This assignment was a long time coming. Earlier this semester the TAs overviewed the learning outcomes, walked us through using the sewing machines, and held a quick workshop for making box stitches. Now it was finally time to put these skills to the test.
I chose to make a surgical cap, partly because I wanted to challenge myself, but mostly because I already own an apron.
Luckily I found a thin material (maroon fabric) to serve as a nice hat lining
I printed the free pattern supplied in the homework, taped its pieces together and pinned to the fabric, then cut everything out.
This pattern essentially requires you to make two caps then sew them together, so I did that.
Well, kind of. When I got to sewing pieces together with the thinner material, the machine began to slip stitches. I tried troubleshooting (rethreading, replacing the bobbin, messing with tension), but nothing worked.
I was working next to Meilani, who was having similar problems, and once it hit midnight-thirty we just called it a night.
pieces cut + pinned for outer layer : D
The next day the teaching team cancelled this assignment since the sewing machines needed to be serviced. We could choose to leave our projects as is, or finish them up with hand sewing.
Meilani told me she needs a surgical cap for the mouse work she does in lab, so I wanted to finish what had started. The assignment originally required two identical items, but now since it was cancelled I only needed to finish this one 😋
My roommate has a sewing machine and graciously let me borrow it to finish this assignment.
my lovely roommate’s sewing machine
I redid the seams with skipped stitches, sewed the cap and lining together at the back (wrong sides together), then flipped them right sides out and sewed the edges together. Then I added the trim, which extends out to become the tie straps.
I didn’t take home a stretch of cloth that’d be long enough to make this trim in one piece, so I sewed together three pieces to hit 44” of length.
adding 3 pieces to get 44″ in length
pinning then pressing 1 cm seam allowance
Adding the trim was the most tedious step, since it required lots of pressing and folding, then maintaining precise seam allowance to keep the edges neat. I was mostly successful at this. If you peek at the seams on the inside of the cap, you’ll see some stitches that should’ve been covered by the trim…
The last step was finishing the edges of the tie straps. I hid the raw edges with a fold and a quick stitch.
squirrel approved
my labmate, Biki, proving it’s functional
turned in on the 555 table
I’d like to acknowledge the one-day summer bootcamp I did in 3rd grade (“So you wanna sew?”) for teaching me sewing fundamentals and giving me this blog title. I also could not have done this without Meilani’s moral support (and her healthy boundaries with homework, which is why I left the OEDK while it was still dark outside), and Archit and Shreyas’ company, who finished their project while I was working and lowkey provided a light at the end of the tunnel just as the sewing machines started acting up.
Proof of cleaned OEDK workspaces:
COST ESTIMATE
I used the pattern to estimate the amount of fabric needed, since I cut from scrap yardage and wasn’t measuring.
The below canvas on photoshop is 44 x 57 cm, meaning you’d need ~ 251o square cm or 2.7 square feet of fabric to make one lined cap.
the pattern on a digital grid (with cm rulers)
Assuming one starts from scratch, the total cost was about $200 for one scrub cap, with the most expensive factor being labor. I accounted for an entire spool of thread since I didn’t know how to quantify the amount used.
I had fun with this project! It was very straightforward, it’s just unfortunate the machines at the OEDK could no longer be used. The required skill ceiling felt low enough that troubleshooting little problems didn’t feel like they’d take forever / derail my entire project, which was honestly a nice respite at this point in the semester.
Cost estimate sources, in the order they appear:
