Make That Scrunchie With Us!

There is something quietly magical about making a scrunchie. Out of all the sewing projects in the world — the quilts that take months, the dresses that require fitting and refitting, the upholstery that demands industrial equipment — the scrunchie stands alone as the one thing you can finish in an afternoon and actually feel proud of. It is small, it is useful, it is endlessly customizable, and once you learn how to make one, you will find yourself looking at every piece of fabric in your life and thinking, that could be a scrunchie.

So let’s make one together. Whether you have been sewing for decades or you just bought your first needle and thread last week, this guide will walk you through every single step. We are going to cover the materials you need, the measurements that matter, the techniques that separate a floppy mess from a beautifully finished scrunchie, and all the little tips that experienced makers learn the hard way so you do not have to.

Pull up a chair, thread your needle, and let’s get into it.

Why Scrunchies Are Worth Making Yourself

Before we dive into the how, let’s talk about the why. You can buy scrunchies everywhere — at the pharmacy, the grocery store, tucked into a bin at the checkout line of basically any clothing retailer. So why bother making them?

The honest answer is that handmade scrunchies are just better. The ones you find in most stores are made from thin, slippery fabric stretched over a thin, cheap elastic. They look fine for a week, then they lose their puff, and by the time you find them at the bottom of your bag they look like sad little rings of regret.

When you make your own, you control everything. You choose the elastic, which means you can go thicker for more hold or thinner for a gentler grip. You choose the fabric, which means you can match your outfit, your aesthetic, your mood. You choose the size — big and dramatic, small and understated, or somewhere in between. And you get the irreplaceable satisfaction of putting your hair up in something you made yourself, which turns out to be a surprisingly good feeling.

Scrunchies also make exceptional gifts. A set of handmade scrunchies in someone’s favorite colors, maybe tied together with a ribbon and tucked into a little bag, costs almost nothing to make and lands far better than most things you could buy at the same price point. Once you get the hang of the construction, you can knock out three or four in an hour and have a beautiful gift ready before you even had time to figure out what else to buy.

There is also a sustainability angle worth mentioning. Fabric stores almost always have a remnant bin — those half-yard and quarter-yard cuts of fabric that are too small to sell at full price but are sitting there waiting for exactly this kind of project. A scrunchie uses so little material that you can make one from nearly any scrap large enough to cut a strip from. Old shirts, pillowcases, worn-out dresses with a section that is still lovely — all of it can become a scrunchie. It is one of the most satisfying forms of fabric upcycling out there.

What You Need to Get Started

Let’s gather our supplies. Nothing on this list is obscure or expensive, and you may already have most of it.

Fabric. You need a strip approximately 22 inches long and 4 inches wide. This is the base measurement, and we will talk about variations in a moment. The best fabrics for beginners are cotton quilting fabric, satin, silk charmeuse, velvet, jersey knit, or any lightweight woven fabric with a bit of body. Avoid anything too stiff, like canvas or denim, until you have made a few and understand how the folding and turning works. Avoid anything so slippery it makes you want to cry — that means high-shine polyester satin requires patience, though it produces stunning results.

Elastic. You need a piece of elastic that is roughly 10 to 12 inches long. The width is your choice: quarter-inch elastic gives you a sleeker, thinner scrunchie, while half-inch elastic creates that full, pillowy puff most people picture when they think of a scrunchie. Hair elastics — the kind sold in bulk for braiding — also work beautifully if you want to skip the cutting-and-joining step.

A sewing machine. You can hand-sew a scrunchie, and there are tutorials for that, but a sewing machine makes everything faster and the seams stronger. Any basic machine with a straight stitch will do the job completely.

Thread. Match it to your fabric or go slightly darker, since thread tends to read lighter when sewn in.

Scissors or a rotary cutter. Sharp fabric scissors make the cutting process much more pleasant. A rotary cutter with a self-healing mat is even faster if you have one.

Pins or clips. A handful of sewing clips or straight pins to hold everything together as you sew.

A safety pin. This is your turning tool and your elastic-threading tool, and it is genuinely indispensable. Get at least one with a sturdy clasp.

An iron. Not strictly required, but pressing your seam allowances before turning will make your final scrunchie look noticeably more polished.

Cutting Your Fabric: Getting the Measurements Right

The standard scrunchie strip is 22 inches long by 4 inches wide. This produces a scrunchie with a good amount of gather — that full, gathered look is what you are after. If you want more drama and more fabric puff, go up to 25 or even 28 inches in length. For a sleeker, lower-profile scrunchie, you can go down to 18 inches, though anything shorter tends to look a little sparse.

The width of 4 inches accounts for a half-inch seam allowance on each long side, giving you a finished tube that is about 1.5 inches wide before it is gathered on the elastic. If you are using very thick fabric like velvet or a quilted material, you may want to trim your seam allowances to a quarter inch to reduce bulk at the seams.

If you are cutting from a remnant or a recycled garment, the grain of the fabric matters more than most beginners expect. Cut your strip along the straight grain — meaning parallel to the selvage edge of the fabric — for the cleanest result. Cutting on the bias (diagonally across the weave) gives you more stretch and a slightly different drape, which can be beautiful for certain fabrics but tends to make the turning-inside-out step a bit more challenging.

Sewing Your Scrunchie: Step by Step

Here is where we get into the actual construction. Read through all the steps once before you begin so nothing takes you by surprise.

Step one: fold and pin the long edge.

Fold your fabric strip in half lengthwise with the right sides facing each other — meaning the pretty side of the fabric is on the inside and you are looking at the back. Pin or clip along the long open edge. You now have a long, narrow tube shape with the opening at the top and the fold at the bottom.

