A couple of years ago, I was looking for a specific headband pattern–one that featured a knot but was continuous and didn’t have to be tied. I scoured Pinterest, and to my surprise, there was nothing out there like what I was looking for. So, I went to work trying to figure it out on my own. After a few prototypes and some tweaks, I succeeded in recreating the image in my head.
I’m excited to share this tutorial with you! This is my own pattern, and I’m sharing it with you for free– so I’d love if you could give me credit for my design by directing your friends to this post. Thanks for supporting me and my family!
Supplies: Here’s what you will need!
- 1/4 Yard of knit fabric- you’ll want light-medium weight fabrics, as the heavier weights don’t yield as good of results, in my experience!
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- My favorites to use are Cotton Lycra (also sold as Cotton Spandex, Cotton Jersey, and Rayon Spandex
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- I also like double brushed poly for a warmer headband
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- For athletic headbands, you can use athletic knit fabric i.e. athletic brushed poly
- Fabric cutting scissors (I LOVE my Ginghers: Gingher Dressmaker Shears)
- Sewing Machine and/or serger (serger is nice, but not necessary)
- **OPTIONAL Double needle for knits (I like these!)
Cutting Steps:
- Cut a rectangle 20″ wide by 9″long. Since 1/4 yard is 9″, your width will be cut already. (With a less stretchy fabric, cut the width at 21″) I can usually get 3 cut out of the entire width of fabric, since most knits are 58-60″ wide. My last one might be short, so I usually make kids sized headbands out of those pieces. Note: You want your fabric to stretch with the width of fabric.
Sewing Steps:
- Fold the fabric with right sides together- hot dog style.
2. Stitch with a serger or stretch stitch along the raw edges on the long side.
3. Turn right side out, centering the seam in the middle of the headband.
4. Fold the headband in half with right sides together, lining up the raw edges and seam on the short sides. Offset the top layer so that the side of the top meets the seam in the middle on the bottom. 
5. Wrap the left side around so the side meets the center on the bottom. Wrap the right side of the bottom around to overlap the top layer. It will create a sandwich!
**See video for step 4&5 here!
6. Stitch through all layers at the short end., about 3/8″ from the raw edge. I like to use my double needle here to give it a nice finished look, even though you won’t be able to see this part.
7. Trim the excess threads and fabric, so that it’s about 1/8″ away from the stitching. Be careful not to cut through your stitching line!
8. Turn the headband right sides out, so that the seam is on the inside of the band. This will flip out the knot you created. You can pull on each side of the knot until it sits the way you want it to.
ANNNNd with that, we are finished! I love wearing these headbands when my hair’s up in a bun. They are also great for working out! I like wearing them with the wide side on the top, AND the knot side on the top. It’s fun to switch it up!
If you need further help, check out the video I did: Faux Knot Headband Video Tutorial
Not ready to sew your own yet? That’s okay! I have some available for purchase in my shop.
Let me know how yours turn out!
Happy Sewing, Friends!
❤ Kayliegh
**Disclosure: This blog and the posts on it may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small compensation when you make a purchase using my links at no additional cost to you. This allows me to help my little family, and I appreciate your support in doing so!**
Thanks for the tutorial! Can’t wait to try it!
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Can’t wait to see yours!
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Can you recommend the type of thread you use for the head band? I tried using Eloflex and the thread keeps breaking.
Thank you.
Jane
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I just use regular maxi lock thread in my serger and the all purpose thread from Joann. I believe it is a cotton poly content!
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I’ve followed I think correctly but id does not create a knot. A video of how the knot is created may be helpful Thanks
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I am going to be working on a video, thanks for the suggestion! Sometimes it takes some tweaking and manipulating to get it to look right, and it’s not a complete “knot”, it just mimics a knot!
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Can you please do a quick video of just the making the knot steps, five and six.
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What a great little headband, I can’t wait to try it out when I get some sewing time in the new year.
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Thank you! I’m excited to see how yours turns out!
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This is super cute! Do you know what the dimensions for a child one would be?
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Thank you! My 6 year old wears the same ones I do and they are a little bit loose, but still fit her. I’d say for a child you could do 17” and it would fit well! Depending on how much stretch your fabric has, you could go more or less from there.
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thanks!
