Lazy lady shower cap
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Why is this called a “lazy lady” shower cap? Because ever since I became a mother, I’ve gotten surprisingly lazy about washing my hair. I can’t explain how giddy I become when I realize I washed and blow-dried my hair yesterday and can save myself a good amount of time today. This is not the me from several years ago. |
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When I think of shower caps, I think of the goofy packaging I saw all my life where some lady stares forth from the box with an empty smile, a hand thoughtfully placed on her cheek and one curl sticking out of her cap. Does she want that one curl to get washed or something? Also, she always has a full face of makeup on, because don’t YOU apply makeup just before showering? I don’t get it. I Googled long and hard for 20 seconds to find an example, but couldn’t. So here’s my version.
Also, this particular cap is large enough to accommodate a big wad of hair underneath. I always have mine in a ponytail or clip, so I need a bit of extra room. If you have really short hair, you are welcome to reduce the diameter of your circle patterns by a few inches. |
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Supplies
(Click fabrics for direct links for purchase at Warehouse Fabrics Inc.)
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| 3/4 yard of fabric, 2/3 yard PUL and 1 yard of elastic. PUL is a waterproof fabric that sews like regular fabric (as opposed to vinyl). It can be tricky to find, so feel free to use plastic/vinyl. You really don’t have to sew directly on it anyway. |
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The pattern
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| Cut out a circle from each fabric that is 22″ in diameter. I just cut one pattern piece using this method for easy circle-making. I then trimmed my lining piece (PUL) a bit to reduce bulk (as shown below). |
The process
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Press about 1/4″ of your outer fabric under, to the wrong side. |
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Trim your lining (PUL) a bit to reduce bulk. I folded mine into quarters and eyeballed it. |
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Lay your lining fabric on the main fabric so that it sits inside the folded over edge. You want wrong sides together. |
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Fold over your outer fabric again, encasing all raw edges. Pin. This will create a casing for your elastic, so you want it to be wide enough for your elastic plus a safety pin or bodkin to pull it through. |
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Sew close to the edge. Note that it’s going to have tucks and puckers. It’s basic geometry. You’re folding a larger circumference (outermost edge) to a narrower one, so there’s no way to avoid this, really. And it doesn’t matter because it will be gathered up after the elastic is inserted.
NOTE: leave a 2″ hole through which to insert your elastic. |
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Attach one end of your elastic to a safety pin or a bodkin. Safety pin the other end of the elastic near the opening of your shower cap to ensure it doesn’t get pulled inside. |
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Scrunch it around the casing until it comes out the other side. I hate this part. I really do. But without it, you’ll just have a big floppy pancake on your head, and that won’t do you much good. |
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Once you have your two ends of elastic sticking out, pull it is tight and gathered as you possibly can and then sew the ends of your elastic together and trim. You’ll have elastic left over from your 1 yard, but I think it’s way easier that way then to be working with a tiny piece and trying to keep the end from sliding inside. |
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Push the ends of the elastic inside the casing and stretch the area with the hole tight. Sew it closed.
Your PUL is waterproof and will protect your hair. If you’d like to protect your outer fabric a bit more, spray with Scotch Guard. Most people, I imagine, don’t purposely stick their shower-capped head under the water but rather use it to keep off any spray or mist, so it shouldn’t be a big problem as long as you let it dry between uses. |
Other views
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