So I thought I would outline, document, tutorial, whatever my design for anyone else so that another mommy in need may not sweat it out.
Off to the fabric store I went. Our local Joann's Fabric (coupon in hand of course!) and I found some fabric that matched. Its a country classic, 100% cotton, easy to work with, and $4.99 a yard (add a 50% off coupon makes it cheap). Plus I needed something that would withstand water and wear and tear.
Next was to come up with a pattern. I went out to the garage and grabbed my freezer paper. If you don't have some, cardboard works too. What is freezer paper? Oh it is great for crafts, wrapping meat (ha ha hence freezer paper), wrapping packages for shipping, etc. I snooped around online and found that the standard bandanna size is 21.5" x 21.5". So for my beginner sewing skills, I measured and cut the paper to be 22" x 22".
Now it was time to lay it all out, material and template, and start cutting. Well luck for me, the material I picked was 22" wide! So it was pretty simple. I laid out my material, folded in half. Then I laid my template on top, grabbed my daughters chalk (works great and doesn't leave a permanent mark) and marked out the bandannas. Since I have 12 wonderful girls coming over, I had 6 yards of material to contend with. It was a breeze. So after I marked my template on my material, it was time for cutting. I cut along my chalk line. Now remember, this material was 22"already, 44" wide folded in half. So I then unfolded each and cut again. Making a perfect 22" x 22" size.
On to hemming the edges. Now for some weird reason, this had me nervous. I looked up purchasing a hemming foot for the sewing machine. I went to my local sewing shop, a super cute quilt shop called In Between Stitches, to inquire about this foot since I couldn't find it at Walmart or Joann's Fabrics. The nicest employee told me not to sweat it. She said fold the edges over a 1/4" and iron flat. Then fold again 1/4" and iron again. Pin and slap it on the sewing machine and your done. Well sounds easy enough right... Feeling confident in my new directions... off I go to tackle this. I pulled out my ironing board, grabbed my iron, and my pin.
I folded over and pinned about 1/4" of material on one edge and then ironed. Now I just "stabbed" the pin into the material and then into the padding of the ironing board. I didn't get all fancy with my pinning. Once I ironed it flat, I removed the pins and folded over again. Once again, I pinned the material down and ironed. I did this around all four sides. Leave a few pins in to keep the material folded over for sewing.
OK lets pull out the sewing machine!!! I get it all threaded and all dialed in. I used the zigzag stitch on these. I liked the look and to me it was a little more secure. I'm not sure if my thinking is correct or not. As I mentioned before, I have 12 lovely little ladies coming so I chose to pin and iron all first. So that when I sat at the machine, I could zip right through them.
I fastened off the thread ends after going around all four sides. And BAM!!! I had a Izzy Inspired bandanna.
I hope these directions are helpful and you can create your little one a bandanna as well.
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