Make a fabric scrunchie with a hidden French seam

Wash and dry your fabric before you cut anything, then press it flat. Anything that goes into a wash garment has to be shrunk first, or it will pucker later; cotton and linen take a hot iron and can be pressed damp.

Cut a strip about 55 cm long and 10 cm wide (22 x 4 in) from a light, washable fabric, since a French seam is too thick for heavy goods. Allow the same seam width you would for a plain seam. If a salvaged piece is not long enough, seam two sound strips together end to end to reach the length rather than settle for one doubtful piece.

Thread the needle with soft cotton thread rather than silk. A scrunchie is washed often, and silk cuts wet cloth where soft cotton holds.

Fold the strip in half along its length so the two long raw edges line up, and sew a first line of stitching about 3 mm (1/8 in) in from those edges; a straight seam like this is where a French seam works best. Keep it narrow, because a wide French seam is clumsy and marks a ridge under the iron. If the fabric is slippery, baste this line first so it does not shift.

Turn the work so that first line of stitching lies right on the fold, rolling the seam between your fingers until it does. Then sew a second seam 6 mm (1/4 in) from the fold, deep enough to shut in the raw edges entirely. The two lines of stitching together take up about 1 cm (3/8 in).

Press this seam before you go any further, while the tube still opens flat; a seam pressed as soon as it is sewn takes a finish that later pressing cannot give. Lay the work wrong side up and press cotton or linen with a hot iron, damp if you like.

Turn the tube right side out by working it back through itself, coaxing the fabric along with a knitting needle or the blunt end of a pencil. Take your time here, because a narrow tube turns slowly and the French seam adds a little bulk.

Cut about 20 cm (8 in) of flat elastic 6 mm (1/4 in) wide. Pin a safety pin to one end, feed it all the way through the tube, then overlap the two ends by about 1.3 cm (1/2 in) and stitch back and forth across the overlap until it holds firmly.

Slip one raw end of the tube inside the other so the two openings meet. Turn the outer raw edge under about 3 mm (1/8 in) and stitch close to the folded edge, the clean-stitch finish used on unlined wash dresses, closing the tube into a ring and hiding the last raw edge.