottom edge. Measure up 3/4″ and mark a dot at the center width of the strip (approximately 1″ in). Draw a diagonal line from the center mark to the outer edge of the line and repeat to create the other leg of the bow end. Do this on both short ends.
Stitch the legs of the bow ends, pivoting at the center and backstitching at either end. Trim seam close to stitching, clip corners and notch the corner. Turn right side out and press. Slipstitch 2″ opening closed with needle and single thread.
With right sides together of Bow Knot, sew long edges together with a 1/2″ seam allowance. Turn right side out and press flat so the seam is at the center back.
With bow facing right side (without seam) up, mark the center of the length with a pin, and then place another pin 2″ from end on either side. Loop bow so the loop touches the outer pin and loops under at the center pin mark. Repeat for other side of bow.
Pin all layers securely so they don’t shift. On underside of bow, catch stitch the loops together at the center using needle and doubled thread.
Place Bow Knot over center of bow, arranging it so it sits nicely on the right side. On the underside, turn under one raw edge of the knot 3/8″ and overlap the other edge by 3/8″ to cinch the center of the bow. Pin securely. Catch stitch folded edge to Bow Knot with needle and doubled thread.
Slip headband through Bow Knot on the underside, sandwiching it between the Bow and Bow Knot and making sure it’s centered along the length of the headband. Whipstitch the Bow Knot to the headband cover fabric, and be sure to take a few stitches on the bow underside to secure the headband in place.
Secure the shaped ends of the bow (not the loops) to the headband on either side with a few whipstitches as well.
Enjoy sporting your 1950s style bow! I think this would be lovely made up in a variety of fabrics–especially sumptuous ones like brocade, velveteen, or a shiny silk. You could also embellish it with some beads or sequins. The holidays are the perfect time of year to add some sparkle to even an everyday outfit!
50s Bow Headband Giveaway
If you don’t want to make one yourself (or just like this one), I am giving away one to a lucky reader! I haven’t done a proper giveaway in so long… it’s shameful because I adore doing these. You’ll get a brand new (unworn–I made two during shooting this tutorial) plaid bow just for yourself! I even added an Elegant Musings tag to the inside to make it “official”. Here’s how to enter:
- Leave a comment in this post for one entry telling me what your favorite small gift is to give to people for the holidays/birthdays/special occasions.
- If you would like additional entries, you can Tweet or post on your blog about this giveaway with a link back. Just be sure to come back here, comment and post a link to your Tweet/post! (Feel free to use one of the images here in your post.)
- The giveaway is open until Sunday, November 7 at 10pm (EST). A winner will be randomly chosen and I’ll announce the winner on Monday.
- This giveaway is open to readers worldwide!
Is it silly I get so excited about doing a giveaway?! I think I might try to squeeze in one more before 2010 is over… Good luck with this one!!!
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Reblogged on Tumblr:
http://gloriouslyvintage.tumblr.com/
and Twitter:
http://twitter.com/#!/ColorMeBSG
Oh! And here’s a little blog post: http://havedegreewilltravel.blogspot.com/2010/11/50s-headband-giveaway.html
that is just gorgeous…. YOU are just gorgeous. Plaid and bows are amazing things…together, they make me weak in the knees!!
I love the headband! You look like a page from a 1950s Vogue magazine in that last picture. The pose, the dress, the headband, everything. So elegant.
Melissa
My favorite thing to give as gifts for the special people in my life is of course something that I know they’ll really love. So I listen to them all year and remember when they say something like “I wish I really had a……..”, or “I need to buy myself one of those.” It works great and they are SO surprised!! It feels so good to do this for someone I really care about, and most of the time it doesn’t cost much at all!
Such a cute tutorial! I adore making headbands. I can never find one in a store that looks good on me, so I make my own!
Every year, I like to melt down all of my leftover candle wax drippings and “resurrect” my candles, but I like to add little lavender buds, fake petals, glitter, and other things like that. I give them to my family to light up on Christmas Eve
Nearly completely free of cost and so much fun to do!
Cute headband!
Well… I love to make my own beauty products to give to my friends and family like lip balm and sugar scrubs, and I want to start making my own moisturizing creams, hopefully this year.
What a lovely headband!! I will try to make my own one of this days. Until then I hope I can wear this one, if I ever win it
!
