I've been gradually packing things I think we'll need into our hospital bag for whenever our little one arrives. I thought it would be a good idea to have something packed for keeping my hair out of my face. I have a favourite lace headband for this purpose (you've seen it before here) which also serves as the perfect thing for covering up unwashed hair when I want to look presentable but don't have time for a shower. The only problem is, if I pack it I might not have it for a few weeks and if I don't pack it I might forget it when the time comes. The solution is to make another headband and when I sat down to do that I thought I'd document the process just in case anyone else would like to make a lace headband too. So here is a quick Headband How-To for anyone else who dislikes having hair in her face when she's working:

Gather your materials:

I made my headbands with 6" wide stretch lace (I got mine from here) and scraps of jersey fabric. Any width of lace should work just fine. When I was scrounging around I also found some nice scraps of a jersey print. You'll also need thread to match your jersey scraps (or close enough - it will be mostly hidden by your hair anyway).

For the lace headband:

1. Cut your lace into a 16" to 17" long strip. Cut a jersey strip 2½" wide and 5" long (I'm making more than one headband so I made one long strip and cut it into 5" sections afterwards). Make sure your jersey strip is stretchiest lengthwise.

2. Sew your strip into a tube with a ¼" seam and a stretchy stitch (this could be a zig-zag stitch or a mock serge stitch, whatever your machine has got).

3 &4. Trim away the extra seam allowance and turn your strip right side out. Press it gently to keep the seem in the middle of one side.

5. Turn under ¼" to ½" on each end and press in place.

6. Making sure the outside (seamless) side of your jersey tube is matched up with the good side of your lace, gather the end of the lace strip and tuck it inside the end of the tube by about ½".

7. Sew the lace into the end of the jersey tube with a straight stitch. I like to go back and forth a couple of times to make sure it is secure. If your machine is having trouble feeding the bulk under its foot you can give it a hand by gently pushing the fabric through with the tip of a small pair of scissors.

Repeat for the second side being careful not to twist the lace strip. This is a good spot to check the snugness of your headband - you can pull the ends of the lace and jersey together around your head and adjust the overlap to customize the fit of your headband before it is completely sewn together.

For the Jersey Headband:
You are basically doing the same thing but with a second tube of jersey in place of the lace.

1. Cut two strips of jersey: one 2 ½ " by 5" and one 8" wide by 15" to 16" long. Make sure both strips are stretchiest lengthwise.

2. Sew both strips into tubes. Turn them right side out and gently press them to keep the seams in the middle of one side (the "inside"). Tuck in the ends of the small tube by ¼ " to ½ " and press.

3 & 4. Matching inside to inside, gather or fold one end of the large tube to fit inside the end of the small tube and sew in place. Repeat for the second side being careful not to twist your headband.

And there you go!

What do you do when you want pretty stickers but don't have any in the house? Dress up some plain ones! Here's a simple how-to:*

Grab some plain stickers, a rubber stamp and an ink pad.

Ink your stamp and press it down over your stickers.

Repeat as much as you like across your sticker sheet.

When your stickers are dry use them to decorate envelopes, packages, presents or anything else in need of a pretty accent.

*I'm sure I'm not the first to think of doing this but I'm sharing it just because it was so much fun to do.