Baby "coture" Headband

I was sifting through my "Crafts" Pinterest board looking for something I could make with the supplies I had on hand and came across this photo:

as well as this one:

To my chagrin, neither photo linked to a tutorial, but instead to sale pages, Snugas on Etsy for the top picture and a site called VeryJane for the bottom. The braided head bands I knew would be easy to re-create, but I had so hoped for something good from the top picture. Those almost hat-sized head bands are just too precious! I looked around the site and believe it or not, those little beauties actually go for $30 plus! Never, would I pay that much for any single item of clothing for my daughter, much less a hair accessory! I knew that I could make something just as cute though and here is my first attempt:

This is made from the same Gerber sleepers that I used in the previous post:

(Celtic Knot Head Band)

I cut three strips about an inch wide and about 18 inches long.

Then, as in the previous post, I stretched them to curl the edges and get more length.

Then I braided the pieces together. It was a tight braid but not overly tight. I still wanted it to have a little give so that it wouldn't be too tight on my daughter's head. It might help to use a straight pin to hold the strands together on one side as you braid.

At this point I hand sewed the ends together instead of knotting them as I intend to cover the closure the same way as in the previous post. If you have a sewing machine, a quick pass under that will do the trick and keep it in place.  

Then, cut a small square of coordinating fabric and wrap it around where you sewed and stitch it in place to hide your ends. I used the cuff of the sleeper. This was my finished product:

But I wasn't done there! Now it was time for some embellishments to bring in more of the feel of the first photo. I had another fabric flower tutorial pinned that I wanted to try and it was so simple. Twist a long stirp of fabric tightly, fold it in half so that it twists back on itself and then roll it into a flower. You can either hot glue it or hand sew it in place so it keeps it's shape. I made a couple in different sizes and attached them to the head band. Then I took a cue from the picture above to finish it off. A couple of the pictures had this sort of abstract looking ruffle/flower that I tried to copy. I took a rectangle of fabric and did a stitch down the middle and then pulled it tight so it looked like an accordion. I stuck a couple of these on to resemble leaves. I may play around with them more in the future. Here's my little cutie pie modeling my creation: