Convertible Zipper Dress-Up Headband

When we were brainstorming projects for Zipper Week: Sponsored by Zipit Zippers, Jaime had this great idea for a dress-up headband for which you could interchange accessories in a zip. Since she was globe-trotting, I stole the idea and ran with it. It’s already a big hit around here, especially with this little girl…

And with a quick zip she is transformed into her favorite princess, Rapunzel.

Zipper Week sponsored by Zipit ZippersDo little girls still wear veils for First Communion? I love that you can remove the veil and still have a fancy headband to wear about town. Not that we wouldn’t wear a floor-length veil about town, because we totally would.

Here’s what you do. Grab a pack of these 6 Inch Bubble Gum Pink 3mm Nylon Coil YKK Separating Zippers

And a pack of Babyville Boutique Fold Over Elastic Lavender/Pink.Cut a length of elastic that fits the child’s head. 20″ is a safe bet.

With elastic open and right-side-facing, sew ends together to form a loop.

Take your separating zipper and tuck one long edge inside the fold over elastic. Note that my elastic seam is at the bottom. If I were to make another, I would have placed the seam just at the edge of the zipper tape instead.

Using a stretch stitch and your zipper foot, stitch the elastic closed all the way around. If your machine doesn’t have a stretch stitch, a zig-zag will do.

Here you have the basic headband. Now let’s make something fancy to attach.

For the veil, I used silvery gray tulle, approx 1yd square. I rounded the bottom two corners and sewed sequin trim all the way around three sides. Check the Michael’s $1 bin for spools, they are so cheap and come in pretty colors.
Remove the side of the zipper that is not sewn to the headband and face it right-side-facing with the non-sequined edge of your veil. Gather the tulle to the length of the zipper using whatever method you prefer. I just quickly pinched it and pinned.

Sew in place (always sew a few front and back stitches at beginning and end.)

Your fancy veil is finished. Now if you would like, you can make a wig.

Wrap an entire ball of yarn around a large piece of cardboard, the desired length of wig. It doesn’t need to bend like this. : )

Pull yarn off of cardboard.

Sew the yarn to a piece of ribbon the same length as the zipper tape.

Flip the hair around to expose the edge of the ribbon and sew that securely to the edge of a second zipper. I used a red zipper because I had it handy but you should match all your zippers if you can. Oh, and also, use your zipper foot.

Cut all the loops at the bottom of your wig and style as desired. We like the braid.

Now you have a veil and a wig, Let’s beautify the headband. I separated the petals from the plastic of silk flowers and sewed them directly to the headband with sequins spiraled in the center. Then I touched it up with hot glue to secure. So fast and easy. Feel free to get creative here. Buttons, fabric flowers, yo-yos, jewels. Go to town.

This was a really fun project to make. I had a hard time stopping myself from making more add-ons. I think we will be revisiting this projects with additional wigs, veils and headbands to interchange!

by

5 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *