Welcome to our 6th annual, 12 Days of Freebies! This year has been… something (to say the least)! We’re so happy to hopefully spread a little love to you this season and if at all possible, make your handmade gifting less stressful this year. We love to take a little bit of time this month to say “thank you” to all of you in our Mermaid community! We hope these freebies (and our freebies from previous years – 2015, 2016, 2017 2018, and 2019) make your holiday gift-giving a little more merry & bright. This year we’ve decided to add PROJECTOR FILES to the freebies!! That’s right, these quick patterns are even quicker for those who have started using projectors 🙂 We try to come up with useful patterns for you to gift to others (or for yourself 😜) that don’t include a ton of fabric, supplies, or TIME. Don’t forget to come back each day to see what new Freebie we have for you and ‘PIN” them for later to use! 🙂
Today we are bringing you an adorable SUPER SCRUNCHIE. I know, I know, we have done scrunchies twice before, here and here, BUT as soon I saw these scrunchies on Free People’s site, I HAD to make one. I thought they were so cute and fun. I quickly made up some for my daughter and me, and we both love them.
Photo source: Free People
They’re cute on your wrist, in a pony or bun, wrapped around a bottle of wine or hydro flask for a gift, stuffed in a stocking, and more! They, of course, are super quick to make too. I prefer to use lightweight apparel woven or a knit with a soft drape. It helps create a very soft, billowy scrunchie. If you choose something like a thicker knit or woven fabric, it will be bulkier and heavier.
SUPPLIES:
The main scrunchie can be made in a variety of woven or knit fabrics. Lightweight apparel woven fabrics like crepe, rayon challis, poly chiffon, satin, poly blends, voile, lawn, etc. Lightweight knit fabrics like rayon spandex, bamboo spandex, modal, double brushed poly, etc. Thicker fabrics will create a heavier scrunchie.
- Fabric – choose based on 54″ or 60″wide fabrics:
- 1/4 yard fabric
- 7.5″ of 3/8″ elastic. I like to use knit elastic because it’s softer, but woven elastic works fine too. Note- you may want to adjust your elastic length depending on what kind of elastic you’re using and how thick/long your hair is.
LET’S GET STARTED!
1/4″ seam allowances included.
Step 1: PREPPING
Go grab the pattern here! The pattern is 100% free, but you do need to add it to your cart and checkout. Then, it will always be available to download from your account. The pattern is a no-trim pattern; if you need help putting the pattern together, pop over to the faqs and troubleshooting page or ask in our Facebook group.
Print and assemble the pattern. Alternatively, you can use the projector file if you’re using a projector, yay! There are 4 pages to print out OR you can cut a piece of fabric 6.5″ x 54″. Pattern layout below:
Cut 1 scrunchie piece on fold (or 6.5″ x 54″ if you don’t want to print the piece), and cut one piece of 7.5″ of 3/8″ elastic. Note- you may want to adjust your elastic length depending on what kind of elastic you’re using and how thick/long your hair is.
Step 2- SEWING THE SCRUNCHIE– Psst need a video on sewing this scrunchie? Check out the YouTube video here!
Fold scrunchie in half widthwise. Stitch short ends together with a 1/4″ seam.
Now you’re going to burrito roll your scrunchie. Unfold your scrunchie and lay flat, with right sides together. Roll the top layer’s bottom edge toward the center creased edge (pink below), with wrong sides together. Then, roll the top layer’s top edge toward the center creased edge (blue below). These two edges will now overlap in the center.
Make sure your rolled pieces are in the center of the creased edge (shown in white below).
Now, pull the bottom layer’s bottom edge up and over the rolled pieces in the center. Match the right sides and raw edge of the bottom layer’s top and bottom edges (yellow). You should have a rolled portion in between.
Begin stitching the scrunchie together with a 1/4″ seam, making sure the rolled pieces are as close to the creased edge as possible so you don’t catch them in the seam.
When you get to the point that you can’t stitch anymore, gently pull the inside rolled pieces out and toward you. Then match the raw edges and make sure your rolled pieces are out of the way. Begin sewing again, gently pulling when needed. Leave 2″-2.5″ unsewn, so that you will be able to turn your scrunchie right side out. Press unsewn seam open. You can use an iron, or just finger press, depending on fabric choice.
Pull scrunchie right side out through the small opening that was left.
Insert elastic and thread through the scrunchie using a safety pin. Overlap the elastic edges by 1/4″, and zig zag over to hold in place. Note- I like to hold the end of the elastic with a clip or pin at the opening so you don’t lose it while threading.
Now it’s time to close the scrunchie. You have a few options: hand stitch closed, machine stitch closed, or topstitch around the entire scrunchie to close. Fluff fabric around elastic.
ENJOY!!
I hope you, your little one, and anyone you’re gifting this to love this one! I absolutely love wearing these on my wrist and throwing my hair up with them. Add them to gifts for tweens, teens, teachers, girlfriends, and everyone in between! I’ve heard they make a great option for craft fairs too 🙂
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