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How to Make a Scrunchie: (Two Ways!)

How to Make a Scrunchie Two Ways

Scrunchies are the perfect beginner sewing project – and a great scrap buster. You can sew a scrunchie in less than half an hour, with very little fabric! 

One of my favorite things about scrunchies is that they can be made from almost any type of fabric: knits, wovens, fleece, sequins, and most anything else you can think of! 

How to Make a Scrunchie

In this step-by-step tutorial on how to make a scrunchie, we will be going through my two favorite methods of sewing these cute hair accessories. Both methods give a very similar result, so just choose whichever you find easiest! 

But first, here are the supplies you’ll need.

What you need

  • one 4 x 19 inch rectangle of fabric 
  • one 6 inch piece of ¼ inch wide elastic
  • sewing pins
  • loop turner or safety pin
  • thread
  • sewing machine needle
  • sewing machine
  • iron and ironing board

How to Sew a Scrunchie: Method One

This first method is the one that I personally find the most intuitive because it’s a flatter method of construction. However, the result is slightly less professional-looking than the next method because the opening left to insert the elastic has to be larger. 

Steps

  1. Sew the long sides of the scrunchie together. 
  2. Sew the short ends of the scrunchie together. 
  3. Insert the elastic.
  4. Close the opening in the scrunchie.

Step One: sew the long sides of the scrunchie together

First, gather your 4 x 19 inch rectangle of fabric and your 6 inch piece of elastic. 

Step One sew the long sides of the scrunchie together

Fold the fabric in half lengthwise with right sides together and pin the long edge. 

Step One sew the long sides of the scrunchie together 2

Sew the long edge with a ¼ inch seam allowance, stopping and starting 1.5-2 inches from the ends. We need to leave the ends free to sew them together later!

Step One sew the long sides of the scrunchie together 3

Next, turn the scrunchie right sides out through one of the ends. 

Step One sew the long sides of the scrunchie together 4

Now is your chance to make your scrunchie look a little more put-together! Take it to your ironing board and press it flat, pressing the seam to one side. 

Step One sew the long sides of the scrunchie together 5

Step Two: sew the short ends of the scrunchie together

We are now ready to sew the short ends of the scrunchie together to form a loop. 

First, pin the two short ends together with right sides touching. This is why we needed to leave the ends free earlier. 

Step Two sew the short ends of the scrunchie together

Sew the short ends together with a ¼ inch seam allowance. 

Step Two sew the short ends of the scrunchie together 2

Once they are sewn together, you should have a loop with a 3-4 inch opening right over the seam. 

Step Two sew the short ends of the scrunchie together 3

Press the seam allowances of the opening to the inside by ¼ inch to make a continuous straight edge. 

Step Two sew the short ends of the scrunchie together 4

Step Three: insert the elastic

We are now ready to insert the elastic into our scrunchie!

I’m going to be using a loop turner, but you could also use a safety pin if you don’t have one – the safety pin method will be described below, in the next section. 

Step Three insert the elastic

To thread the elastic with a loop turner, first insert the hooked end of the loop turner into the opening in the fabric.

Step Three insert the elastic 2

Continue pushing the loop turner through the scrunchie until the hook comes out the other side of the opening. Just make sure that the circle end of the loop turner doesn’t disappear into the fabric. 

Step Three insert the elastic 3

Next, hook one end of your elastic onto the loop turner. 

Step Three insert the elastic 4

Start pulling the elastic slowly through the scrunchie with your loop turner. Make sure that the loose end of the elastic doesn’t disappear into the scrunchie!

Step Three insert the elastic 5

Once the elastic has been threaded through the scrunchie, you should have both ends sticking out of the opening. 

Step Three insert the elastic 6

Pin and sew the two ends of the elastic together. I like to sew over this area 4 or 5 times to make sure it is really strong and will hold up to lots of wear. 

Step Three insert the elastic 7

Step Three insert the elastic 8

Step Four: close the opening in the scrunchie

Our scrunchie is almost done! All that’s left is to close the opening we left to thread in the seam. 

Pin the opening closed – you may need to redistribute the fabric around the elastic so that the area you need to sew will lay flat. 

Step Four close the opening in the scrunchie

Step Four close the opening in the scrunchie 2

At this point, you can either hand sew the opening closed (which will be detailed below, in the next section), or simply topstitch right along the edge as I did here. 

Step Four close the opening in the scrunchie 3

Your scrunchie is done!

Step Four close the opening in the scrunchie 4

How to Sew a Scrunchie: Method Two

This next method is a little less straightforward, but once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty simple. It also results in a nicer finish than the previous method because the opening you leave for the elastic can be quite a bit smaller. 

Steps

  1. Sew the short ends of the scrunchie together. 
  2. Sew the long sides of the scrunchie together. 
  3. Insert the elastic.
  4. Close the opening in the scrunchie.

Step One: sew the short ends of the scrunchie together

Start by folding the fabric rectangle in half, matching up the short ends with right sides together. 

Step One sew the short ends of the scrunchie together

Sew the short ends together with a ¼ inch seam allowance. 

Step One sew the short ends of the scrunchie together 2

Press the seam allowances open.

