COVID-19 HeroBands by Meghan Trafananko

Hey everyone!  My friends at Haven Ohlee have come up with a brilliant solution to assist with medical staff getting blisters behind their ears due to wearing masks 24/7.  Please read the tutorial below and share the link with anyone who is able to help the first responders in your area!  Thank you! - Kisha

We've had a huge box of scrap fabric from our scrunchies that had been sitting in the office for months! It was getting to the point where we had no idea what to do with it! Until now. 

My cousin is a nurse so I sent her the photo and she said she could totally use them as her ears have been hurting from the masks. We came across a pattern, tweaked it to be our own, tested it on some amazing local nurses and got to sewing!

The purpose of the headbands are to relieve some of the pressure off their ears while they wear the masks all day. During this time, obviously with stores closed and limited resources, I reached out to the community for buttons and I've been sewing ever since!

We are sharing our pattern here because every nurse deserves to have one (even if all it does is make them a bit more comfortable during their day!) and well as much as we wish there was a bazillion hours in a day, it takes a village and WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.

We encourage you to use this pattern and make some for some of the nurses you know in your life or for your local hospital. All we ask is that you pay it forward and do it out of the kindness of your heart and NOT for profit. 

Everyday this goes on, nurses and first responders are risking their lives for us. Many days, they do it without any thanks or credit. So please do not take this pattern and charge them. Gift it. Pay it forward. Thank them. 

MATERIALS NEEDED:

•Jersey Fabric (we used Organic Bamboo Cotton Jersey Stretch- 66% Rayon From Bamboo, 28% Cotton, 6% Spandex)

• 1/4in elastic

• scissors

• thread

• sewing machine or serger

• 2 buttons of your choice 

CUT FABRIC + ELASTIC:

Fabric Piece 1: 10 1/2in x 2in

Fabric Piece 2:  13 1/2in x 6 1/4in 

Elastic: 5 inches

TO ASSEMBLE:

Take fabric piece #1 and face right sides together making a long narrow rectangle. Sew/Serge along edge creating a tube. 

Turn tube inside out. 

Take elastic and feed in through tube. 

Sew/Serge each end of tube and elastic together. Make sure to position the elastic in the middle of the tube. You have now created your "scrunch."

Take fabric piece #2 and place in right side up on the table. Take scrunch and place one of the serged edges on the middle edge of fabric piece #2 right sides together. (We found it easiest to move the scrunch fabric out of the way so that it was smooth when sewing) 

Take the bottom side and fold it completely over the scrunch (tightly). Accordian it back overtop of the scrunch. Do the same for the top corner. Serge.

Repeat to the other side.

Turn headband inside out and you've now created your headband!

Sew two buttons on either side of the scrunchie approx 1/2inch in. 

And BAM you're done! 

These bands are meant to sit on top of the ear or behind it depending on your comfort level. 

If you have any questions, please reach out to us! We'd be happy to help. Again please do not sell these for a profit. We are sharing for the purpose of giving back to our nurses/doctors and first responders for all they are doing during this stressful time and the last thing we want is for someone to take advantage and make a pretty little penny off of them. This is not the point. 

Also, if you use our pattern please tag us in your creations so we can see what you're up to! It would seriously make our day! 

@shophavenohlee

#HOheadbandsforheros

For more information please visit Haven Ohlee here.