Friday, July 14, 2017

Embroidered Hair Band



I made this hair band as a birthday gift for my sister. Her birthday is actually today, so, "Happy 6th Birthday!" to her. :)

(Picture used with permission.)

Isn't she so cute! She has such lovely curly hair, but, she gets really frustrated by it being in her way. I thought maybe the hair band would help her a little.


I did some modeling with it just to get pictures. And, I did take LOTS of pictures!


I would like to make a few more of these hair bands in the future. I made this design up as I went, so the pictures will help me replicate it someday.


I have been wearing more hair accessories lately. I style my hair very plainly. Almost every single day of my life I put hair in a bun, and that is all I do.


I put my hair in a bun every day because it is easy, convenient, and protects my hair, and, since I want to be able to sell it for a high price I want it to stay in good condition.


I have found adding accessories to my plain style has been a fun way to express some of my personality. I think I would use an embroidered piece like this pretty frequently.


The design was inspired by Mexican and Hungarian styles of embroidery (what a combination! Right?). I did several searches on Pinterest that gave me some good ideas.


The flowers are comprised mostly from satin stitch with a backstitch boarder. I used 3 strands of floss for the satin stitch as well as the backstitch.


The stems between the larger flowers is a stem stitch using 3 strands of floss while the smaller stems are backstitching using 2 stands of floss. The leaves are some type of herring bone stitch, I believe. I did a blanket stitch detail around some of the leaves using just 1 strand if thread.



I used an unbleached linen to make the band from. I liked the end product, but it would be easier to embroider finer details with a more tightly woven fabric.


After I stitched the design I sewed the back on by putting the right sides together, adding a layer between the front and back to act as interfacing, stitching with a 1/4" seam allowance down the long edges, and then turning it right side out.


I decided to make the tie straps from the linen, as opposed to using a ribbon, because the linen would offer more grip and be more likely to stay tied.

The overall length is slightly over 30 inches. I think it is a good length. It was not hard to tie on nor was there a lot of excess.


When I finish assembling the band I did a boarder stitch through all the layers to add visual completeness as well as to keep the casing from rolling.




4 comments:

A Heart of Praise said...

Very pretty! It looks adorable on your little sister! :)

A.J. said...

Absolutely beautiful! You've got lovely hair, too. I know how your sis feels... I'm also curly haired! What a nice present for her. :)

Embroidery is one craft I haven't been taught but would like to learn (that is, if you don't consider cross-stitch). I would have to teach myself. Any ideas on how to begin?

Sarah said...

Your hand embroidery is beautiful! You are so creative. I just love the colors you chose, as well as the variety of flowers. The picture of your little sister is adorable. You can tell by her smile she was thrilled with her new headband. : )

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