How to make a headband from a fabric book cover

This headband doesn't take many supplies or any sewing skill at all.  You could make one in about 15 minutes!  Can you believe it's made from a stretchy fabric book cover?!

I made this headband from a dollar store book cover!  It's so comfortable and there are lots of ways to wear it.  These pictures show me wearing the headband pulled out to be really wide.  Scroll to the bottom of the tutorial to see a different headband folded "skinny" and twisted. 

These are quick and easy to make and you'll only need a few materials.  Dollar Tree has book covers in a lot of patterns and colors.  They have solids and cute patterns like the three I picked out.

Materials:

stretchy fabric book cover (The kind that has elastic pieces across the fabric in order to hold the cover on.)

needle

thread

scissors

Click "read more" for full instructions.

I used black thread so it would show up in the photographs.  I recommend matching your thread to your headband fabric.

The back of the book cover's package clearly shows that there are elastic pieces running the width of the book cover to hold the fabric to the book.  The book covers that are just a long strip of fabric sewn on the outer edges will not work for this tutorial.

Open your package and lay the book cover face down on your work surface.

 Cut the two pieces of elastic off the book cover (be careful not to cut the fabric).

Fold the fabric in thirds.

Sew the two flaps together.  

Do not sew all three layers together.  Leave the center third of the book cover free.

Next, reach into the tube you just created and pull out the remaining material for the center of the book cover.

Sew one end of the elastic to this point.

Repeat on the other side (sew the outer thirds together, pull out the fabric from the center third, sew the end of the elastic to the point.)

By sewing only the two flaps together, then pulling the extra fabric out of the center third, you create a beautiful, pointed, seam-free underside to the headband.  Isn't that a clever trick?

Trim the extra elastic.  As you can see, I only used a tiny bit of elastic.  Adjust the length of the elastic to fit your head.

Headbands!

You can wear the headband stretched really wide (as in the first picture in this post) or twisted (as on the left) or folded together so it's not too wide.  They are really comfortable and easy to make!  

By the way, I'm a teacher.  Please be careful with these book covers as they can ruin the binding of textbooks.  If the stretchy fabric book cover doesn't fit pretty loosely, you run the risk of breaking the binding of your book.  I recommend the old fashioned grocery bag book cover.