By the way, I like making gift to my friends and I love to cook, so I often make for them cup cakes, muffins or other sweets! And usually they appreciate a lot ^_^ !
Have a nice day!
Bunny.
Love this simple step-by-step. I too have massive projects that bog me down and I start to lose inspiration. This is the time I spend looking through my google reader, and your message popped up – absolute impeccable timing!
I love making little traditional lavender sachets – my family make a lot of them, perhaps it’s a british thing. My lavender plants are still only tiny because I started them from seed, so I branched out (almost literally) into the rest of my garden for things that smell nice, and I dry and fill my sachets depending on the person’s taste. Rosemary is very similar to lavender so it’s a great alternative, but thyme, lemonbalm, blackcurrant twigs (smell like the fruit!) and my mexican orange blossom leaves also smell really nice in my wardrobe – so I love giving them as presents, especially as it’s entirely homemade and homegrown (and very cheap and quick to make – perfect!). Also great for using up little scraps of fabric, ribbon, raffia and garden wire that seem to be lying around every bit of my house
That is so cute! My favorite small gift to give people is cookies, but I think I’m going to knit scarves for Christmas gifts next year.
And I tweeted
http://twitter.com/miss1941
Great tutorial and such a lovely giveaway!
Just tweeted about the giveaway! Couldn’t miss the extra chance to win!
https://twitter.com/paollawanglon/status/29619620368
Adorable! My favorite small homemade gift is freezer jam in cute jars.
Such an adorable headband!
I gave lots of people homebrewed ginger beer for Christmas last year, it’s definitely become my favourite homemade treat! (Just don’t let it explode all over your kitchen… whoops)
Jenx
The bow is beautiful! My favourite small handmade gift to give is a cloth bookmark. They do not take long and you can make them as fancy or plain as the person you are giving it to.
Such a lovely website! I think I’ll try to make one of these headbands with the bow off-center in dark purple. As far as little gifts go, I like to make food-gifts. This Christmas I’m thinking about trying jars of jam, chutney or pumpkin butter.
How terribly cute! I never would have thought to match red plaid with a navy dress, but it looks great! I don’t really have a little gift I like to give people, but I am making aprons for quite a few of the women in my family this Christmas.
I tweeted this post as well, but don’t know how to leave html to it! I tweeted at you so you can find it!! Thx!!!
I shared on my blog!
http://star-spangledheart.blogspot.com/2010/11/cute-festive-giveaway-tutorial.html
Oh, I really love giveaways too! And gosh the headband is gorgeous! The proportions are just perfect. I have to make one for myself, but I sitll hope I could win your perfect little headband with the logo and everything
.
I like making Lefse for presents because its unique (well except in ND where Im from) and because it takes all day to cook so you know the giver worked hard because they liked you
(this is my entry btw)
Fabulous! I think I’ll have to keep this in mind for Christmas
Thanks for the great pics and tutorial! Inspiring as always!
I make jam every summer, so I give little pots of homemade strawberry or raspberry jam…
the headband is beautiful! I hope I win!
We can’t ever fail with well done photographs of our family. That and a card has gotten us through many a tight Christmas when we could only get gifts for the kids.
This is so neat! I like making fancy brooches for gifts. Like tiny medicine bottles fashioned into military inspired medals. Cheers!
my favorite small gift is crocheted Christmas Tree ornaments. This year I am going to make covers for the bright Christmas balls. I’ve been collecting them at the after Christmas sales for a few years and this is the year they will be used!
That is a beautiful bow, and thanks for sharing the tutorial. Back in the mumbly decade, my mother decided I would look best with my hair pulled straight back from my forehead and the rest in a bob (kind of a modified Tammy look from the 60′s). I didn’t back comb or tease my hair but did make bows out of grosgrain ribbon to fasten over the plain hair clips. Your bow is much more elegant!
I like to give home-made cookies to my son’s teacher and also jars filled with the ingredients ready to mix for the teacher in case they want to bake them! =D
I love to draw, it is my passion, so for my friend’s birthday, I love to give them a drawing, that represents all of the things in their life, kind of like their life on one sheet of paper. They always love it, it usually doesn’t take a long time…if I focus!
I take and develop my own black and white photos, so I love to give people a framed print as a gift. It’s something one of a kind and totally specific to them.
