Scrub Caps - Hiding Your Hair in Style

Help! Those bouffant lunch-lady style scrub caps aren't just ugly, they itch. And not much is worse when you're scrubbed in and sterile than needing to scratch your forehead - and you can't..... for four hours.

For Women:

After lots of trial and error I present to you my tried and true pattern for crafting a comfortable and cute ladies scrub cap without the lunch-lady look. This is my favorite style, clean lines and room for all of my hair.

Clean lines and secured hair

Any cotton print fabric does the trick, I've got a collection with one for each season and holiday. 

Begin by cleaning off your work space and ironing out your chosen fabric. There are only two cuts of fabric required here:

• One 7x28 inch rectangle 
• One 9.5x6.5 inch tear shape 

In the Photo you'll notice that I shadow cut my 9x6 tear shape, this works great too. Don't forget to snip off the point of the teardrop. Once we've got out fabric cut its time to pin and sew.

Take the long rectangle and fold the short edges over about 1/4 inch twice so you hide the raw edge and sew over with a straight stitch. Fold the remaining raw edge of the long rectangle up about 1/4 inch twice and sew it down using a straight stitch. 

Starting at the front - the rounded side of the tear drop - pin the right sides together of the center of the long side of our rectangle with the teardrop. Pin all the way around to the back, yes the fabric will wrap around the back to the other side and over lap one another, thats what we want. Sew at 3/8 inch seam with a straight stitch, then again with a large zig-zag catching the edge of the fabric. 

Now the top of the hat is connected to the sides, with over-lap in the back to create room for your hair. 

Ready for the elastic 

To finish the cap we add elastic to the back. I really like using thin, round elastic and often utilize a Scrunchie at this point. Insert the elastic into the hat band we created by folding and sewing the bottom of the hat five inches into one of the open sides. Secure the elastic by sewing it in place. Scrunch up that side and work the elastic another four to five inches into the other side and using a seam ripper pull the end of the elastic through the folded band. Take a moment to size the cap - do not make it tight, but fitted enough to contain your hair.

Secure this side of the elastic and sew over the seam ripper hole. Enjoy your brand new scrub cap!

For Men:

Men's caps are super simple as well, and don't require any elastic. Simply cut out:

• One 9.5x6.5 inch tear shape
•  5x24 inch rectangle - slope top corners down like shown

Take the long rectangle and fold the short edges over about 1/4 inch twice so you hide the raw edge and sew over with a straight stitch.  

Again, with right sides together begin pinning at the front and continue around to the back. Straight stitch to secure and follow with zig-zag on the edge to prevent fraying. Fold the remaining raw edge of the long rectangle up about 1/4 inch twice and sew it down using a straight stitch. 

Add ribbon or double fold bias tape for ties to either side of the back and enjoy.