Sewing simple cotton masks

[Sclass]

@horsewoman, great you’re starting this up. I’ve been thinking about making a mask since mine are too conspicuous.

I have been gathering the ideas online for my diy mask. Filter paper I like is hepa filter from shop vac cartridges. The ones I use are non woven polyester. Avoid fiber glass filters. Also I like the non woven shopping bags people are using. A good way to eliminate questionable filter is to hold one up to the light. If you see pinholes it’s no good. I’ve also considered trying felt.

For the wire, try stripping the insulation and hammering the wire flat into a ribbon first. I have some house electrical wiring that flattens out into a very easy to bend band of copper. I also like the flat wire that comes on a hanging file folder.

Still trying to gather a material for elastic cord. I ran out and don’t want to go to the store.

Oh yeah, one more thing. To keep the mask from fogging you need an exhaust valve. These can be made from a bottle cap and some rubber glove material. All good masks have these. Unfortunately you exhale unfiltered air so if you are a symptomatic you are not protecting others by wearing the mask with these valves.

This guy has a great exhaust valve made from trash. It will really improve the wearability of a fabric mask.

https://youtu.be/UTQQvhdCS-Y

[horsewoman]

@Alphaville ideally I'd like to make around 5 masks each for 10 family members so that they can often change and wash them.
My sister in law owns a hairdresser shop so she'll need a few as well probably as soon as she is allowed to reopen.

In Austria politicians are already talking about mandatory mask wearing in public, so this will soon be a thing here as well I suspect.

[Alphaville]

@Alphaville ideally I'd like to make around 5 masks each for 10 family members so that they can often change and wash them.
My sister in law owns a hairdresser shop so she'll need a few as well probably as soon as she is allowed to reopen.

In Austria politicians are already talking about mandatory mask wearing in public, so this will soon be a thing here as well I suspect.

That's nice and a good number. Say day #1 wear mask, day#2 hang #1 in the sun and grab a fresh mask, day #3 wash/dry #1 hang #2, day #4 wear#1 wash#2, etc that's 3 masks on rotation, plus a spare, plus an emergency spare for heavy exposure situations, so 5 works great and then some when you don't go out every day.

For daily use: as I mentioned before nurses in our local hospitals have started wearing fabric over their paper masks to make paper last longer.

Fabric is not paper, but a barrier is still a barrier. If you can eventually find paper masks (you should eventually, as production ramps up) yours would still make the N95s go a long way with a reusable material.

Although vaccine trials actually started as soon as the virus was reported, a realistic public vaccine appears 18 months away, so in the meantime you might even be able to sell a few of these once you hammer out the right formula.

[horsewoman]

Here is another nice tutorial for simple surgical masks. I like the added step of the dart since it brings the mask closer to the face.
The tutorial is very quick and some sewing experience is probably not amiss. But she really names all steps very clearly which would it make easy to find in-depth tutorials for stuff you don't know yet.

https://youtu.be/H_-YJ-Bsi6o

This one is similar to the one I posted above but there is a sleeve for adding a "nose wire".

https://www.craftpassion.com/face-mask-sewing-pattern/

[Campitor]

My wife made some masks and sewed in metal twist ties on the nose section (left overs that come with garbage bags). It works really well. You can also use the metal tab from a hanging file folder - it's very bendy.

[Sclass]

Made a mask. Started with a pattern from www.thecraftyquilter.com. Nice looking pattern. I decided to go with it.

Gather materials. Scraps from a bag that some recently ordered comforters came in. I rescued them from the trash. I got some free book bags from a library function and used the polyester non woven mesh material as the inner liner. You can see some light coming through so I don't think this is N95 or even surgical mask quality but I think it is better than tying a scarf around your face. Outer material is a tightly woven muslin.



Cutting goes fast with a rotary cutter. Scissors are too imprecise and too slow...at least in my hands. The rotary cutter requires less skill.



