tutorial: spirit of independence pinwheel headband

Nothing says summer, Independence Day and carefree days of childhood like a pinwheel. To celebrate these all-too-fleeting events, I decided to create a pinwheel headband (which also will come in handy when we march in our hometown parade on Monday). First, I checked out this tutorial on how to make a standard pinwheel and then used these steps with fabric.

Here's how it's done:
Choose the fabrics for your pinwheels. You could use the same material for the front and back, or, to mix it up, choose two coordinating fabrics. Cut your material into squares. I used two sizes for this headband: 5" (next time, I would reduce this size to 4") and 2.25".

Next, you need some fusible web (I use heat 'n bond). Cut one piece of web per pair of fabrics.

For each pair of square, iron your fusible web onto the wrong side of the material of one of the fabrics. Peel off the paper and then "sandwich" your squares, wrong sides together and iron. The end result should be a double-sided square of fabric.

 If you like, take some pinking shears and pink along the perimeter of your fabric squares.

Now, using a fabric pen or pencil, divide each square into four equal quadrants.Use a pen or pencil that won't show obvious marks or you may need to spend some time cleaning up your marks.

Next, draw a diagonal line from the corner to the center point in each quadrant.

Cut along the diagonal lines, but do not cut all the way to the center point (end your cut about .25" to .5" away from the center point)

Pull the alternating corners of the pinwheel to the center and secure with a couple of stitches.

 Select a button or a bead to dress up the center of the pinwheel and stitch in place.

 Here are a few ways I played with the placement of the pinwheels:

Secure to your headband with several stitches. (I attached mine to a headband we already had on hand, but it would be simple enough to create a band with a rectangle of fabric and some elastic.) If the entire circumference of your headband is elastic like the pre-purchased on I used, you will want to place your pinwheels close together with a slight overlap. If the base of your headband in elastic only at the bottom, you can place your pinwheels a little further apart.

Other ideas:

• Double up your pinwheels, place a smaller one on top of the larger one. 
• Attach the fabric pinwheels to a wreath or string together in a garland
• Secure to a safety pin for a fun brooch.