Sweet Stitches Headband Tutorial

If you missed our recent free mini class on how to make a super adorable headband on the new 530 or you’ve just been looking for an excuse to take the decorative stitches on your machine out for a spin, here is your chance!

To make this project you will need:

• Some scrap fabric to test your decorative stitches
• One piece of solid neutral fabric cut to 3 5/8″ x 18″
• One piece of lightweight fusible interfacing cut to 3 5/8″ x 18″
• One 5 1/2″ strip of 1/2″ elastic
• A spool of colored thread with a matching bobbin
• A spool of neutral thread (color should match fabric) with a matching bobbin
• A fabric marking pen (recommend air or heat soluble)
• A ruler
• A seam gauge
• Scissors
• Thread snips
• An iron and ironing board or pad

Now the fun begins! For this headband you will want to pick a non-directional decorative stitch for the middle row, and a directional decorative stitch for the outside rows. Look through the decorative stitches on your machine and use your scrap fabric to test how the stitches look together. Make sure your machine is threaded with the colored thread you want to use for your final headband so you have a clear idea of what it will look like stitched out.

Once you’ve chosen your stitches, grab your interfaced fabric rectangle and get ready to sew your center non-directional stitch. You will position the center of your presser foot along the line you drew down the length of your fabric and your needle directly above the line you drew on one of the short sides of the fabric. Keep sewing until you get to the other short end of your fabric.

Now that you have your middle row finished, you’re ready to add your outside rows. Line up the left edge of your presser foot along the line you drew down the length of your fabric. Your needle should be positioned over the short line.

Begin stitching down the length of the fabric, keeping the left edge of your presser foot lined up with the long line. We were able to utilize the new and improved Combi-Mode on the Bernina 530 (new to the downstairs classroom) to combine different decorative stitches and create a one-of-a-kind design.

Starting from the opposite short end of your fabric, repeat this process for your third line of stitches. Starting from the opposite end will ensure that the stitches are a mirror image of the second line of stitches you sewed. Or perhaps your machine allows you to mirror image decorative stitches with the push of a button, like the 530! Consult your manual to see what functionality is available for your decorative stitch work like Pattern End or Pattern Repeat.

Now that you have your three lines of decorative stitches sewn, you’re ready to move to the ironing board.

Fold the long side closest to your decorative stitches over 5/8″ toward the wrong side of your fabric and press.

Fold the short ends over 5/8″ toward the wrong side of your fabric and press.

On the long side farthest away from your decorative stitches, fold over about 1/2″. You will want to make sure that your decorative stitches are going to be centered when the rectangle is folded in half lengthwise, so you may need to fold the last long side slightly more or slightly less than 1/2″. Once you have everything nicely centered, press the rectangle in half, lining up the folded edges of the long side.

Now you’ll thread your machine with white thread. If you have an edgestitch foot, put it on your machine and move your needle all the way to the left. You’ll position your fabric so that the folded edge is to the left of the center guide. If you’re using a regular zigzag foot, you can leave your needle in the center position and just use the inside opening of  the presser foot as your guide to sew close to the edge. Stitch along the long edges on both sides of the rectangle, leaving the short ends folded under but not stitched down.

Now you’re ready to insert the elastic and stitch it down! Feed about 1/2″ of elastic into one of the open short ends. Edgestitch along the short end, sewing down the elastic. Repeat the same process for the other end.

Trim your thread tails and your headband is complete!