Hello, I'm Aneka from Made to Sew and welcome to this week's tutorial where I'm going to be
sharing how to make silk scrunchies. Now, I've got two different patterns a slightly thinner
smaller version and also a thicker, wider version and I'll share both of the patterns with you, and
the construction of the scrunchies. I'm going to be using silk because there are many benefits to
wearing a silk scrunchie in your hair but of course you're welcome to use another fabric.
So let's begin! The first thing that you're going to need to do is to draw out a pattern that works
for the scrunchie size that you want to make. I'm going to be explaining two different patterns
that you could make for either a smaller and narrower scrunchie or a fuller and wider scrunchie.
So you're going to need to grab some paper and you're going to need to draw this out.
Now I have included seam allowances with my scrunchie and I'm using a 1cm seam allowance
which is approximately 3/8" on both the width of the scrunchie and on the length
and I'll include that with the measurements that I'm going to share with you now.
So if you want to make this smaller scrunchie here you're going to want
to draw a scrunchie that measures approximately 70cm in length which is approximately 27 1/2"
by 8cm in width and that is approximately 3 1/8". So you're going to measure a nice long
line that measures the long part so that's 70cm, 27 1/2" and then a line
across from that that measures the width. In this case it's 8cm and 3 1/8"
and that includes the seam allowances, so that is the box that you need to draw
as a long rectangle and of course you're going to need to go and cut that out.
If you're wanting to make the fuller sized scrunchie then you're going to want to have a long
line that measures 102cm 40 1/8" and a width for your pattern piece that measures 12cm or 4 3/4".
So you're just going to need to go and draw the long line as well as measure the width
so that you can have a nice rectangle drawn on some paper or some card, and you would of course go
and cut that out as I said it includes your seam allowances. You're going to then be left with
something that looks like this so I have got a paper pattern here that has been cut out and this
is for my smaller size scrunchie and of course I've got other lines on here when I
originally drafted this with the seam allowances, the fold line for the center of my scrunchie but
you don't necessarily need any of that, you simply need the measurements that I'm sharing with you.
Now, a paper pattern works fine but if you're planning on working with your silk
and cutting it out with a rotary cutter you may find putting it onto card is easier.
We tend to use ours on card and use that to cut around.
So decide on the paper or card that you want to position this on draw out your template, cut it out
and join me back here with your fabric. Now I'm going to be making my scrunchie from a silk fabric
there are many benefits to a silk scrunchie and I'm sure you've seen them being sold in
the shops. So what kind of silk fabric should you be looking for? Now I've got a list of fabrics
that you can use and fabrics that you really can't use so I think it's best for me to share
that with you and then at least you know what it is you're looking for in the shops.
Now, what i'm going to be using today is a silk satin so I've got a silk satin here, and
you can really use anything that's sort of a light to medium weight of a silk satin and I've also got
this fabric which I would probably still describe as a silk satin. It was sold to me as a sandwashed
silk and it is a little bit sandwashed but I've seen fabric that's more sandwashed than this.
So this would also be suitable. So these are the fabrics that I'm going to be using
but what other fabrics could you use well you could easily use something like a crepe de chine
that would be fine and you could also use a crepe backed satin or a satin backed crepe
whichever way you want to say that. So those fabrics are going to be good as well.
One thing to note is if your silk arrives and it perhaps is a little bit thin or too thin then you
can very easily just add some nice lightweight interfacing to the wrong side of your silk
and you'll still be able to use it. So what fabrics shouldn't you use? Well I would
recommend that you stay away from something super lightweight like this habotai here,
this is too lightweight really, you also don't want any really stiff fabrics so this is a silk organza
and this is just too stiff to use. The same with a duchess satin or a silk taffeta you could use
them but you're not going to get the same effect that you see with the silk scrunchies that are
sold in the shops. So what else do you need for this project? You're going to need some elastic
and I am working with a knitted elastic and you'll need a lens for either size scrunchie of 20cm
which is 7 7/8". I'll also recommend that you get some nice sharp needles for the sewing machine,
a small size so something like a 60 which is a size 8 or a 70 which is a size 10
that would do, and you may even find that a microtex needle is also useful that means
that it has a nice sharp point. So grab the supplies that you're going to use
and then we can begin. Cut out your pattern piece using either weights,
a cutting mat and a rotary cutter, or if you don't have access to that you can of course use pins and
dressmaking scissors. I would recommend using some silk pins they are nice and sharp and that
will help to prevent damaging the fabric, you can cut your pattern piece using the grainline either
parallel to the selvedge so up and down like this or horizontal to the selvedge it doesn't really
matter, both will work and of course it depends on the amount of fabric that you have. If you
prefer you're welcome to draw the measurements onto the wrong side of your fabric using chalk
or a removable pen. Take your cut-out piece of fabric and begin by folding it in half widthways
so you're matching the long edges together and the right sides of the fabric together as well.