All cut and ready to sew. The sewing is actually the easy part. Once it is cut to pattern you're nearly done. I was too lazy to pin and clip. Not trying to win a beauty contest here.



Sewing machine porn. I got out my portable Elna Lotus for the job. I should have used my industrial because the fabric was thick and tough. I love Elnas.


Finished mask. I used an elastic shock cord from a discarded fleece jacket. I rescue these from the trash when my wife discards them. This one even had cord locks so I reused that too. I also installed a stainless steel wire. 1mm diameter 80cm long running along the top. Sewn in. The wire really helps the seal. I tried the file holder flat wire but it didn't fit well over the curves of the mask so I used the round cross section wire. I was worried that the needle holes in the front seam would leak so I sealed the seam with tent sealer...big mistake. The mask smells like glue and I get intoxicated while I wear it. I will have to put it in the sun for a day to get rid of the aromatics in the glue.

The shopping bag is on the inside. Hackers doing the 3d printed face masks are using this material. I'm not really sure how good it is as a filter. I think this mask is much better than nothing and it keeps the wearer from spitting all over other people. It is very sad how mixed up the mask message is in the United States. We really need to get on board with everyone wearing at least a scarf, bandanna or one of these home made masks to slow the spread of the virus. The infection plots on Bloomberg indicate that mask wearing countries have lower rates of infection. No need for a sewing machine, a needle and thread will work. It'll just take a little longer but what is time when you're locked up.







This is a less conspicuous design than my 3m P100 which looks more like a gas mask. I see a point where I'll hang up the p100 and start wearing this one in public.

[horsewoman]

@Sclass nice work! My pattern is similar, only I formed a slightly larger "snout" by making the mask roomier and fitting it around the face with darts on the side and under the eyes. I'll try to upload it tomorrow, now that I have gotten all the kinks out. I feel "safer" if there is more room between my mouth and the mask, I hope that it will delay the mask getting damp.

[Sclass]

Darts is smart. That way there’ll be less holes in the snout. That’s dressmaking!

[mango]

For the nose bridge - I'm experimenting with a piece of aluminum foil, folded over many times. It seems to hold it's shape pretty well.

You could also use a disposable aluminum pie plate, or something along those lines.

[Alphaville]

^^Wow, these look spectacular.

Was coming here to say, for those of us without sewing machines and the skills to use rhe , check out this Japanese mask hack. Amazing.

http://blog.japanesecreations.com/no-se ... d-hair-tie

[horsewoman]

Here is my take on the masks - I call it the "hogmask", since the darts form a funny snout, reminding me a little of Pumbaa, the hog in "Lion King" :) I took the pattern from this site as a template and tweaked it somewhat with darts (*).
https://freesewing.org/blog/facemask-frenzy
There is a video how to sew the masks, which still applies, apart from closing up the darts before sewing the parts together.

Here is my template, which fits me more or less (tall, slim woman with an oval shaped face). When shooting the photo I realized that the sides could be shorter since they reach to my ears. I will also make the dart on the side wider to reduce the height of the sides. These things get apparent when the masks stays on for a while. It's still a work in progress!


To scale it enlarge the picture on your monitor until the bar is 1 inch (2.54 cm) long. Put a piece of regular printer paper on your screen and trace the pattern with a pencil.



After closing the darts things are the same as in the video. If you want to add wire to the bridge of the nose you would do that before closing the lower seam. Instead of cotton tape for tying the mask I recommend strips of T-shirt, it's much more comfy (simply cut off strips of a thin shirt (appr. 1 inch broad) and stretch the strip, it will roll into a nice, flexible ribbon.)
You can use of course elastic for loops around the ears but in Germany elastic is a hot commodity right now and hard to get.

To alter the pattern sew a mock-up (single layer mask made from two parts), place it on your face, see where it does not fit and try to translate the difference onto the paper. It really is not overly difficult in this case. I tried to make the side dart straight, but that did not work well with my head shape.


