First Sewing Circle Project of 2012

Making chemo caps for the Rockefeller Cancer Institute at UAMS was one of our most popular projects last year. The pattern we used was very simple and the girls had a lot of fun making embellishments for the caps, too (see photo below). The Cancer Institute tells me that our hats went very quickly, and they were excited that we are planning on making them again this year. Since we weren't able to get together in October to make them, I thought I would kick off 2012 with this project.

I know I told you that we would try to make the projects at home for a while, since attendance at sewing circle has been sparse for the last several months. However, I realized that if I don't intentionally (That's my word for the year!) set aside time to do the projects, I personally won't get them done. So, with that in mind, I will be at the church on Sunday, February 12th, from 2:00 - 4:00 pm to work on this project. You are welcome to make some at home and bring them to me or you can come join me to work on them.

FOR THOSE WORKING FROM HOME

You can use any pattern you like, but we used these patterns last time for the Easy Chemo Cap (which really lived up to its name!) and the Turban Cap (a little more difficult). If I have some time, I'll try to make some kits for those of you working from home. (If someone else has some time to devote to making kits, email me and let me know and I'll try to get some fabric to you. I'd love to have some help with that!)

SUGGESTED FABRICS

The hats need to be lightweight, so the suggested fabrics are stretchy cotton knits so they stretch to fit. The chemo caps can be unisex, so keep that in mind when choosing patterns. The male patients tend to be left out a lot when hats are made. If you find any great deals on fabric, be sure to pass it along to the group!

Thank you all, again, for your participation in the sewing circle. Whether you are coming to the meetings or doing the projects from home, you are blessing someone with the talents God has given you. Thank you for serving!

October Project: Chemo Caps

Making chemo caps for the Rockefeller Cancer Institute at UAMS was one of our most popular projects last year. The pattern we used was very simple and the girls had a lot of fun making embellishments for the caps, too (see photo below). The Cancer Institute tells me that our hats went very quickly, and they were excited that we are planning on making them again this year.

From the feedback I got from my last email, it seems like some of you enjoy meeting together for the projects and some prefer to do them at home, so I plan on continuing to meet together once a month, but I will also try to make the patterns available online so that those who need or want to do them from home can also participate.

With that in mind, we will meet together next Sunday, October 9, at 2:00 pm in our usual room to make the chemo caps. Please let me know if you are coming and if you can bring fabric (see below for details), so I will know if we have enough supplies for everyone.

FOR THOSE WORKING FROM HOME

I apologize that I don't have the time or fabric to make up kits for you this time. You can use any pattern you like, but we used these patterns last time for the Easy Chemo Cap (which really lived up to its name!) and the Turban Cap (a little more difficult).

SUGGESTED FABRICS

The hats need to be lightweight, so the suggested fabrics are stretchy cotton knits so they stretch to fit. The chemo caps can be unisex, so keep that in mind when choosing patterns. The male patients tend to be left out a lot when hats are made. If you find any great deals on fabric, be sure to pass it along to the group!

Thank you all, again, for your participation in the sewing circle. Whether you are coming to the meetings or doing the projects from home, you are blessing someone with the talents God has given you. Thank you for serving!

Final Chemo Cap Count

On Sunday, we held our second sewing circle to make chemo caps for cancer patients at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at UAMS. I think I can safely say that you ladies have got the chemo cap pattern down pat! Everyone hit the ground running and we were able to complete 47 caps in less than 2 hours! We actually ran out of fabric before we ran out of time! You guys are incredible! That makes a total of 79 chemo caps that you guys have made in just 2 meetings! Here is a photo of the caps that were made this week.


I will deliver these caps to UAMS this week (probably on Thursday). If any of you at-home sewers are making some caps, let me know and I'll try to get yours from you on Wednesday.

We talked a little bit on Sunday about the project for November. More information about that will be posted on the blog in the morning and e-mailed to the group. We will take the month of December off since it's usually such a busy month.

Thanks again for your enthusiastic participation in these projects!

Chemo Cap Update

We met last Sunday to make chemo caps for cancer patients at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at UAMS. We were able to complete 32 caps, including quite a few embellishments to go on them (see photo).


If you're making the caps at home, we found that the turban pattern is a little more difficult. The "Easy Chemo Cap" pattern is much simpler but there is a small learning curve to it.

I will go ahead and take the completed caps to UAMS this week since they have an immediate need for them, but we will continue this project next month. I think now that we know what we're doing, we can get quite a few more of them made. And don't forget to select some fabrics that would be appropriate for male patients, too.

Thanks, ladies, for a very productive sewing circle! I know the patients will appreciate your labor of love.

Project 2: Chemo Caps for Rockefeller Cancer Institute

I am really excited about our next sewing circle project! (But let's be honest: when am I NOT excited about sewing circle projects?) For September and October, we are going to make hats for cancer patients at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at UAMS. In case you're not familiar with this institute, here's some information about them from their website:

The Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute is a center of excellence at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. The Cancer Institute is Arkansas’ premier cancer research and treatment facility.

A center of excellence at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the Cancer Institute is Arkansas’ only comprehensive cancer treatment and research facility. The institute’s staff of physicians, nurses, researchers and other health care professionals is dedicated to improving the health of all cancer patients, both from Arkansas and beyond.

The institute was renamed in 2007 to honor the memory of the late Arkansas Lt. Gov. Winthrop P. Rockefeller, who died of a rare bone marrow disorder that can lead to leukemia. A lifelong Arkansan, Rockefeller was widely known for his dedication to community service, and he championed the cause of bone marrow donation awareness following his treatment.

EXAMPLES AND PATTERNS

Here are some examples of the kinds of hats we will be making.



If you want to look at some patterns, here are some links I found: Easy Chemo Cap and Turban Cap. If you have other patterns, though, feel free to use them. These are just suggestions!

SUGGESTED FABRICS

The hats need to be lightweight, so the suggested fabrics are stretchy cotton knits or cotton blended with a tiny amount of lycra or spandex so they stretch to fit. The chemo caps can be unisex, so keep that in mind when choosing patterns. The male patients tend to be left out a lot when hats are made. We will plan on making them all Adult size and maybe some a little larger for the guys.

You'll notice that the middle photo has a cute embellishment on it. If any of you ladies or girls want to start making something like this to go on the hats, feel free!

Start sorting through your stash of fabric now for anything that would be appropriate for these hats. Please leave a comment on this blog entry (or e-mail me) to let me know if you have fabric to donate.

Also, Mae has made some of these before and she said that serging them made a much softer seam on the inside, so if you have a serger, plan to bring it to the next sewing circle.

As always, if you have thoughts, questions, or suggestions for better ways to make these items, please leave a comment so we can learn from each other's experience.