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I just made 5 of these in about 20 minutes. Thanks for saving a bad haircut 🙂 I am so so pleased!
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Yay, I’m so glad! I’m currently wearing one with a messy bun. It’s hiding my roots real well for me!
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Hi! What size would you suggest for a newborn? This is adorable, hoping I can pull it off!
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Hey there! Your best best is probably to measure your newborns head circumference and subtract 2”. You may also want to make it more narrow, like 6-7” rather than 9”. Let me know how it goes!
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Hey! If I’m wanting to make a large (adult) medium(child-toddler), small(6 mo-12 mo) , and extra small (3 mo-6 mo), what measurements length and width do you recommend?
I want to start a project but I’m scared to cut fabric and then it not work.
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Hey there! I totally understand that. Fabric is precious!
You can measure the circumference of their head and subtract 2”-4” from the measurement depending on how much stretch your fabric has. For the baby size, width is generally personal preference, but you could go 5”-6” on width and still get a similar look!
Hope that helps- let me know how it goes!
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This is great! Just whipped up 3 headbands in no time! Great tutorial!
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Thank you! So easy and beautiful!
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This turned out great, the only downside I’ve found is the seam on the ‘knot’ can be quite bulky on the top of your head, overall though a great little pattern, thank you!
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Hi Roxanne! You can eliminate some of the bulk by trimming a few of the layers shorter than the rest. Fabric choice also plays a part in it, but I understand when you want to use a certain fabric. Thanks for stopping by!
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What seam allowance do you use for the first seam?
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I use a serger seam, so it’s 1/4”- 3/8”.
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What are the finished dimensions of the headband?
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Hi there! I found your page when someone shared your YouTube video with me. I can’t catch where you said you bought your fabric from, could I please get the name of the shop?
Thank you! Great tutorial!!
-Katie
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Hi! The cactus fabric I used in my YouTube video was from Knitpop. It’s DBP!
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Thank you so much. I have been looking for these and can not find them. I will definitely try to create them myself!
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I hope they worked out well for you! Happy you found me here 🙂
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Thanks for sharing. I hope to give these a try. I absolutely love headbands. Appreciate the details and love your blog.
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Thank you so much! I hope they worked well for you!
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This is genius! Just finished mine, thanks for the tutorial.
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Revolutionary! Was looking for something to do with old t-shirts. This was just the job!
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Thanks for stopping by! I’m glad this worked well for your project!
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I just whipped one up in like 5 min! I love it and can’t wait to make more 🙂 Thank you!
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I’m glad to hear it worked well for you!
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Thank you, this will give me a starting point to make some headbands for healthcare workers, I’ll add buttons to the sides to give the workers a break from face mask elastic behind their ears.
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That sounds like a great plan! Let me know how it works for you!
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Hi there!
I attempted to make this last night and when I went to put it on, all of the treads ripped 😦
Do I have a large head (lol, I didn’t think I did), using the wrong thread, need to make larger? Is this happening to anyone else? It was definitely not as stretchy as I was expecting it to be.
Thanks!
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Hi Kayla! First of all, was the fabric you used a 2-way or 4-way stretch? That can definitely affect the stretchiness of the headband. Also, the greatest stretch should go around your head, which is across the 20” measurement. And finally, what type of stitch did you use to sew it together? It needs a stretch stitch-so a zigzag, lightning or serged stitch would all work for that.
I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any further questions!
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Thanks so much for replying so quickly!
I used 4-way stretch fabric but just a regular stitch. I can try again with a zig-zag stitch. It looked good finished, and then ripped when I put it on!! I consider myself a fairly good sewer, so I was surprised when this happened!
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use a slight zigzag or a stretch stitch on your machine, works well on fleece and some lycra.
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This worked!!! Thanks a million.
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Glad to hear it!!
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Really excited to try this, but how would you suggest doing the stitch if one didn’t have/know how to use a double needle at the end? Thanks!
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You can also use a stretch stitch of some sort— small zig zag, lightning or triple stitch all work great! Let me know how it works!
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Thanks so much for this tutorial!!! This is my go-to pattern for making headbands to wear for work I’m a nurse. I added buttons to save my ears from the mask straps! I use my serger and they only take 5 minutes to make!
Thanks again!
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Oh that’s great! I’m so glad it has helped. THANK YOU for all you do as a nurse!
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