Quick Crafts: Hair Scrunchies

My daughter has her 'mini money maker's' coming up at school soon and we were looking for a sewing project that was quick and simple when we stumbled upon these scrunchies. A perfect beginners project as the only sewing required is a few straight lines. These come with the added bonus that they don't use up much fabric! All of these scrunchies were made from scraps of my 'Dear Spring' fabrics for Lewis and Irene.

To make these scrunchies, all you need is a sewing machine, pins, rotary cutter, scissors, 8" strips of 1/4 inch elastic, safety pin and a 30" x 4.5" strip of fabric.

To begin, cut a strip of fabric using your rotary cutter and mat to 30" x 4.5". You can make them longer and wider if you wish. If you cut longer strips of fabric, the scrunchie will have more pleats. If you use wider strips, the scrunchie itself will be wider.

Next you are going to fold the strip in half, right sides together, and sew the shorter 4.5" side together so that you have a continuous circle of fabric. Finger press the seam allowance.

Placing the fabric circle in front of you with the right sides still facing together, fold the top layer in on itself into thirds so that you can see the bottom layer. You're then going to take the bottom later and fold it in half, right sides together so that the 30" edges meet. Pin this in place so that it doesn't unravel and making sure you don't catch the inner layer which you have folded into thirds.

Using a 1/4 inch seam allowance, sew the edge of the fabric which you have pinned together, as far as you can until you get to the point where you can't sew anymore without snagging the inner layers. With your sewing needle in the fabric, and pressure foot down, pull the inner layer of the fabric towards you through the unstitched seam. As you do this, tuck the inner excess fabric back inside the 'tube' so that you're only ever sewing through two layers of fabric at a time.

Repeat this until you arrive at your beginning stitches, leaving about an inch and a half gap from your starting point. Secure your stitches with a back stitch and take the scrunchie from your sewing machine. Trim your threads. Through your inch and a half gap, pull the scrunching through to the right side. You should now have a tube with a hole in it.

Taking your elastic, attach it to your safety pin and pull it through your tube, making sure you hold on to one end (or pin it in place) so that you end up with both ends coming out of opposite ends of your tube opening. Stitch the elastic together. Finally, stitch the opening gap together with a top stitch. This should easily be hidden within the pleats of the scrunchie.

These are really quick and so much fun to make. I'd love to see your scrunchies. Please tag me in any photos on Facebook and Instagram using #CassandraConnolly or @cass_connolly .