Sweaty Ribbons

Sweat and ribbons?  I know.  It sounds like they don't belong together, right?

That may be true, but to my athletic and active nieces, the use of an elastic, hairband to keep the hair off their faces has become as much a part of their activewear as spandex and jog bras.

There are many types of elastic hairbands but the ones that are super popular right now are called Sweaty Bands and cost anywhere from $12-$15 apiece!

That's a lot of money for two strips of ribbon and a bit of elastic.  

So when this niece turned sixteen this past Summer, I offered to make some non-slip, sweaty headbands to add to her sports arsenal...

One of the key differences of sweaty bands is the velvet on the underside of the ribbon...  

The nap of the velvet keeps the ribbon from sliding off the head while you're scoring goals, running a marathon, or jumping out of an airplane...

Ribbons can be found at your local craft store but I used the "gift" as an excuse to order some designer ribbons from Renaissance Ribbons...

If you've never checked out Renaissance Ribbons, give yourself a treat and browse around.  Many of their ribbons are designed by artists such as Amy Butler, Laura Foster Nicholson, Kaffe Fassett, etc.

Hey, my niece needed to have choices, right?

The project was fairly quick and easy...

I found two tutorials online that helped with sizing and tips.  

I followed this advice of Gladys of Desert Chic blog who suggested fusing the velvet and ribbon together before sewing (which I did) as well as using invisible thread in the bobbin (which I also did).  Likewise, I found this tutorial from the Undomestic Goddess to be most helpful in figuring out sizes.  I have one niece who finds that the standard size headband is too small and gives her a headache so I made a couple bands one inch larger for her.

All in all I think they're great as gifts, stocking stuffers, teammates, etc.

Today I'm working on making leaves for Mrs. Rose.  It's a gray, rainy day so I'm wearing white to help with the low light...but roses seem to grow faster when it rains.

Tell you about that next time.