Mabel's Turban

Making Chemo Caps is a year long project.

Every day in every chemotherapy unit someone is in need of a head covering.

Usually they need many of them as they get easily soiled with shedding skin and night sweats.

The Mainland Morning Quilt Guild of Texas City, Texas has a unique (at least to me) project providing turban style hats to their local chemotherapy units.

With their instructions in hand plus a sample of the turban I have come up with Mabel's Turban.

Materials needed:


5” of ¼” elastic for that scrunched look at the back of the Turban


13” x 22” knit fabric for the body with the long side being stretchy for going around he head.


4” x 5” knit fabric for the loop at the front.






Other:


Sewing machine with a stretch stitch, double needle capability and/or a serger.


Matching thread – Unless you are looking for a strong contrast use a matching thread as your stitches will show on the right side of the turban.



Note on Fabric: Do a test run on the chosen fabric before investing in a lot of yardage. Knits vary significantly and good results are hard to achieve if your knit fabric does not cooperate.



Construction:


1. Sew together the 13” ends of the main fabric with a stretch stitch or a serged edge. Sew seam allowance to the body of the turban with a straight or stretchy stitch.


2. Sew a 1” inch hem using a double needle or stretch stitches.


3. Form the loop by sewing or serging the 5” inch sides of the loop fabric together. Turn right side out.


4. Fold the turban, right sides together, so that the hem is on the bottom and the already sewn seam is to one side. Seam the top edge from the sewn seam to about ¾” from the folded edge.


5. Thread one raw end of the loop through the ¾” opening and wrap the other end around to the inside of the turban. Sew the ends of the loop and the remaining raw edges together. This may be quite thick and need to be hand sewn.


6. Attach the 5” elastic to the inside covering the original seam from the top seam to just above the hem. Use a stretch stitch on your sewing machine for this step.

Thank you to Susie of Texas City for the well loved instructions and to Janetta and Lish for bringing it to my attention.

Try out this new Chemo Cap and let me know what you think.  The Once Upon a Time Bee will be making these at our December gathering.  

It really is quite stylish if you can ignore Mabel's drunken look.

Have a great weekend!