Quarantine Activities: Surgical Cap DIY

In this quarantine series, I have a ton of fun at-home self-isolated DIY activities that will hopefully make social distancing a little more productive/rewarding/aesthetic. All craft materials can be found online so no need to scour the store for these items (though I highly doubt they’ll be the top of most people’s quarantine grocery list). If you have one, grab your isolation buddy/roommate and let’s get crafty (:

I don’t think any of us realized how long the stay at home advisory would truly last when it started in March and so much has changed since I last wrote my post on DIY surgical masks. The biggest one is we should all absolutely be wearing a mask in public. What hasn’t changed is the demand for PPE to protect healthcare workers, and the public efforts to donate homemade or medical-quality PPE towards this effort. Partners is fortunate to have acquired an N95 reprocessor, but other essential PPE cannot be reprocessed, including yellow isolation gowns, face shields, gloves, and surgical caps.

Today’s DIY addresses surgical caps. Do you need to be worried about COVID-19 in your hair when you run to the grocery store? Likely not. Your hair is a porous surface, one that viruses do not live too long on. Additionally, unless someone coughed droplets directly on to your hair, you’d most likely be okay. It’s worth noting that hair is still an untested surface but with the novelty of the virus, who’s to really say. Healthcare workers directly encountering COVID-19 patients must take all precautions necessary. Droplets are aerosolized into finer particles through suctioning or nebulizer treatments and all airway patients are considered to be on enhanced respiratory precautions. For this reason, consider sewing a surgical cap for work, for someone you know who works in a hospital or to donate.

DIY Surgical Cap:

Following the measurement guidelines on the paper pattern I created, use a ruler to make measurements. It’s important to consider what each piece represents. The egg-shaped piece with the tail is the top of the surgical cap and the tail opens to the ponytail hole. The oar-like piece is the piece that wraps around your head ties in the back but folded in half. I strongly suggest using a paper to trace the pattern on to ensure that you are maintaining the right shape.

Be sure to cut this out on a doubled up piece of fabric with the fold of the fabric on the left edge. Feel free to repeat this again if you want to double layer this piece!

For the cut out pattern on the watermelon fabric, I also created a layer on the green linen to double up the fabric. This is optional! I sewed the two layers together and flipped to the right side out. Then, I pinned the top of the cap (green linen) along the piece of fabric that represents the side of the head, sewing on the inside portion.

The bottom of the cap has a lot of extra fabric so you can customize the fit. If you want to add an elastic, this is your chance! Otherwise, I trimmed about 1 inch upward and hemmed the edge. I also sewed the back ties and flipped it right side out. So long as. you cut out the two patterns, it is pretty intuitive as to how to put together the cap - it is simply the top of the head sewn to the sides. Feel free to extend or decrease the tail end depending on whether you plan to have a ponytail sticking out or not! I also added buttons on the sides to hang your mask from so you can ditch the headband and relieve your ears. Phew! This surgical mask is a wonderful way to protect yourself but also brings a little bit of fun to the mess of PPE equipment.