How to Turn a Narrow Tube of Fabric

There are specific tools available and many methods for turning tubes of fabric, but if you’re like me and don’t have the right tools then don’t despair, here’s one way you can do it using a couple of items found in the kitchen.

Note: this method will only work on a fabric tube that is sewn shut on one end.

You will need: a drinking straw and a bamboo skewer… and your fabric tube that needs turning right way out.

For reference purposes, my fabric tube measures 12mm (1/2 in) wide. I used a large straw like the kind you get from McDonalds, and cut it so it was a fraction longer than the fabric tube. If your fabric tube is narrower than mine and too small for a large straw, you can use a smaller one. I was able to turn the same fabric tube using a smaller straw, but the method wasn’t quite the same – see the pics at the end of this tutorial to see how it’s done.

 

Insert the straw into the fabric tube. Push it all the way in until it touches the closed end of the fabric.

 

Take the skewer and use the blunt end of it to push the closed end of the fabric down inside the straw.

 

Keep pushing the fabric through the straw…

 

… until it comes out the other end, the right way out!

 

 

If you only have a small drinking straw it will still do the job, you just won’t be able to push the fabric through the straw. The skewer will kind of jam itself inside the straw then you’ll be able to push the fabric along the skewer to turn it right way out. See the pics below.

I hope this helped. :)