Earwarmer Headband in Polar Fleece
Using leftover pieces of Polar Fleece and strips of ITY knits from previous projects makes this a frugal endeavor. I needed a few quick but practical gifts and these fit the bill. It’s my own pattern, and my “last-minute-gift” to you.
Modelled on my late mom’s hat-making wooden head.
There’s a link to a printable PDF pattern and the instructions at the bottom of my post, but here’s the gist of it:
Sewing an Earwarmer Headband:
- Print the pattern at 100% (Here’s what my computer screen looked like)
- Cut the pieces out and tape them together, not overlapping at all.
- Cut out 2 from polar fleece, on the fold, making sure the stretch goes in the direction of the arrow.
- Cut out 2 “binding strips” 1 1/2 inches wide and about 15 inches long cut across the grain. The stretch goes longways. I used scraps of ITY knit that were really stretchy. Swim suit fabric would work very well, too.
- Baste or pin the 2 fleece pieces with the wrong sides together. (I found that by using the built in dual feed on my new Epic 2 that I could skip the basting.)
- Decide which side will be the “right, or good” side. One of the binding strips will be sewn with the right side facing the right side of the headband, using a short narrow zig-zag, and stretching the binding just slightly as you sew. I used a stitch width of 1.5 and a length of 3 and kept the edges of all 3 layers even with the right side of my presser foot.
- Apply the binding strips to both sides of the earwarmer headband, but not to the short ends which are the center back.
- Working on one edge at a time, fold the binding strip to the back, enclosing the seam allowance. Sewing on the right side, stitch in the ditch catching all the layers. There will be some extra binding extending beyond the sewing on the back side, trim that away close to the stitching when both edges are bound. Trim the ends even with the edges of the fleece.
- If the person you’re making this for is around, try it around their head. If not, sew the back seam by placing the ends with right sides together, sew with a 1/2 inch seam allowance using the same zig-zag stitch. It will fit most heads.
- To finish, open the seam allowance at the back seam, and from the right side, stitch in the ditch along the previous top-stitching to hold the seam allowance flat. Shove the seam allowance toward the inside of the band as you topstitch so it doesn’t show from the right side.
- The stitching is shown by the yellow line. That’s it, all done.
Earwarmer headband instructions
If you find any glaring mistakes in this tutorial, please email me at yvettechilcott (at) yahoo (dot) ca. and I’ll fix it. (It’s late at night and I’ve had wine)
