Hair scrunchies – the perfect accessory for tying up your hair, or adorning your wrist. They are so easy to make with just a little bit of fabric and some elastic. Learn how to make a scrunchie with our step-by-step tutorial!

Making your own scrunchies is so easy and inexpensive. You can make two scrunchies from a fat quarter of fabric. A great stash busting project and good use of those prints with great colors! Make one for you, and give one as a gift!

Hair scrunchies are an easy sewing project and would be a great project to teach kids to sew. And, it doesn’t take long — start to finish is less than 20 minutes which makes this a perfect project for the child who wants to learn to sew, but not ready for a complex (and long) project. Learn how to sew a scrunchie with our directions!

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Make one for every outfit! Add a pop of color, or just make utilitarian scrunchies for heading to your workout.

One (1) Hair Scrunchie

How to Make a Scrunchie

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Active Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Hair scrunchies are easy to make with just a small strip of fabric and some elastic. Line 'em up your arm, or tie back your hair with a multitude of scrunchies! Learn how to make a scrunchie with this step-by-step photo tutorial.

This is a quick and easy project, perfect for a beginner sewist. Make them to match every outfit! Use fun prints and patterns.

Materials

3-1/2" x 20" strip of fabric
8" piece of elastic
Thread

Tools

Sewing machine
1 safety pin
Fabric turner, knitting needle or small piece of doweling to turn tube inside out

Instructions

Cut a strip of fabric that is 3-1/2" x 20". Cut an 8" length of 1/2" elastic.
Fold the fabric in half, with the right sides together. Sew across one end, sewing one end of the elastic in the seam line. This will secure one end of the elastic inside the scrunchie.
Sew down the long edge of the fabric, where the edges of the fabric match - not the folded edge. .
Here is the fabric and elastic sewn and ready for the next step -- turning the fabric tube right side out.
Add the safety pin to the end of the elastic. This will help you not 'lose your end' when you turn the fabric tube inside out.
Place your tube turner / knitting needle / dowel at the sewn end of the tube. Gently work it so that you begin to turn the tube right side out. You can pin the safety pin to the end of the fabric if you'd like. I was gentle and given the pin, it was easy to make sure the end stayed out of the tube.
Here is the turning in progress, gently turning the fabric tube right side out. Go slow and steady.
See how the elastic is barely poking out at the bottom of the fully turned fabric tube?
Take the loose end of elastic and stitch it to the end of the tube that is stitched to secure it. The scrunchie is now circular.
Turn in the raw edge of the open end of the fabric tube and slip it over the sewn edge, encasing the elastic edge. Carefully topstitch the folded edge.
Here are finished hair scrunchies!

Notes

TIP: Avoid silky fabrics, as they can easily slip out of your hair. Cottons or knits work best.

Which elastic is best for scrunchies?

I prefer 1/4-inch elastic to make hair scrunchies. It seems to be the perfect size to be able to twist around your hair to make either a pony tail or a messy bun. If you go with wider elastic, it is hard to twist around your hair. Thinner elastic tends to wrap around your hair too much and sometimes will tangle in your hair.

How can I adjust this hair scrunchie tutorial for thick hair? Or thin hair?

If you hair is thicker, you might want to increase the length of both the fabric and the elastic. Try extending the fabric by about 2 to 3 inches in length and making the elastic about 1-inch longer. This will give you more fabric and stretch to the scrunchie.

For thin hair, the basic fabric dimensions and elastic may be way too much. Try narrowing the fabric width by about 1/2 to 3/4 inch and reduce the length of the fabric, too. Then, use about 1-inch less of elastic while sewing the scrunchie.