Anatomy of a Cap
Anatomy of a Turban
Polar fleece hats

Comparative Anatomy: Caps versus Turbans

Caps

How does a cap (or basic hat) differ from a turban? The main difference is that a cap is folded up for extra thickness around the ears where a turban is worn full width at the front and pulled toward at the back.

A basic cap has two layers of fabric around the head/brim. I generally make the oval on top with double thickness, but that's up to you. So, a cap, once sewn together, looks like figure "A" above.

Once the cap is sewn, it is folded to create a brim. The fold line shows in figure "B" above and the finished cap looks like figure "C". As you can see, then, there are four layers of fleece around the ears and two layers on the rest of the brim.

Note that the cap, without the fold on the brim, can be treated like a turban, with the oval portion pulled toward the back of the head and "scrunched" up at the back.

Another option is also shown in figure "D": the fold-up portion of the brim can be made with a rich fake fur. This was the style of hat that I wore when I needed a professional look when visiting clients (though the no-eyebrow look, I'm sure, made the purpose of the hat obvious!)

Turbans

I begin my turbans in one of two ways, depending upon the fabric (or your design choice). For large size prints ("Let It Snow!" is about the largest size print that I recommend), I don't want to disrupt the pattern by having a seam between the brim and the section used to attached to the top oval. So, the fabric is folded under and given a simple top stitch, as shown in figure "E". If you're concerned about the cold, I'll be happy to include an extra layer of fleece between the folded up portion and the outside of the fabric.

Alternately, figure "F" shows tthe body of the hat made with two pieces: the bottom, or brim, is two layers thick and is sewn to a layer (or two, if you prefer a thicker, stiffer turban). My standard pattern has the lower brim portion about 2" wide. However, this dimension can be changed to incorportate a specific design feature. The Native American turban has a wider brim to better show off the print. If you've found a print that you want to use and I can't find it in Spokane, let's talk. You can always pick up the fabric and send it to me and I'll take care to show off the print in a smart design fashion (for example, on the 'wild horses' print, the turban brim is cut to show the horses running around the brim, centered. The top oval is also cut to show horses centered in the circle).

A sleeve for elastic is created at the bottom of the brim, including a piece of ribbon that allows you to 'snug' up the hat size to your personal preference. After the oval top is sewn to the circle that goes around your head, a horizontal dart is made to take away some of the excess fabric that would hang at the back of the turban.

Converting from Cap to Turban

The basic turban can be made as simply as the cap (Figure "A").
I don't recommend using my caps as turbans for two reasons:

• I use extra fabric around the head on the turban which is gathered with elastic. Either your cap would be too large or your turban won't have enough fullness.
  
• I sew the elastic and adjustable gathering into the 'outside' of the cap, covered by the folded-up brim. When the brim is not folded up, the bow tie of the adjusting ribbon can show from the back.
  

If this is an option that you would like to have (a convertible cap/turban), then I can create the sleeve for adjusting on the inside of the cap. But, you'll feel the ribbon bowtie against your bare scalp. Also, there won't be an adjustment dart in the back to take out some of the fullness of the fabric 'poof'.

So many options! I want to make your chemo hats to your specifications!
Tell me what you're looking for.