My version of making face masks

Everyone are making face masks it seems like!

I was a bit hesitant at first as I wasn’t sure if hospitals would even use them, so why bother and they are not that effective, but I recently read that they are maybe 60% effective and not only that, it helps people to go around YOU if you’re wearing it and maybe also to remind yourself to NOT touch your face!?

I looked at lots of different patterns and also tried to reminder what the simple masks looked like and some had elastic some had ties, I don’t have that much elastic but have plenty of fabric, so why not make tie tags!?

So I made a prototype for myself the other day as I was asked to go to the pharmacy for my in-laws, since they live in an independent living building, they are shut ins and no-one except staff can go in or out!

I felt like a DORK, but oh well!

When the woman in charge at the independent living building saw me, she asked if I could make them for the staff there and asked for 12.

Sure!! and I just happened to get this cool SPAM fabric from Michael Miller Fabrics!

I cut out my pieces for my kitchen project meant for these fabrics but I had leftovers so of course I was thinking of face masks!!

I made this one as my tester and then started assembly work for the other 11

Here’s how I did it

First I cut out matching sets of 8 1/2″ (just because that’s the width of my ruler and it seems like a good size)

then wrong sides together I basted around the perimeter of each set

Then I pressed pleats in each

I read somewhere that 3 pleats are good, I tried to keep about 1″ from the top and bottom free and then the pleats I tried to not overlap each other so it didn’t create so much bulk.

Then I basted down the sides too to keep those pleats in place

My first first mask test I found that the tie straps with my method should be around 35″ long, my test one I used some leftover binding strips and where they are sewn together at an angle, I just cut that off, so it’s approx 35″ between two seams, anyways, it’s not THAT crucial.

I got out my binding scrap bin and found the ones where I had more than 70″ of.

Then I matched those with my masks, I also prepped the binding strips by ironing the sides toward the middle like bias tape and cut them into 35″ sections

a WOF or jelly roll leftover would also work, if I used a 40″ (WOF) strip, I cut off about 5″ for the sides of the masks of each strip, as I had two strips

But sometimes I only had the 70″ total so I used a matching binding scrap and cut 2–5″ sections for the sides of the masks.

Here’s my sets and I picked threads to match too!

first I sewed on the short binding strips to the sides by opening up one side and sewing down on the folded edge as shown

Then I’d flip it over and keep the other side of the binding strip folded and it lined up perfectly with the stitched line and then I top stitched them in place.

You could just open up the binding strip and insert the mask and then sew the binding strips down in one shot, but there’s potential for mistakes (ask me how I know)

Then I grabbed the 35″ binding strips and pinned the center to the center of the mask

and then I stitched down strips on both the top and bottom the same way as the sides

Then I folded the edge over and pinned all the way and also folded in the raw edge of the ends and top stitched both sides

and voila, the masks are done!

here’s 12 all done! some centers I cut from leftover Fat quarters that didn’t belong in a set, I also cut some from leftover 10″ squares (which is the blue one above)

My favorites are these SPAM ones though!

Of course you can make masks any way you prefer and if you are connected to someone who tells you to do it a certain way, of course follow their suggestions 🙂