Chemo Hats - Private Sewing Session and a brief research project
I love it when a customer comes to me with an interesting task which they would like help with on a one to one basis. Cari recently got in touch to ask for help as she needed some support in making Chemo hats for a family member about to undergo treatment.
I've worked with Cari a few times and she knows herself to be a very visual learner, reading instructions don't make as much sense as working with a real person. Following a pattern can be a challenge for her too as a novice sewer. She tried to follow a few online tutorials but felt she needed her hand held through this process of choosing a suitable pattern to make.
Before Cari arrived I had trawled the internet for some simple chemo hat patterns, there are lots out there - particularly for those of you who can crochet and knit! She was unsure if she wanted to make a hat in a stretchy knit fabric or woven so I found a selection of patterns.
On the day we focused on the softer knit fabrics so here are the links to the woven patterns we didn't get a chance to try out :
The above hat is in the style of a bandana and uses a rectangle of fabric with lots of pleats.
This one is more shaped, the downloadable pattern comes in a couple of sizes which is helpful. If you do have a go with these designs I would love to know how you got on.
The two we tried out were for stretch fabrics and although we used the overlocker (because we can and they are fast) you can use your regular machine with a stretch needle and a stretch stitch or zig zag. The simplest version was a set of instruction to copy an existing beanie hat:
- Using fleece cut two pieces using the existing beanie hat as a template.
- With Right sides together sew over the curved edge to join
- Place the seams on top of each other - still right sides together and sew around the curve again, this time cutting across the top in a straight line to give a crown to the hat
- Turn out and roll the edge to form a brim
Now I must confess I used a Childs beanie and didn't give myself enough extra for the seams so it turned out somewhat small! The principal worked. Cari used a pattern which formed a much more successful shape!
