How Nancy & The Hotchkiss School Made Medical Gowns in the PPE Battle to Fight COVID-19

Nancy Vaughan, Wellness Administrator from The Hotchkiss School, was one of the first few who reached out to make medical gowns for their local hospital, area nursing home, and ambulance squads using MediPUL which is a Level 4 gown material.

Nancy Shares Her Story

“We are designated as COVID-19 rehab/step down in our nursing home and we are getting COVID-19 transfers to our hospital from the rest of the state. There is a massive shortage of gowns so a few of us are trying to help. Thank you, Arch. Hope you and yours stay safe and healthy."

“I ordered the medical grade fabric - Bright yellow and Teal for the next round - You have been very kind to upgrade us, I don't want to take advantage. Our local ambulance companies have asked for gowns!"

“The gowns are getting rave reviews!”

How Nancy & The Hotchkiss School Made Isolation Gowns

We asked Nancy what patterns they used and if she could tell us how they were made. See her answer in its entirety below:

"Arch – This is the information that I shared with a number of other schools who are looking to provide PPE:

"We order the MediPUL fabric from the wholesale site of Wazoodle - the company is awesome...if they order, make sure they put 'for medical isolation gowns' in the comments - they will expedite the order."

"We do not tape the seams for a true level 4, as it would be an additional cost to the school and it is only the shoulder seam that is on the front side of the gown. Wazoodle does sell the Seam Sealing Tape if they are interested."

'We use a free isolation gown pattern from Peak-a-boo Pattern Shop."

"We have been making Larges. We use knit cuffs from Wawak.com. That way gloves can easily fit over the knit cuff (I remember from old nursing days). I also bought the velcro from them for the neck closure."

"We make the ties out of whatever ... some bias tape we found in the back of the theater (there is none to be found in the stores) or we make our own from fabric we have laying around."

"The neck facing is made with the same Wazoodle fabric instead of bias tape - I simply cut a piece 1.25 inches wide and fold it over the raw seam and sew it in place. Super fast and easy."

"Very easy to make...We made 42 out of 100 yards of fabric - (their length uses lots of fabric. But with some creative cutting we were able to use less than the pattern called for). Once the fabric is cut, you are looking at less than an hour of sew time per gown once you get into a rhythm."

"Our local ambulance squad has EMTs who range from 5’0”, 100 lbs to 5’10”, 200lbs, they can all wear Large because of the knit cuffs."

"Probably far more info than you wanted. Please have whoever contact me if they have any questions."

Kind and thoughtful Nancy shared this information so that other people making/needing gowns can benefit from it. She has offered to help, so if you have any questions and need advice, I can connect you with Nancy. Please write to us at support@wazoodle.com with the subject line “Need Gown Help From Nancy”.

Dear Nancy, thank you so much for your dedication and care for the patients, your hospital staff, and for others in need of gowns.

Note to gown makers: We have new Cuff Material available now - ProCool MediPlus® Cuff Material - It has been developed to use with the gowns.