When I posted the twins’ 6-month photos, several of you asked if I had made their headbands, which looked a little something like this:
And the answer was mostly “no.” Only mostly because, while I did attach the elastic to make them into headbands, I did not make the flowers.
They are, however, one of the easiest (and cutest!) little flowers to make, so I thought I’d make a few to match their Easter outfits and then show you how I did it.
Here’s what you’ll need to get started:
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Fabric (this works best with lightweight and/or silky fabrics)
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1/8” elastic
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Scissors
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Hot glue gun
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Felt (not pictured)
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Needle/thread or sewing machine (not pictured)
::STEP 1::
Cut long strips of fabric. The length you want depends on how large you want your flower to end up, but a good rule of thumb is to cut the strips twice as long as you want the end product to be because you will be gathering the strips into loose ruffles, which, obviously, shortens them. You can also play with the width of your fabric strips, but you will be folding them in half, so you want them to be at least 1”-1 1/2” wide.
::STEP 2::
Set the stitch length on your sewing machine to its longest setting. You don’t want tight, short stitches, or you won’t have any slack in your thread for the gathering process. You can do this by hand sewing long loose basting stitches, but it will definitely take longer.
{5 is as high as my seam length goes, but you can also play around with the tension knob if you want your stitches a little looser}
::STEP 3::
Fold your fabric strip in half and sew a seam down the length of the raw edge.
Depending on the kind of fabric you use and the length of your seam, it may start gathering a bit even as you sew the seam, thus saving you a bit of work.
::STEP 4::
Don’t backstitch when you get to the end of the strip. Grab one of the loose threads at the end and begin to gently pull on it, while simultaneously sliding the fabric away from the thread.
Keep bunching and sliding until you have gathered the fabric strip to your liking. Obviously, a tighter bunch will produce more of a ruffled look.
{Clearly, the edges/stitching don’t have to be pretty; you’ll hide this when you make the flower}
::STEP 5::
Cut a felt square that is smaller than the finished size of your flower will be.
::STEP 6::
Glue the end of your gathered fabric strip to the felt square, starting in the center and continuing outwards in a circle (making sure to tuck each consecutive layer under the previous one) until you’ve achieved your desired size. To finish, turn the flower over, and secure the “tail” of your ruffle underneath the felt square.
At this point, you should have this:
::STEP 7::
Attach a length of 1/8” elastic band to the back of your felt square.
At which point, you should have this:
::STEP 8::
Find somebody adorable (or, if you’re especially blessed, TWO adorable somebodies) to put it on.
{Apparently, my babies are well-versed in flapperesque jargon}
These are the Easter outfits that perfectly matched their big sister’s dress (you’ll see tomorrow) that we didn’t actually get to wear on Easter.
I am so fascinated by the glints of copper in their hair. Could we end up with a pair of blue-eyed, auburn-haired beauties? I wouldn’t mind a bit!
Oh, hi there, Mama! The headbands are fine, and all, but what I’m really digging are these shoes.
After all…
But back to the headbands. It only took me half an hour to make both of them, and I happen to think they look pretty darn fetching on my baby girls’ noggins.
P.S. I believe I might have mentioned this before, but I’m kind of in love with the fact that I have twins. I mean, how could I not be when I get daily doses of this:
and this:
I know, right? My heart swells so big sometimes, I’m a little afraid it’ll burst!
So, what about you guys? Are you big into accessorizing your kiddos? Honestly, I couldn’t care less about the boys’ clothes being just so most of the time, but I get a real kick out of dressing my girls cute (when I have time…the rest of the time, they’re in footie-pajamas).
Oh, and don’t forget! You still have time to enter the TWO fabulous giveaways we have going on right now!
1.
Any Cutting Edge Stencil of your choice (ends tonight!)
and
2.
A Texas-sized ($700+) chance at tons of fabulous gift cards to your favorite clothing and house shops (including ANTHROPOLOGIE!!!)
Love when you share such cutie oratory photos! Is it possible that Evy favors your husband more while Nola looks more like you?? I really see it in the Easter dress photos!
XO,
Christy
Oops! That’s cuty patooty!! ( my iPad preferred oratory)
Abbie, they are just positively yummy! I’m so glad you did a post w/ pics of them! I cannot belive how much they have grown….You truly are double blessed! (The captions you added are too funny 🙂
And the headbands turned out super cute….and they look super easy. I only wish my lil’ miss would still wear a headband 🙁 She will do a bow for a little while so I could just do a flower.
I do love to dress my little miss up, but I don’t do it as often as I thought I would. More than not, it is just jeans and and a little shirt. I love to dress her for church 🙂 I don’t put bows in her hair unless we are headed somewhere and even then, I don’t put it in until we get out of the car or she will take it out & eat it. Yuck!
I have a ton of hand-me-downs for her, so I feel guilty buying new stuff, but I see stuff in the stores that is just too cute….hard to resist.
I know all about hand-me-downs and bargain clothes and still wanting to buy Della all the cute little things I see! She’s never been a bow eater, thank goodness, but she won’t wear headbands very well at all. So I have to content myself with the twins on that one. And they are cute, aren’t they? 🙂
So stinkin’ cute!!!
oh my gosh Abbie, your twins are so adorable. How do you get things done? don’t you just want to sit whole day looking at them? 🙂
The twins are adorable and the headbands super cute. Thanks for letting us know how to make them!
Totally with ya on the whole “don’t care about what the boys wear, but the girls outfit better be perfect” thing. Love the headbands!
LOVE the shoes!! Your family is just beautiful. What brand/color of nail polish are YOU wearing?! Thanks!
Thanks! And I don’t actually know about the nail polish color because I got a shellac mani at a local salon, and I didn’t even think to ask the name. Sorry!
Oh my gosh. They just couldn’t be any cuter. That picture of Evy’s eyes is just a heart-melter!
I concur!