hair curler sewing tutorial

one of my friends asked for directions for the hair curlers i made this weekend, so here goes…

ingredients for one curler:
a scrap of cotton fabric, at least 4″ X 9″ in size
a small amount of stuffing the curler (i use polyester)
a button
some thread

tools:
a sewing machine, preferably with a zipper foot attachment
a hand-sewing needle
scissors

baking time:
around 10 minutes at intermediate skill level

directions:
first, cut a 4″ X 9″ rectangle from a piece of scrap fabric.

fold it in half lengthwise, right sides together. sew 4″ along long edge using 1/4″ seam.

fold the small end together (the end where you started your stitching).

sew across the end. [alternately, you could hand-sew this end instead, using a running stitch and gathering it by pulling up on the thread]

turn right side out and stuff up to the top of that initial 4″ seam.

once it’s stuffed, sew opening closed as close to the 4″ mark as possible.

using the tail-end of the thread, sew a running stitch over the previous stitches and gather. [alternately, this opening could be sewn shut and gathered by hand]

fold the other short edge over 1/4″, then fold a long side over about an inch.

fold the remaining long edge over, turning its edge under 1/4″ as well.

sew over the last edge you turned over, then along the short edge, then back down the other side.

sew a buttonhole on the end. i like a buttonhole going the length of the curler. YMMV.

cut open the buttonhole.

sew a button to the end of the stuffed portion.

voila! a curler!

special bonus – a messy curler-head:

heh.