DIY Scrunchy Necklaces

You can make a scrunchie hair accessory to match the necklace.

You can create a beautiful fabric fashion accessory from some leftover scraps of fabric for a necklace that coordinates perfectly with a newly made dress or complements a variety of outfits. The necklace is a creative way to show off your flair for fashion and recycling savvy at the same time, while also not breaking your budget on store bought jewelry. When the necklace is finished, you can add your own creative touches, with silk flower, bead, gemstone or ribbon embellishments.

Things You'll Need

• Fabric (about 1/6 yard)
• Sewing machine (or sewing needle and thread)
• 3/4-inch-wide elastic
• Tapestry needle

Instructions

1. Cut the fabric for the necklace. Cut a long strip of fabric that measures 5 inches wide by 45 inches long. This makes a necklace about 30 inches long. You can adjust the length of the fabric strip to make a longer or shorter necklace. Make the strip 1.5 times the length of the finished necklace length.

2. Lay the fabric necklace strip on your work surface and fold it in half inside out. Sew a straight stitch down the length of the strip with at least a 1/4-inch seam allowance.

3. Invert the necklace through one of the short ends to put the good side of the fabric on the outside of the necklace. This is a somewhat long and tedious process, but it is well worth the effort when the necklace is completed.

4. Cut a piece of elastic to the length you would like the necklace and thread one end onto the end of a tapestry needle.

5. Thread the tapestry needle through one short end of the necklace and sew the elastic ends to the fabric, about 1/4 inch inward from each short end.

6. Fold one end of the necklace inward about 1/4 inch and slide the other end into the folded edge. Sew around the fabric to join the two pieces.

Tips & Warnings

• To add a bit more flair to the scrunchy necklace, glue on imitation gemstones or sew on crystal beads to the length of the fabric before scrunching the necklace with the elastic.

• If you do not have an elastic, you can use a strip of fleece fabric instead. This also gives the necklace a bit more bulk. Make the strip about 1 inch wide by the length you would like the necklace. Insert it into the fabric tube in the same way as the elastic and then gather the necklace fabric until each end is even with the ends of the fleece.

References

• "Headbands, Scrunchies, Barrettes & Bows;" Marilyn Gossett; 1994

Resources

• Fiber Images: Hand Sewing Stitches