Now you can head to the sewing machine just like this or you can put in some pins if you want to,
depends on how confident you are with your fabric. At the sewing machine we're going to stitch this
long edge. You're not going to be sewing from the top to the very bottom though you're going to want
to start approximately 3", 7 - 8cm away from the edge. Stitch all the way
along and stop the same distance away from the bottom. Make sure you set up your machine and test
it for working with silk fabric. You may need to change your needle as I mentioned and I'm working
with a stitch length of 2 to 2.5mm. You're going to want to begin away from the start
as I shared with you by approximately 3" 7 - 8cm back stitch and stitch
down the length making sure that the two sides are precisely on top of one another using the
1cm 3/8" seam allowance. Now you shouldn't have trouble sewing silk but if
your machine is having trouble you could try using a walking foot. My machine has dual feed
so effectively I'm using my dual feed right now, a bit like a walking foot. When you get to the end
make sure that you stop approximately 3" 7 - 8cm away from the end
and back stitch. Again if your machine does not like backstitching
then instead tie off your threads to secure them. Trim your threads, turn it around to the right side,
use something to help you if you need to. Once you've turned it around to the right side
you're going to want to start turning it back to the wrong side again, until you can match up
and use your little tool if you need to, the two short edges.
So you want to position right sides together the two short edges and you're going to sew
across those at the machine now. Sew across the two short edges following the 1cm
3/8" seam allowance, matching the raw edges together. Right sides together
and back stitch if you can at the start and the finish.
Trim any remaining threads. The next step is to finish this gap that you have.
To do that you're just going to need to pull out or move along
the scrunchie as you need to, until you're able to sew the complete gap. Now with the seam allowances
here I recommend that you just send them in one direction it doesn't matter which and
ideally you will match the seam together on both sides for a really professional finish.
Now we do need to leave a gap in order for us to be able to turn this around, so you want to leave a
small gap approximately 1.5cm to 2cm in size that's about 5/8"
to 3/4", so it is small but I promise you can turn this through it.
So either you can start leaving a gap and sew up to the original stitching line,
or you can start on the stitching line and leave a gap closer to this edge it doesn't
matter which just make sure that you neatly sew over the seam allowance to hold them in place.
Of course you don't want to be catching any of the extra fabric that's in the middle there.
Using the same seam allowance, I back stitched at the start and I'm going to sew over
the short seam making sure my seam allowances are going in the same direction on both sides
and that they're nice and secure and before I get to the other stitching line I'm going to stop
leaving a gap of a maximum of about 2cm
3/4". Just like so. Turn the scrunchie through the tiny little hole that you
left, and by leaving such a small hole you'll find that you don't actually need to hand sew this up
or machine sew it up afterwards. It's so tiny you'll find that it will completely disappear
on the scrunchie. Cut a length of elastic that measures 20cm 7 7/8".
Once you've turned the fabric to the right side take a safety pin and position it in one end
of your piece of elastic. Find your hole and feed the safety pin in the hole sending it around
the piece of fabric on the inside. Make sure that you don't lose the other end of your piece of
elastic. Once you get back to the starting hole you can pull the elastic out, and try not to twist the
elastic. Remove the safety pin and overlap the two bits of elastic by approximately 1cm or
3/8". Put in a pin and head to the sewing machine to fix the elastic and finish
your scrunchie. Sew the elastic together using either a little box of straight stitching or a
zigzag stitch. Be sure to backstitch and make this nice and secure. Trim your threads and lose the
elastic inside your scrunchie. Once the elastics been sewn and it's neatly hidden inside your
scrunchie. You'll find that by using such a small hole you can hardly find it and you don't need to
be hand sewing that up if you don't want to. We don't hand sew any of them on ours and they're
really hard to find where that little gap is there. You can see it just there! Many of the ones that
I've found in the shops also have this, those little tiny holes aren't hand sewn up afterwards. I hope
you enjoyed this tutorial and that you now feel comfortable making yourself some silk scrunchies.