Magic Tube-Turning Trick
Dear Catherine,
Congratulations on completing your first garment for yourself. Well done! Now you are eligible to become a member of our top secret club and I can reveal to you the Magic Tube-Turning Trick.
1. Cut the fabric for your tube, adding about 1/2″ to what the instructions require. Iron it in half with right sides together. Cut a piece of bias tape, ric rac or ribbon a few inches longer than your tube piece. Place this inside the folded fabric, right next to the crease.
2. Sew across the short end of your tube, securing the bias tape in the stitches.
3. Sew down the long side, making sure to not catch any of the bias tape in the stitches.
4. Say the magic words. Pull on the bias tape and use your finger to push the very end of the tube to the inside. Pull on the bias tape and slide the tube back over itself. Abracadabra! The tube is right side out!
5. Cut off the end with the bias tap, fold in your ends, press and sew.
Shhh. Don’t tell anyone.
~ Kristin
91 Responses to “Magic Tube-Turning Trick”
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Love it!
Alternatively, when you are teaching a friend to sew and her husband is so curious he can’t leave you alone, recruit him to turn all tubes inside out (he was faster than me!)
My lips are sealed.
Thanks!
Jenny
What a fantastic tip! Shhhh! I won’t tell anyone…………
Great trick! That is my LEAST favorite part of making things with tubes!
This little tidbit will change my life. Thank you.
Oh. My. God. A-mazing tip!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
That… that is brilliant.
Oh, and don’t worry— mum’s the word.
Brilliant!!!..
I just spent an hour turning a tube out with my (now red) fingers. A little late but THANK YOU!
What a great idea! I’ll have to remember that next time I’m trying to turn a tube inside out. Thank you.
wow. great idea. thanks.
I ‘sew’ could have used this tip while making Pikmin for Son#1 this week. Thanks for sharing! It will come in handy next time. Happy Sewing!
Woo Hoo! I am going to remember this one!
This is absolutely the best tip I have ever heard! Can’t wait to try this. Thank you!
Wow! what a cool trick! I love it. Now I can’t wait to try it.
That is too cute! And to think I’ve been doing it the hard way with a safety pin!
OH man I wish I knew this a month ago when I started! That’s brilliant!!
Love that!! I have done that long ago – I think with my mom – but haven’t used that trick for a long time! Perfect for “apaghetti straps”.
Where was this tip when I was learning to sew? Wonderful, wonderful tutorial, thank you!
holey moley — you don’t even know how excited this makes me.
thanks!
Brilliant!
Oh my gosh, this is genius!
Thank you for posting this trick! I think of all the times I struggled with turning those tubes. I can’t wait to try this!
Such a simple solution, yet one I never would have thought of! Thanks for the tip. I am completing a sundress that had shoulder straps that needed to be turned inside out and I used a hemostat to clamp the end and pull, but your idea sounds much easier.
Ooo. That’s even better than my magical “giant safety pin” method.
Clever!
I’ve seen this done and I’ve even done it myself, but I had forgotten all about it. Thanks so much for the reminder. I hate turning skinny tubes.
Love this!! Those super skinny tubes make me crazy.
Ahah! I have been making tiny tubes for months and this will save me soo much headache. Thanks
You just rocked my world.
This is awesome! I never thought of that!
brilliant! thanks for sharing!
Amazing.
A dread project becomes so simple it’s tempting to try just for fun!
Thank you.
Very much!
Um, I’m sorry – but you are a GENIUS!!! I will be using this trick for the next 14 bag handles I have to sew, thank you!!!
Great tip! I’ve always been a safety pin woman myself but not anymore.
O wow. Thank you. I will be using this one!
Definitely better than the safety pin trick. Thank you!
I will put off sewing something just because of the tubes, thanks so much, that is the best tip I’ve heard in a long time.
This changed my whole attitude towards making straps when I learned how to do it! Hysterical post!
Oh my word! I’ve never thought of this! Why did no one ever tell me about this before?? I was using a really long tunisian crochet hook for turning and it was a pain in the butt!
Oh, this is so helpful! Thanks for the tip!