I adore baking. So i give people either cupcakes, cookies, or a cake; all of which are holiday themed. I just love baking!! And who doesnt enjoy themed sweets??
I love giving away home made cards because they really come from a creative place and people like know that even simple gifts like that can make the day better. They r cute, Pretty simple to make and most of the time pretty cheap. Love the look by the way! Red is your color.
Holy smokes! Your makeup, dress, and hair is amazing! Love it!
This is so beautiful on you!! I would love to see more of that top/dress that you’re wearing!
I don’t have a favorite small gift. The people I give to most often are my children and they all like such different things. The only thing that I give that all the same are handmade pj pants and art supplies. Or books.
I like to make felt appliques. Once I get a pattern down it’s a snap to recreate, and my friends seem to really appreciate the gesture. For example, I made this laptop case for my friend and put a special coffee applique on it because she loves coffee.
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x88/aulana/ksleeve.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1273594724985
I went ahead and just re did the applique for another friend and she ironed it into a tote bag. I just save the patterns and reuse or adapt them later. It’s also a ton of fun…
Adorable headband! I just love your blog, it’s so inspiring.
I love making homemade gifts, but I normally save that sort of thing for close family like my parents, sibling, or husband. I love to paint, so a lot of the time it’s something I’ve painted, but every once and awhile I’ll sew something for my mom. She loves that I’ve decided to follow her footsteps and get into sewing.
Yay plaid!! I like to make my friends earrings out of polymer clay. I make little stars and mushrooms, or figurines of my friends’ favourite actors.
this year i’m going to be giving my friends christmas cross stitches and little goodie bags of home made marshmallows, dinner mints, fruit cake, sugar cookies and toffee crisps(if the toffee doesn’t go wierd again) and probably a fancy paper crane aswell.
Casey, you siply must share more pictures of this dress. It’s gorgeus!
dear casey,
thank you for this wonderful tutorial AND the giveaway! i can definitely understand your excitement about giveaways, as I feel the same about them.
my favorite little gift for others? that is a difficult question, but usually it is always something selfmade. it is not always the same, but several things, like charms, little bags or purses and other selfmade accessoires. perhaps your tutorial might inspire me for a new selfmade gift on my list!
My favourite things to give (and to receive, for that matter) are chocolate, home baked brownies or cookies, and a nice vintage sparkly brooch.
The headband is lovely! I suspect that I will never get around to making one for myself, so I’d love to win.
I just posted about your tutorial and giveaway on my blog!
http://nettevivante.blogspot.com/2010/11/caseys-giveaway-done-up-like-present.html
Have a good day! byebye
Thanks for the giveaway! The headband is very pretty. And the tutorial is so clear and well done! I usually give something edible like pralines in a pretty package. I’ve been meaning to try to make the marshmallows you wrote about last Christmas, maybe this year! Another thing I sometimes make are little notebooks or homemade cosmetics – usually something that you use up and won’t be around forever. There are some great gift ideas in these comments!
♥
Very cute headband!
I can’t wear plastic headbands though I always get a headache
I do however want to know where you got your little tag with elegant musings on it that you stitched to the headband.
It’s a very cute headband and a great fabric! Like it
I also posted your giveaway on my blog:
http://www.swingbunny.com/?p=121
Have a nice day,
B.
I like making knitted things as small gifts. This year, two of my brothers-in-law are receiving hats, and my sister-in-law is getting a knitted headband. I love knitting, and they seem to love the knitted gifts, so it’s a win-win situation.
What a pretty gift for a giveaway! Thank you…
I’m grateful to be introduced to a new word too – amuse-bouche. Love it!
Last Christmas I gave each of my 5 sisters a vintage item (old Pillsbury Bake-off cookbooks, a 60′s Christmas elf, a 40′s planter, etc.) that I had picked up at estate sales. They cost me very little – but they were greatly appreciated because each was unique.
Hey
I’m so excited for this tutorial! I’ve been looking for a headband idea for work; it’s meant to be black but I think I might get away with sequins!
I usually make drawstring bags to put my various small gifts in
It’s really handy for cookies and things too!
Keep up your amazing creations
Adorable headband!
I always like either knitting little things like mittens or scarves for close friends every few Christmases or so. Other than that, baked goods are pretty much a staple for gift giving.
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