The Carolina Mask Project is working to meet the demands of healthcare personnel whose needs extend beyond cloth mask covers all over North and South Carolina such as head coverings or scrub caps. Some of our volunteers and CLTgivePPE also help provide items like headbands with buttons or 3D printed mask extenders to help with ear strain.
There are many surgical cap or head covering patterns available around the web, but we’ve worked with Anne McParland, of Stitch This Tega Cay, on the first two particular patterns linked at the bottom of the post. The first style uses bias tape and is more the traditional scrub cap style. This pattern uses less material. Some volunteers prefer to add a bit of length to these around the sides to help cover the heads a little more.
Another style extends the sides out from the top of the cap to create the ties. This pattern, found on lifebox.org, uses more fabric but can cover more of the face. The edges fold up to fit the wearer and there is a bit more room to tuck your hair underneath the cap with this pattern. If you prefer to work without the bias or binding tape, you may find that you prefer the larger tie back pattern.
Anne altered the tie back pattern by extending the cutting line from the hem line on piece A to make it look more like a torpedo than an egg. If you don’t do this, when you fold up the hem it leaves a gap. Also, after sewing together face fabric B and lining B, she said it is a good idea to snip through the seam allowance, perpendicular to and up to the very edge of the stitching. This allows the sewn seam to fold under and the raw edge to turn out, and makes it easier to attach piece A. See images below.
We’ve linked some additional patterns here that other volunteers and sewists may find useful. Thank you, Anne, for testing the first two patterns, helping the team provide head coverings and for your photos!
- Bias Tape Pattern from Kadiddlehopper
- Tie Back Pattern (PDF download)
- Rad Patterns Free Surgical Cap Download
- Single Piece Scrub Cap Tutorial (no pattern)
- Bouffant Style Cap Pattern from The Sewing Pixies
Do you have a pattern for head coverings or notes on how to improve these patterns? Leave a comment below for folks to refer to when working on their caps. We’ve seen some healthcare teams sewing buttons directly onto the head coverings to attach masks. Share your innovative ideas with us!