Step One sew the short ends of the scrunchie together 3

Step Two: sew the long sides of the scrunchie together

Next, we need to sew the long edges together. This is where it get a little bit more complicated. 

Lay the fabric loop on your table with wrong sides out and with the seam on the bottom. Fold the top layer of fabric in half in the center of the bottom layer. 

Step Two sew the long sides of the scrunchie together

Then, pull the bottom edge up and over the folded fabric, matching the seams right sides together. Pin right at the seam. 

Step Two sew the long sides of the scrunchie together 2

Step Two sew the long sides of the scrunchie together 3

Step Two sew the long sides of the scrunchie together 4

Step Two sew the long sides of the scrunchie together 5

Next, take the scrunchie to your sewing machine. Start sewing near your pin, sewing the edges right sides together and making sure that you aren’t catching the folded fabric layers on the inside. You want to make sure that at all times you are only sewing 2 layers of fabric. 

Step Two sew the long sides of the scrunchie together 6

Continue sewing along the edge until you near the end of the fabric, then pull the fabric from the inside of the tube further out in front of the presser foot so you can keep sewing

Step Two sew the long sides of the scrunchie together 7

Step Two sew the long sides of the scrunchie together 8

Repeat this process to continue sewing around the scrunchie until you get close to the where you started. Stop sewing 1-2 inches from the first stitches, leaving an opening to insert elastic. 

Step Two sew the long sides of the scrunchie together 9

You should now have something that looks like this: 

Step Two sew the long sides of the scrunchie together 10

Pull the scrunchie right sides out through the opening you left. 

Step Two sew the long sides of the scrunchie together 11

Once it’s been turned, it will look something like this: 

Step Two sew the long sides of the scrunchie together 12

To prepare the scrunchie for the elastic, take it to your iron and press it flat, pressing it so that the seam is along one edge. When you get to the opening, press the raw edges to the inside to form a continuous straight edge. 

Step Two sew the long sides of the scrunchie together 13

Step Three: insert the elastic

Next, we need to insert elastic! We’re going to be using a safety pin instead of a loop turner this time. I find that with the smaller opening, a loop turner is much more difficult to use. 

Attach your safety pin to one end of the elastic. 

Step Three insert the elastic (9)

Push the safety pin into the opening in the scrunchie. 

Step Three insert the elastic 10

Scrunch the fabric around the safety pin to push it further into the tube. 

Step Three insert the elastic 11

Once your elastic gets far enough that the loose end is about to disappear into the fabric, clip the end of the elastic to the fabric with another safety pin. This will help keep you from losing the loose end of the elastic and having to start over!

Step Three insert the elastic 12

Continue scrunching and straightening the fabric to push the first safety pin all the way through the scrunchie, until it comes out the other side. 

Step Three insert the elastic 13

Step Three insert the elastic 14

Once you have both elastic ends, unclip both safety pins and pull the elastic further out to give you room to sew. 

Step Three insert the elastic 15

Next, simply sew the ends of the elastic together with a ¼ inch seam allowance, going back and forth over the area several times to give it strength. 

Step Three insert the elastic 16

Step Four: close the opening in the scrunchie

Our scrunchie is almost done – we now have to close up the opening. You can topstitch it, like we did in the previous method, or hand sew it closed for a cleaner finish. 

I’ll be showing you how to hand sew it here. First, pin the opening closed. 

Step Four close the opening in the scrunchie (5)

Thread a hand sewing needle with a double layer of thread and knot the ends together. You can also trim the thread tails close to your knot. 

Step Four close the opening in the scrunchie 6

Next, insert the needle up through the fabric on one side near the beginning of the opening. I like to push the needle from low to high so that the knot will be hidden inside the seam. 

Step Four close the opening in the scrunchie 7

Pull the needle until the knot is flat against the fabric. 

Step Four close the opening in the scrunchie 8

Then, insert the needle right across from the knot on the other side of the seam, taking a small ⅛ inch stitch. 

Step Four close the opening in the scrunchie 9

Pull the needle through until the threads are taut, then insert the needle across from this stitch, taking another ⅛ inch stitch. 

Step Four close the opening in the scrunchie 10

Continue this pattern until you reach the end of the opening, making sure to pull the stitches taut periodically as you sew. Once you finish sewing the opening closed, trim and knot the thread tails. 

Step Four close the opening in the scrunchie 11

Next, for a little extra security, I like to pull my thread tails into the scrunchie. Thread the tails through the eye of your needle together. 

Step Four close the opening in the scrunchie 12

Use the needle to insert the thread tails into the scrunchie near the knot, then pull them back out about ½ inch away. 

Step Four close the opening in the scrunchie 13

Step Four close the opening in the scrunchie 14

Trim the tails close to the fabric at the point where the needle came back out of the scrunchie. And that’s it! You’ve got a beautiful scrunchie!

Step Four close the opening in the scrunchig

Have you tried either of these methods to make scrunchies? Which one is your favorite? 

How to Make a Scrunchie Pin 2

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Picture of Lisa Hayden-Matthews

Lisa Hayden-Matthews

An avid Skier, bike rider, triathlon enthusiast, amateurish beach volleyball player and nature lover who has never lost a dare! I manage the overall Editorial section for the magazine here and occasionally chip in with my own nature photographs, when required.
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