Brilliant!
Seriously?! Amazing. Thank you so much for this!
this is absolute genius.
OMG! So simple and SO helpful! Thank you! How come my mind doesn’t function like that? lol
Oh my gosh! Brilliant! Thanks!
Much better than my former coat hanger & safety pin method!
Amazing! Will be sharing this with all my sewing friends! Can’t wait to try it!
Ha ha — love the humor in this article — thanks!
Hooray! Thank you!
So great, so easy, so rational…thank you
very cool way to do it!
Wow, such a good idea! I’ll have to try it next time
A.w.e.s.o.m.e!! Thanks so much!
This is awesome! I hated turning tubes, but this will make it so much easier.
WOW. This is such a simple idea but so “why didn’t i ever think of this” at the same time!! Thank you for this!
For Spaghetti straps use rattail cord and your zipper foot
oh my gosh. i could hug the author of this post!! i have shed tears over turning tubes… why didn’t i learn this before??? thanks for sharing!
Fantastic! I wish I had thought of this before!
That is an awesome tip! I will be using that soon with some dress’s for the girls!
I’ve been doing this for years – I have a piece of cording that I just keep reusing for larger tubes like purse straps.
Amazing! I have sewn for years and NEVER heard this!
That’s why I love this site-everyone is so willing to help and to make sewing more fun with less effort!
Thumbs up, Kritstin!
Great tip! This will work better than my safety pin method!
Is this anything like becoming a member for fightclub?
This is truly a revelation. Thank you!
This is the 2nd life-changing tip I’ve come across in the last 2 days. My life is revolutionised!! I’m so excited about this that I’ve had to blog about it!
Thank you for this, I can give up my safety pin now and do it this way, which seems much easier!!
All this time I have been fighting a safety pin???? This is genius.
I learned this decades ago…. However, this is hardly a narrow tube, and the bias tape/twill tape (which is what I learned to use)is much too big for truly narrow tubes (like for spaghetti straps). Occasionally, I’ve been able to use this basic technique with string to do it, but usually, I either catch the string in the stitching or it breaks in the turning. The little hook thingie on a long stem works, but usually needs several tries to get it hooked in JUST the right place. Usually, I “cheat” by just turning the edges in and edge stitching….
OH MY GOSH!!! How have I never known about this?!?! My life has now changed!
Brilliant. Thank you. Now I can spend less money on Tylenol, and more money on fabric!
what a great idea thanks for sharing I started a fabric toy for my grandson and got so frastrated turing all the pices I gave up Think I will finish it now
Great idea! How can I NOT tell people?????
By the way, what about turning a skinny tube?
This is genius! No more sweating it out w/ the safety pins!
Thank you thank you thank you! Seriously, I alter all patterns that have long skinny tubes because I can’t stand to turn them. This just might change that!
OMG! You made me cry with delight!
Awesome! All the years I’ve sewn, I never came up with this.
I am so glad I read this now instead of later. I am going to use the idea right now. Thanks!!
LOVE IT! Simply A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I’ve been sewing all my life and never heard of this before. THANK YOU!
Great hint – I am always all thumbs when turning narrow tubes and usually resort to doing something else. No longer now i know the secret.
You, madam, are a genius!
WOW!) I am utterly amazed! Soooooo smart.
OhMyDearLord. THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS!!!! I wish I had known this long ago, turning tubes is no fun!!!
oh wow !!! what a great trick.i make a lot of tubes when creating my bagsand pouches.this is going to make life a bit easier.
this is the kind of genius that makes me slap my forehead and say “DUH.” so simple, yet i wouldn’t have thought of it in a million trillion years…so glad i ran across this in my rss feed! thank you!!!!
This is so amazing, and I will be using it from now on.
This is such a great little trick! You just saved me so much frustration!
This has been very helpful. Thank you!
wow! this is an amazing and helpful trick. these are the things that remind me why i love sewing sooooo much. there is always something new to learn.thans.
Best trick EVER!
Thank you!!! Thank youuuu!!! I adore you!!! (I promese dont tell, shhhh!)!