Step two: sew the long seam.

Using a straight stitch and a half-inch seam allowance, sew along the pinned long edge from one short end to the other. Backstitch at the beginning and end to secure. Remove your pins as you go. When you finish, you will have a long fabric tube that looks a little like a very limp noodle. This is correct.

If your fabric is slippery or tends to shift, consider using lots of pins or clips very close together, or try holding the fabric taut (but not stretched) behind and in front of the presser foot as you sew.

Step three: press the seam open.

Slide your iron inside the tube as best you can — yes, it is awkward, and yes, it is worth doing — and press the seam allowance open. This reduces the bulk at the seam and makes the finished scrunchie lay nicer against itself when it is gathered. Alternatively, slide a chopstick or the blunt end of a pencil inside to help you spread it flat before pressing.

Step four: turn the tube right side out.

Attach your safety pin to one short end of the fabric tube, pushing it through the opening and into the tube itself. Now comes the satisfying part: work the safety pin through the tube, scrunching the fabric up over itself as you push, until the safety pin and the leading edge of fabric emerge from the other end. Pull it all the way through. Give it a gentle tug and smooth it out. You now have a fabric tube with the right side on the outside.

If the tube is being stubborn, do not yank. Work slowly and patiently, redistributing the gathered fabric as you go. Narrow tubes and slippery fabrics require the most patience here.

Step five: prepare your elastic.

Cut a piece of elastic that is 10 to 12 inches long. The right length depends on the size of the ponytail you want and how tight you want the final scrunchie to feel. Ten inches is snug and secure; twelve inches gives a looser fit. If you are unsure, err on the side of 11 inches and adjust from there once you have made your first one.

Attach the safety pin to one end of the elastic, then thread the safety pin through the fabric tube, just as you did in the turning step. This time you want to be careful not to let the trailing end of the elastic disappear inside the tube — hold onto it or pin it to the outside of the tube at the opening before you start threading.

Once the safety pin emerges from the other end, both short ends of the elastic should be sticking out of one end of the tube. Overlap them by about half an inch and sew them together with a few passes of straight stitch, or use a zigzag stitch for more security. Tug firmly on the joined elastic to make sure it holds.

Step six: close the scrunchie.

Tuck one short end of the fabric tube inside the other. To do this cleanly, fold the raw edge of one end in by about half an inch, slide the other short end inside it, and pin them together so the folded edge covers the raw edge neatly. The elastic will be hidden inside. Hand stitch this opening closed with a ladder stitch or slip stitch, pulling the thread snug so the join is nearly invisible. Or, if you prefer, edge-stitch it closed on the machine — it will show, but a contrasting thread can make it look intentional.

Give the scrunchie a good stretch to distribute the elastic evenly inside the tube, and you are done.

Fabric Combinations Worth Trying

Once you understand the basic construction, the real fun begins in the fabric choices. Here are some combinations that consistently produce beautiful results.

Silk charmeuse with a coordinating cotton lining is a classic pairing that produces a scrunchie that photographs beautifully and feels incredibly soft against the hair. The cotton provides the structure that silk on its own sometimes lacks.

Liberty of London Tana Lawn cotton is lightweight, comes in stunning prints, and is forgiving enough for beginners while producing an obviously elevated result. If you have a small piece, a scrunchie is the perfect use for it.

Velvet ribbon, if you can source it wide enough, requires almost no sewing at all — you simply seam it into a tube and add elastic — and produces a scrunchie that looks expensive regardless of how much it cost. Deep jewel tones are particularly striking.

Vintage kimono fabric, which you can often find in small quantities at estate sales or specialty stores, produces scrunchies that look genuinely one of a kind. The silk weaves used in traditional Japanese textiles are often light enough to sew easily and finished with designs that look spectacular gathered into a scrunchie shape.

Jersey knit from an old T-shirt is the most sustainable option and produces a casual, soft scrunchie perfect for sleeping or lounging. Because jersey stretches, you can get away with a shorter fabric strip — around 18 inches — and still get decent gather.

Troubleshooting Common Problems

Even experienced sewists run into the same few issues when making scrunchies. Here is what to do when things go sideways.

If your scrunchie looks lumpy or the seam is twisting to the outside, the culprit is usually that the long seam was not pressed open before turning. You can fix it by turning the scrunchie inside out again, pressing properly, and turning it back.

If the elastic feels too tight, the fix is simply to make a new one with a longer piece of elastic. This is why experienced makers keep notes — write down the elastic length that felt comfortable on your own wrist so you have a reference for next time.

If the fabric tube is too narrow to thread the elastic through easily, you likely cut your strip too narrow or took too-wide a seam allowance. Next time, either widen the strip or reduce the seam allowance to a quarter inch.

If the hand-stitched closure is visible and bothering you, practice the ladder stitch on a scrap first. The key is to take very small bites of fabric and pull the thread snug — not tight — after every few stitches.

Making It a Habit

The best thing about scrunchies is that once you make one, you will not stop. Keep a small basket near your sewing machine filled with whatever fabric scraps are too small for other projects but too lovely to throw away. When you have a free hour, cut a strip, sew a scrunchie, put it in the basket. By the end of a season you will have an entire collection, a full set of gifts, and a deeply satisfying creative habit that costs almost nothing to maintain.

Share what you make. Tag your scrunchies on social media, give them to friends, bring them to craft fairs. There is a whole community of fabric lovers out there who will celebrate with you over a particularly good print or an especially satisfying piece of velvet, and that community is worth finding.

Now go make that scrunchie. You have everything you need.