It’s the last of the Halloween projects today :w< I saved the easiest project for last 😀 It’s a simple headpiece that looks just like exposed brains ^w^ with a carefully placed slot in back, you can loop a headband through the piece and it looks like some zombie has just taken a bite out of your head! I can see whipping out one of these headbands in less than an hour if you have to get a costume together really quick. And I had a lot of fun with all the different color variations, from bright fresh pink brains, to green infected brains, to gray decayed brains xD I hope you’ll enjoy making it as much as I did – and maybe it’ll solve a last-minute Halloween dilemma for you!
Difficulty:
Really simple! The appliqué is definitely the most difficult part, but even that has shortcuts.
Makes one 4” x 5 1/2” headpiece
Materials & Tools:
• 1/8 yd. of lightweight fabric for base (cotton or linen would be perfect – I used flannel)
• Thin basic headband
• Matching sewing thread
• Basic sewing tools (sewing machine, scissors, iron, needles, pins, fabric marker, seam ripper)
Appliqué supplies:
• 5” x 5” scrap of appliqué fabric for brains
• 5” x 5” scrap of appliqué fabric for brain wrinkles
• 5” x 10” scrap of light or heavyweight fusible web
Before you begin:
1. Print out the project pattern here
2. Lay out the pattern pieces on your fabric and cut them out
3. Mark the fabric pieces with the markings from the pattern
1. First of course is all the appliqué. There isn’t a lot, but the pieces are pretty tiny. I personally ironed my fabric to lightweight fusible web, cut out the shapes, ironed it to the base fabric (following the pattern guidelines), then sewed it in place with a zigzag stitch. If you’re in a hurry, this would work wonderfully with felt and heavy duty fusible web – there’s no need to sew the pieces in place after you iron them down so the project comes together in a flash!
2. Next we need to ready the headband casing for the back of the base. For the short ends I finished the raw edges by zigzagging across the ends to prevent any fraying, but after that all that’s necessary is a simple single-fold hem. Fold under the short ends by 1/2” and iron them in place, then sew the folds in place to complete the hem.
3. Add the casing to the base by folding under the long ends by 1/2” as well. Place the casing over the remaining base piece according to the pattern guideline (with both right sides facing up), then edge stitch it in place along the folds. Leave the short ends unsewn so you can loop your headband through it later.
4. With the front and back of the base complete, you can now sew them together. Simply layer them with right sides facing and sew around the perimeter of the headpiece, leaving an opening as the pattern indicates. Trim the seam allowances, turn the headpiece right side out, tuck the seam allowances from the opening inside, then press the headpiece flat.
5. To keep the piece looking crisp, I did an edge stitch all the way around it– this also closed up the opening in the previous step at the same time.
6. To finish, all that’s left is to loop the headband through the back of the headpiece! Adjust the piece to where you need it, then go show it off because YOU’RE DONE!
Sadly the month of October is almost over :< But I thoroughly enjoyed sharing all these Halloween projects with you! Please let me know if you made this or anything else for the holiday!
I hope you’ll give this project a try, but if you’d just like to buy the one in the photos, you can find it on my Etsy.
If you do try making the project, I’d love to see it! And I’ll send you exclusive free patterns as a reward!
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2 thoughts on “Freebie Friday! The Zombie Headband”
OH WOW!! These are super cute!! Thank you for this! 🙂
I’m glad you like them! 😀 Thank you for the kind words ^-^