(*) Darts are a dressmaking tool to shape fabric around the body. Please note that in dressmaking one usually does not cut the darts out like this! To alter the fit of the garment the direction or size of the dart can be adjusted, which obviously does not work once the dart is cut. If you want to experiment with the placement of your darts simply don't cut them out, but don't forget to put markings at the edge of the fabric where the dart is supposed to be - is however more difficult to get two symmetrical darts without some markings for the tip. Look up YouTube tutorials on how to sew darts for further information.

[Sclass]

Nice work. I really like the darts. Creates good contours. The pumba design increases the filtering surface. Technically it probably has some advantages like increasing flow for easier breathing, lowering the pressure differential so the mask doesn’t blow off the face. There are some other fitted mask designs online that use pleats to do a similar thing. I was getting mixed up about the difference between the two but I can see they are two different ways to take up excess fabric.

I’m still at the level of sewing where I’m happy to fix two pieces of fabric together with thread. Creating curves and contours from originally flat pieces of material is on another level. Great to see others use this skill. I love cutting a pattern like this mask and watching the nose “pop” up after stitching like magic.

Thanks for the pointers on using form (your face) to refine the patterns. Reminds me of seeing tailors and dressmakers using a mannequin to make a pattern.

I made up another mask today. I couldn’t stand the glue smell in my first one. This one I sealed the stitches with kid’s craft glue. Smells better. I am actually amazed at how well the edge seals to my face and chin. I have fat cheeks and a big jaw which helps. The wire in the nose bridge really makes a difference if I take the time to form it over my nose bridge and cheek bones. The idea of using a foil pie tin for the nose band is good. I think we have good materials all over the house - we just have to think of them.

Thanks for starting this thread. I think this is going to be a fashion item for the next few quarters whether we like it or not. With the possibility of recurring outbreaks this is going to be a long journey.

[horsewoman]

https://youtu.be/qNLne8CE8xM

This is smart! I like the way she uses a box pleat, a lot less fiddly then the three folds commonly used. Plus there is an opening for easily changeable filter material. Nice!

[Sclass]

Yes. So many sharp kids putting masks together. I really liked this guy’s mask. He uses proper filtering material. I think combining this paper element with a fabric mask with a pocket will be an unbeatable combination.

https://youtu.be/VzywU8UGnxA

I went to the hardware store and saw some of the 1 micron vacuum cleaner filters. I couldn’t find a 0.3 micron though. They were expensive at $15. I’m hoping to find something else that filters effectively and efficiently (doesn’t suffocate me) to add to my fabric masks. The n95 material is just magical in that it passes air easily while filtering out small particles.

[jennypenny]

I've seen several requests on SM asking if anyone is willing to sell them homemade masks. Might be a nice side hustle if someone has the time/inclination.

I read an article that said blue shop towels make good liners for masks. Pretty cheap if you can still get some. I couldn't order any online (didn't try eBay) but my local home depot had them. (sorry if this has already been posted)

[Alphaville]

I read an article that said blue shop towels make good liners for masks. Pretty cheap if you can still get some. I couldn't order any online (didn't try eBay) but my local home depot had them. (sorry if this has already been posted)

oh, thanks so much for this. i tried viva paper towels and i almost asphyxiated. will try a sheet of these today.

[jennypenny]

Our local auto supply store (Pep Boys) also has the towels in stock.

[Sclass]

Oh yeah! Thanks @jp I had a roll of those. They do have very small pores. I was thinking you meant cotton shop rags at first which are more like cheese cloth.

Those blue ones on a roll are a non woven material. They’re also very inexpensive.

[CS]

My ears don't hold up anything *my preference is behind the head elastic, or a string pulling back the ear things.

But here is another solution:

https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/ ... asks_from/

[bryan]

Nice work everyone!

Has anyone seen or made a mouth(or nose)-only mask? The channel/orifice not being filtered could be shut: if you have a mouth-only mask, you should use it along w/ a nose clamp (or just stuff some material up your nose). Maybe a design like this would improve effectiveness of home-made masks (that might have worse seals than more professional offerings).