Scrunchies are indispensable pieces of fabric-with-elastic that girls of all ages use to tie up their hair in ponytails or braids. One simply cannot have too many scrunchies: some girls keep one in each color to match their dresses. Scrunchies are readily available online and offline but making them at home is a fun and easy project that could be easily done one afternoon. You could even sell or gift these handmade scrunchies to friends and family and they are sure to be appreciated than any store-bought gift!
1. Simple scrunchie #Method 1
Materials/tools
- Cloth, plain or printed, about 10cm x 40-45 cm.
- Hair tie (simple black elastic band used to tie around the hair)
- Needle and thread. The thread should ideally match the cloth you are using for the project. You can do the stitching work on a sewing machine.
Method
- Place the cloth with the ‘nice’ side up flat on the table.
- Keep the hair-tie in the top left corner of the cloth.
- Fold the cloth in the center, length-wise.
- Start sewing the ends of the cloth around the hair tie.
- Continue to sew and you will have to keep scrunching the extra cloth around the tie.
- Once all of the cloth is fitted around the hair-tie, only the ends will be left.
- Now start turning the cloth right-side out.
- Tuck one end of the cloth inside the pocked formed by the other end. Sew the ends together and your scrunchie is done!
For a complete tutorial on this method, watch this video on how to make a scrunchie.
2. Simple scrunchie #Method 2
Materials/tools
- Cloth – 45cm x 8 cm
- Scissors
- Elastic band
- Safety pins
- Needle-thread or sewing machine
Method
- Place the cloth, wrong-side up on a table and fold it in half, along the length. You can use pins to keep the cloth secure in place.
- Stitch the two ends on both sides of the cloth leaving a gap of about 1-inch in the middle of the cloth, along the length.
- Now attach a safety pin to one end of the ‘strip’ so that it joins the two edges of the band.
- Turn the safety pin inwards and start ‘scooting’ it inside the cloth-tube. This is to bring the right side of the cloth outside.
- Keep scooting until the pin comes out from the other end.
- You now have a ‘tubular structure’ with an inner tube and outer tube in the cloth.
- Hand-stitch the tube-ends to each other using thread of the same color as the cloth.
- Now cut your elastic band to about 7 to 8 inches in length.
- Attach the safety pin to one end of the band and insert it inside the ‘gap’ that we had left at the beginning.
- Again ‘scoot the safety pin and the elastic band’ until one end comes out of the other side of the gap. So now you have the two ends of the elastic band popping out of the gap in the center of the scrunchie. Sew or knot the elastic band ends together and pull the cloth over it.
For a complete tutorial of this method to make a scrunchie, watch this video.
3. How to make a scrunchie with a sock
Easily upcycle an old or worn-out sock into attractive hair ties! This is a great way to make a scrunchie with ‘no-sew’ method. (Don’t forget to check out our tutorial on how to upcycle and re-use old socks.)
Materials needed
- Old socks, as many as the number of scrunchies you need. Avoid using ankle socks. Use only longer ones.
Method
- Cut the sock just above the heel. Discard the sock part that comes over the feet.
- We will only use the tubular part over the ankle.
- Start folding this part to form a small band. Roll it up to a comfortable thickness that you can easily use to tie up your hair with.
For a tutorial on this easy no-sew scrunchie, click here.
4. How to make a scrunchie out of an old t-shirt
This is another no-sew method of making a scrunchie. It is great for upcycling old t-shirts. What a great way to reduce textile wastage!
Tools needed
- Old t-shirt
- Hot glue and a glue gun
- Elastic hair tie
- Scissors
- A small cup or candle holder (optional).
Method
- Cut the t-shirt into a strip of 40 cm (or 15inch) in length and 8 cm (or 3.1 inches) in width.
- Using the glue gun, join the small edges of the strip together. Press down on the edge till they are secure. Make sure that the inside part of the strip is on top.
- Place the elastic hair-tie around the t-shirt band.
- Place this band along with the hair-tie around the empty cup.
- Fold the upper seam downwards, about 1/8th inch. Apply glue on this part.
- Fold the lower seam of the band also 1/8th of an inch upwards and glue both the lower and upper seams.
- Continue folding and gluing all across the cup.
- Remove the scrunchie from the cup.
For a detailed video on this easy, no-sew tutorial, click here. Once you master this style of no-sew scrunchies, you can even sell them or gift them to friends and family.
5. How to make a scrunchie bow
Bow scrunchies are also called knot scrunchies.
Materials/tools
- 1 strip of fabric 8-inch x 3 inch
- Elastic of 8 inches length
- Another strip of the same fabric 8-inch x 5 inches. Cut it into two bows with this template.
- Safety pin
Method
- Fold the rectangular strip in half and stitch along the edges using ¼ inch seam. The cloth should be inside out.
- Use a safety pin to turn the tube right side out.
- Insert the elastic into the tube, scrunch the cloth over it, pull it out the other end, and knot or sew the ends of the elastic.
- Fold one end of the tube ½ inch to the wrong side and insert it into the other end of the tube.
- Use a pin to secure the ends.
- Sew the ends together.
- Now it is time to sew the bow. Allow ¼ inch allowance and sew the two bows together placing the right sides together. Leave a 2 inch opening on one middle edge.
- Turn the knot right side out through the opening.
- Stitch the opening closed.
- Tie the knot piece on the scrunchie making sure to cover the stitched ends on the scrunchie.
For a complete tutorial on how to make scrunchie bows, click here.
Go make a handful more so you can sell or gift them!