Comfort Caps Sewing it Forward

Comfort Caps. 

The term comfort caps sends a shiver through me.  I’ve been there, walked the walk, I talk the talk.  Surgeries, chemo, hair loss, radiation, then a few years later it reared it’s ugly head again and another part was removed.  2008 and 2015.  All in the past.  

During part of that journey, I was a business owner.  I owned and operated a sewing machine and knitting machine retail store and some of my customers took a similar journey.  We hosted our first comfort cap sew-along back in the ’90s, using donated fabric and a pattern distributed through Husqvarna/Viking.  Many students from a local high school came forward to pitch in.  They had a beloved custodian fighting cancer and sewed in his honour.  That group of customers and students cut, sewed and completed a 3-foot high stack of hats, and we made them available to anyone who came forward. We continued to host sew-alongs as long as I was involved with that store.

I’ve been “sewing it forward” ever since.  Having sold my business in 2014, now I sew with a wonderful group of “sewing sistas” and we often “sew it forward”.  Like 32 pairs of pajama pants, sewn and donated this past Christmas to the local Adopt-a-Child program.  Textured small quilts for Alzheimer’s patients in local nursing homes.  Dresses for girls in Africa.  And comfort caps.  More than 40 in the photo shown below.

Last week when I gave a few comfort caps away the recipient asked if she could donate some fabric, and subsequently dropped off a bag of useful remnants with just the right amount of stretch.  I LOVE sewing with other people’s fabric!

Using just her donated fabric, I sewed a dozen comfort caps!  

Here’s how I Made Them

I used this pattern as a beginning (it was used for all the hats in the first photo) and adapted it to suit the sizes of the fabric that was given to me. Below is a small copy of the pattern, you can follow the link for your own copy.

For the long narrow strips, I cut 4 separate “petals” with seam allowance added instead of cutting one single unit on the fold. Using my serger I first of all joined the pieces into pairs, then serged the 2 pairs together before hemming.

For wider, shorter pieces of fabric, I added a folded brim after constructing the top to make up the length. I mixed and matched fabrics and had fun using as much of it as I could.

In conclusion, sewing these comfort caps make me feel sew GOOD.  In so many aspects of my life I’ve been very fortunate.  And I removed that cat from the box and closed it!