Note from Nancy
This column appeared in the May 2005 issue of Sew News, part of a quarterly series by Gail Brown called “Giving Back.” Learn about other inspiring people and their projects—and how you, too, can make a difference-in our book and companion video Creative Kindness.
Would you or your group like to sew headcovers to help those coping with hair loss? Refer to these projects and stories featured in Creative Kindness: “Gifts of Love, Dignity and Hope” (page 23), “Comfort Cap” (page 27), “Chemotherapy Turban” (page 30), “Rosie’s Calico Cupboard Quilt Shop” (page 82), “Bosom Pals Pillow” (page 84), “Kids’ Kindness Kap” (page 88), and, to comfort those going through chemotherapy, the “Creative Kindness Pillow” (page 91).
Make a Hat…Make a Difference
We can live without our hair.
We can live without our breasts.
But we cannot live without our hope.
…seen on an oncology center bulletin board
During this season of cancer relays and fundraising, why not make headcovers your personal or group project?
Get inspired by the plentiful array of patterns now available, from commercial catalogs or self-published lines. Then finish one or two during your favorite TV show.
Nancy Zieman adds eye protection, dimension and style with this visor-trimmed bandanna variation from her headcover pattern, “Hats for Any Reason—or Season.” The fast-to-make fabric flower and padded crown stylize the traditional babushka look.
Well-known headcover designer Helen Littrell has released two new patterns: the “Day ‘n Night,” a fifteen-minutes-in-the-making cap, and “Wrap ‘n Twist,” a sophisticated hat secured with a twisted tie. Helen’s clever use of darts and drawstrings diversifies fabric choices to include wovens, as well as knits.
Helen’s “The Day ‘n Night,” shown here, is both attractive and comfortable, particularly when sewn in soft cotton flannel. She designed the hat as “the ultimate in sewing simplicity,” fitted entirely with a drawstring at the nape of the neck (see inset). |
Even quilt-weight cottons can be ingeniously contoured into chic hats, as shown in “Wrap ‘n Twist,” one of the new designs by Helen Littrell (www.chemohatpatterns.com). The stitched-on ties are wrapped and twisted in place, as the name implies. |
In response to the popularity of her first headcover pattern, Nancy Zieman has also introduced “More Hats for Any Reason, or Season,” which will be available late summer. The “Creative Kindness Cap,” shown here, is just one of the six different styles and dozens of variations offered.
This flattering, easy-fitting cap/scarf combo was once an outdated cashmere cardigan. Nearly every section of the sweater was used to make this new “Creative Kindness Cap” from Nancy Zieman’s “More Hats for Any Reason—or Season” pattern, including the ribbing rosettes.
You have friends and family who need hats now, or in the too-near future. When wearing flattering, comfortable headcovers, they, like other hair-loss sufferers, will say: “I feel and look better. I can cope with what life brings me today—and I have hope for tomorrow.” Undoubtedly, in making a hat, you make a difference.
Hatmaking Hints
- For the most accurate fit, measure the wearer without hair. Generally, small or medium sizes are best, because heads are so much smaller without hair.
- Make a variety of styles, fabrications, and sizes. Give the wearer time and her own space to experiment with hat selection. Alter as necessary.
- Combine headcovers and accessories to add volume, security, texture, and color. Headbands can be worn with nearly any style, as can “underscarves,” tied babushka-style. Or brighten a well-worn cap with a funky pin.
- Sew a scarf or muffler to match, for warmth, color, and dimension around the neckline and shoulders.
- Recycle soft, gently used sweaters, sweatshirts, scarves, and shawls as hat fabric.
- Put your knitting and crocheting skills to work, too. Nancy Zieman’s new pattern includes a crocheted cap and rosette, and you’ll find scads of complimentary designs online.
- Understand that temperature sensitivity is keen during chemotherapy. Most patients complain of being either too hot or too cold. Encourage them to choose different fabrics and styles to cope with these extremes.
- Focus on skin-tone enhancing basics and upbeat color schemes. Avoid greys, yellows, and yellow-greens.
- Spread the news about wig alternatives, keeping in mind that many other diseases and conditions cause full or partial baldness: alopecia, cranial surgery, aging, chronic high blood pressure, scalp inflammation and emotional trauma.
Update 2005: Headcover Links and Information
Note: Do you have additional links or corrections to these links? Please e-mail Gail Brown (gbrown@techline.com). If searching the Internet, try these key words: hat patterns, chemo hat patterns, or hat patterns for hair loss. You’ll discover links to free sewing, knitting, and crocheting patterns.
- Helen Littrell’s headcover designs, go to www.chemohatpatterns.com.
- Nancy Zieman’s “Hats for Any Season—or Reason Pattern,” click here.
- Nancy Zieman’s “More Hats for Any Reason or Season Pattern,” Available late summer 2005; go to www.nancysnotions.com or call 1-800-833-0690 for updated information on the release date.
- Nancy Zieman’s “Creative Kindness Book,” which features volunteers who serve hair-loss sufferers, and includes a quick turban pattern, click here.
- Head Wrap from Perfect Little Stitches, click here. http://www.perfectlittlestitches.com/headwrap.htm
- Gail Brown and Nancy Zieman’s Creative Kindness Beret, click here.
- Gail Brown and Nancy Zieman’s Creative Kindness Headband, click here.
- Innovative Scarf Tying how-tos, click here. http://bcforum.org/scarves.html
- Hancock Home Economists’ Chemo Cap pattern, click here. http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/spatt01.htm
- Knit and crocheted hat patterns from Head Huggers, plus some sewing patterns and many links to other resources, click here. http://www.headhuggers.org/default.htm
- Brimming with Loves’ many patterns, links, ideas for getting involved in hatmaking, click here. http://www.brimmingwithlove.org/
Do you have a Creative Kindness story to share? We would like to hear about your individual or group charity efforts. To guide you in submitting information, go to our on-line questionnaire. Submit your story by e-mailing it to sewnews@sewnews.com or by sending to “Giving Back,” Sew News, 741 Corporate Circle, Ste. A, Golden, CO 80401. Although we cannot guarantee publication, all submissions will be carefully reviewed. Sorry, photos cannot be returned. Thank you!
©2005 Gail Brown and Nancy Zieman. For personal use only. Republication of any kind by permission only. Thank you.
