Scrunchies!

What is old is new again pertains to sewing machines and also the current hair fashion craze called scrunchies. For those who do not have long hair that needs taming, let me explain: scrunchies are a piece of elastic you can wear to hold your hair back but it is covered in a cloth sleeve. This now makes it fashion with a wide variety of fabrics and even sizes. I made up a bunch of these with my grandkids because even the boys wear them on their wrists, partly as a token from a girl to show her interest in a special boy. So now it's fashion and pre-teen hormones! We had such a good time sewing them up on a Singer 99 hand crank:

Emma making scrunchies at home with the Singer 99 hand crank

I thought it might be fun to make up a bunch to sell at our church craft and bake sale. Maybe we could have a scrunchie making party where we sewed up a bunch to sell but just didn't get around to setting it all up. I mentioned this to one of the moms after the sale and she said "I would come and bring my daughter!" so, with her help, we posted a scrunchie making party on Facebook and I got ready.

Fabric was pressed and cut, supplies organized and loaded, and off we went. My granddaughter, Emma, was getting to be a pro at this so I picked her up and put her to work. I ended up cutting out about sixty pieces of fabric in a variety of prints, including Christmas, in cotton and flannel with even a red velvet.

Selection of fabric, all pressed and ready to sew up

I set up a Kenmore electric for those who already could use a sewing machine, a Singer 99 hand crank for younger sewers, and even a serger for experienced or at least adult sewers.  As it turned out, our high school student had taken a sewing class so she sat down to the Kenmore, the younger girls used the hand crank Singer, and the adults, experienced or not, gravitated to the serger.

Kenmore electric and White Speedylock serger

Although I had the four steps all on samples it still took supervision to get everyone on track and sewing. I also had to keep those machines threaded as well as brief teaching along the way. 

Emma learning to thread the Singer 99

Over the two hours we were set up, there were four adults and four kids working on three machines to make up 25-30 scrunchies!

A busy bunch, waiting for their turn, in a basement classroom

All pitched in and helped with the clean up and bringing everything back to the cars, remaining snacks were divided up, and we called it a success:

Emma showing off her earlier success in sewing

An abundance of scrunchies!

This might be a repeat performance at a Girl Scout meeting so we shall see. Even with all of the planning and prep, it was well worth it to get more people sewing and having fun while doing it.

Next up, I promise, is the fixed Singer embroidery sewing machine. Stay tuned!