Vintage Handkerchiefs Made Into Little Girl Headbands

When I was in high school I went to a garage sale and bought a bunch of vintage handkerchiefs. I love handkerchiefs, because they are just so sweet and delicate, and now I can finally show them off with these little girl headbands. (These are especially good if you have a pretty handkerchief but it has a hole, or stain, because you only need half.) You too can make one of these adorable headbands all you need is...
-handkerchief
-1/2 inch wide elastic
-1 inch wide ribbon
-thread

First cut your handkerchief at a diagonal in half. Then zig zag stitch the edge to keep it from fraying. Now hold the handkerchief over the little girls head that will be wearing this headband and gage how much elastic you need in order to bring the sides together and create the shape of a headband. Keep in mind that the elastic and the handkerchief will be overlapping by an inch and a half on both sides. (My elastic was 5 inches long.) Also, it is good to know that the elastic should be a little tight, because the elastic is what holds it on, the ribbon is really just decoration.

Then zig zag stitch the elastic onto the handkerchief (overlapping an inch and a half over the handkerchief.) **Make sure you sew the elastic close to the edge but not on the edge of the handkerchief, because you will be sewing the ribbon on both sides of the elastic and there needs to be space.

Now, fold the handkerchief in half, and do the same thing to the other side.

Now its time to add your ribbon. (My ribbon was 39 inches) I cut my ribbon at an edge and then I quickly held it to a flame, this will keep the end from fraying. (Of course be careful when doing this. I know that not all ribbons will singe the same, and I don't want to be responsible for a fire.) After your ribbon is all cut and ready, sew it on to the handkerchief. I sewed the edge side first. As you can see in this picture I sewed right along the side of the elastic, not on the elastic.
Flip the handkerchief over and sew the inner side of the ribbon down. (Sew along the side of the elastic like before.)

Hooray you are done, and now all you have to do is find a cute girl to put this on!