sewVery Simple All-Purpose Headband Tutorial

Now that I have grown my hair back out long, I'm finding that I wear it up in a ponytail fairly often or need to keep the front out of my face, especially when I go for a walk, sew, or do a lot of chores around the house. I have such thick, frizzy hair, that I desperately needed something to keep those kinky curls contained and under some control. Of course, the simplest solution was to sew up a few wide, knit headbands for me to keep it all under control!

These headbands were such a cinch to sew and are great for everyday casual wear or a workout, so naturally, I took a few pictures and created the sewVery Simple All-Purpose Headband Tutorial so you can sew some, too. 

You are going to love these so much that you'll make one to match all your new knit shirts and dresses since the all-purpose headbands don't take much fabric to create. I've even given you the cutting dimensions to make them for your little girl, too. My daughter loves wearing hers to gymnastics class or when she is running around outside playing. 

The Fairport Purse by Radiant Home Studio

Today I'm taking part in the Radiant Home Studio 2nd Birthday Celebration with this gorgeous Fairport Purse!

I've been searching for months for the perfect project to use this lux sateen fabric on, and the Fairport Purse design is it! I paired the sateen with a textured faux leather and lined it with Essex linen. I couldn't be more pleased with the results!

sewVery Simple Holiday Project Ideas

November is passing by fast which means Christmas will be here before you know it! While I haven't put together any new Christmas project ideas quite yet (a couple are in the works), I thought I would create a round-up of my own sewVery Simple Holiday Project Ideas to give you some easy projects to decorate with and give as gifts this year.

Last Minute Teacher Gift

My son finished up third grade last week, and in normal fashion, I waited to the last minute to make his teacher a gift!  I had decided earlier in the week that I would make her an embroidered zipper pouch, but with all the extra activities at school and Ella's dance class during the week, I just didn't make the time to get it done before the last day of school!

So, on the morning of my son's last half day, I cut out a piece of duck cloth and set up my embroidery machine to stitch out this cute bird in a nest of leaves design.  The design is from Hang to Dry.  I purchased it a few weeks ago when they had a sale.  I'm finding that I enjoy embroidery designs much better than applique designs.  I get a little frustrated with all the stopping and starting and removing the hoop from my machine for applique work.

Anyway, I had not tested out this design before, so it was a make it work no matter what kind of moment!  The design stitched out pretty good, but because it jumps from leaf to leaf so quickly, I didn't stop each time to trim the threads and instead waited until it was finished to do all the trimming.  Well, as you can see, that made it difficult in some spots to get a close snip, and some of the threads frayed or fuzzed up on the ends as a result.  Also, some of the outline stitching was off from the fill.  All in all I really like the design and will use it again.

I then used a piece of Amy Butler's Lark Floral Couture in Berry for the lining paired with a pink zipper and a matching zipper pull.  Project complete!

Ella and I were able to leave the house with enough time to run by the store and purchase a gift card to The Cheesecake Factory to go inside the pouch.  When we got to the school, Connor was already outside waiting, so we ran back in to find his teacher.  He gave her the gift and she loved it!  Whew!  Next year, I hope I don't wait to the very last minute to make the teacher gift, but I'm glad I finished this one in the nick of time.  Mrs. Fields was a wonderful teacher and my son loved her class!

Now it's on to the fourth grade--already!  Hope you have a great summer!