T-shirt Headband Tutorial

I have a slight obsession with fabric headbands. My hair is fine, thick, and wavy, which most of the time equals unruly. I have found that throwing on a headband is the easiest way to control my crazy hair.

I made this headband last November and it quickly became my favorite headband. It's comfy, goes with lots of outfits, and the flowers add a little interest.




So I thought it was time to make a few new ones. I used the same t-shirt as before. It is a super soft Gap shirt that I found at the thrift store. I bought it to actually wear, but it was too small. I have been holding on to the remnants for the perfect project. I made 3 different versions for my various needs.

The first is a thinner headband to be used when my hair is not quite as unruly.

I started with a strip of t-shirt that is about 2.5 inches x 14 inches.

Then I cut down the middle of the piece with my rotary cutter. Do not cut all the way to the end. Leave 3 inches or so uncut on each end.

Make another cut just like the first one.

Then another cut below.

When you stretch the headband, the strips will curl up. You may have to turn your piece over depending on which side was up when you started cutting.

Next take one end and fold the sides in like so.

Then fold over again.

Sandwich the elastic in between the folds.

Zig zag the elastic in place. Then repeat with the other side.

My piece of elastic is 5 inches long. I would recommend sewing one end then trying it on to see how tight you want it. The elastic does stretch over time so I would go tighter rather than looser.

I tried to photograph myself with the headband on and was not successful so I had to call in a model. Here you can see the headband scrunched together or pulled apart.

I also have a favorite headband that I wear when I work out. Since it gets all sweaty and has to be washed frequently, I needed to have a back up. The one I have is store bought, but I knew that I could easily duplicate it.

I started with a larger piece of t-shirt. This one is extra wide to tame very unruly hair.

I used the hem of the t-shirt as the front of my headband. This piece is 4" x 14.5".

All you do is fold the end accordion style like so.

The hem will be on the top. It won't seem right, but trust me.

Sandwich the elastic between the folds.

Then zig zag and repeat on the other side.

The third one that I made was a hybrid of the two previous headbands. I cut it into strips, but I used a wider piece of fabric.

The options are endless.