You can sew a real first project by hand with a needle, thread, scissors and about an hour: a scrunchie takes a 50 × 10 cm (20 × 4 in) strip of fabric, one long backstitched seam and 20 cm (8 in) of elastic. The backstitch is the only stitch you must learn, and done with small stitches it is as strong as a machine seam. Along the way you practice the things every later project needs: a steady seam allowance, turning a tube, and closing a gap invisibly.
What do you need to sew by hand?
- Hand needles labeled "sharps", size 7 to 9. Smaller numbers are thicker; a size 8 suits most cottons.
- All-purpose polyester thread in a color close to the fabric. Avoid very old cotton thread, which snaps.
- Fabric: a scrap of cotton, satin or a lightweight woven at least 50 × 10 cm. Something you already have is fine.
- Elastic: 20 cm (8 in) of 1 cm (3/8 in) wide elastic.
- Scissors, pins, a tape measure, a safety pin, and tailor's chalk or a pencil.
- An iron. Hand-sewn seams look amateur until they are pressed, and professional once they are.
- A thimble is optional at first and welcome after the second project.
The essential sewing tools guide shows what each one looks like and what to spend on.
Which hand stitches do you need for a first project?
Three, and two of them are variations of each other.
- Running stitch: the needle goes in and out along the line, several stitches at a time. Quick, weak, used for basting pieces together before the real seam, and for gathering.
- Backstitch: each stitch goes back to the end of the previous one before moving forward, so the stitches on the top overlap into an unbroken line. This is the hand seam. The backstitch entry has a diagram.
- Ladder stitch (also called slip stitch when used on a hem): tiny stitches taken alternately in each folded edge, so that pulling the thread closes the gap and the stitches disappear. The ladder stitch is what closes a cushion, a toy or the ends of this scrunchie.
The post on hand sewing stitches adds the whipstitch, the blanket stitch and a hemming stitch for later, but these three carry a first project.
How do you thread a needle and start a seam?
Cut a length of thread from your fingertips to your elbow, about 45 cm (18 in). Longer thread tangles and knots; you will rethread more often with short lengths and lose less time overall. Cut the end at an angle, lick or wax it if it frays, and push it through the eye. Pull a third of the length through and leave it single, with a knot at the other end: two wraps round your finger, roll, pull.
Start the seam by bringing the needle up from the wrong side, so the knot sits inside the seam allowance where it will not show. End it with two tiny stitches on the spot, then cut the thread close.
How do you sew a scrunchie by hand, step by step?
- Cut the strip. Measure and chalk a rectangle 50 × 10 cm (20 × 4 in) along the straight grain, so one long side runs parallel to the selvage, and cut it. If the scrap has no selvage, pull a thread to find the grain. Press the strip flat.
- Fold and pin. Fold the strip in half along its length, right sides together, so the strip is now 50 × 5 cm. Pin along the long raw edge every 5 cm (2 in). Chalk a line 1 cm (3/8 in) from that edge: this is your seam allowance and the line you will sew on.
- Backstitch the long seam. Starting 1 cm from one short end, sew along the chalk line with stitches 2 to 3 mm (about 1/8 in) long: bring the needle up, go back down at the end of the previous stitch, come up one stitch length ahead. Keep the tension even; the thread should lie flat on the fabric, not pull it into dimples. Stop 1 cm before the far end. Both short ends stay open.
- Turn the tube right side out. Fasten the safety pin to one short end and feed it back through the tube, bunching the fabric over it. Press the tube flat with the seam running along one edge.
- Thread the elastic. Pin one end of the elastic to the tube's opening so it cannot vanish inside, fasten the safety pin to the other end and work it through to the far opening. Overlap the two elastic ends by 1 cm and sew through both layers with six or eight backstitches, then go over them once more. Let the elastic retreat into the tube.
- Close the ends. Turn the raw edge of one tube end 1 cm to the inside and press. Slide the other end into it by 1 cm, or turn both ends in and butt them. Ladder stitch the folds together all the way round, with stitches about 3 mm apart, and pull gently every few stitches to close.
- Finish. Distribute the gathers evenly round the elastic. You are done, and the scrunchie has taught you a seam, a turned tube and an invisible closure.
The whole project uses one needle, one length of thread (perhaps two), and about an hour the first time. The second one takes half that.
What are the most common mistakes when sewing by hand?
- Thread too long. It tangles, knots and wears thin against the fabric. Stay near 45 cm.
- Stitches too big. A 6 mm (1/4 in) backstitch looks fine and gaps open under strain. Keep them to 2 to 3 mm on a seam.
- Pulling too tight. The seam puckers into a ridge. The thread should sit on the fabric, not in it.
- A wandering seam allowance. Chalk the line before you sew, and sew on the line, not next to it.
- Skipping the press. Press the seam after sewing and press the finished piece. Half the difference between amateur and tidy hand sewing is the iron.
- Starting with a knot on the outside. Come up from the wrong side, so the knot is hidden.
What should you sew by hand next?
An envelope cushion cover: three straight backstitched seams and two hems, with no closure at all, and a bigger reward for the same stitches. Then a zip pouch, where the zip tape is backstitched to the fabric exactly as a machine would do it, only slower. Hemming trousers with a slip stitch, sewing on buttons and closing the lining of a bag by ladder stitch are hand techniques you will keep using long after you own a machine.
Sewly's scrunchie pattern, like its waistbands and ties, is given as cutting dimensions rather than a printed piece, with the elastic length listed with the notions, so the pattern for this project is the two numbers above.
When should you use a machine instead?
When the seams get long. A backstitch runs at a few centimeters a minute; a machine does a meter in seconds. A skirt with a 60 cm (24 in) side seam and a 2 m hem is an evening by hand and twenty minutes by machine. Knit fabrics also favor the machine, whose zigzag or stretch stitch gives with the fabric where a hand backstitch will snap.
The comparison sewing machine vs hand sewing draws the line in detail. The short version: learn the three stitches above, make two or three small things by hand, and if you want to make clothes, read the post on choosing a first sewing machine. The hand skills do not go to waste; they finish every garment the machine starts.