In this post I will explain how I make facemasks. I have made more than 100
by now and the people whom I have given them to are all very happy with
them, saying that they are much better than any of the other masks they
have.
What you need:
1: a sewing machine. Of course you can do this by hand, but that will take
much more time. Personally I am not very good at handsewing, but with the
machine I can do a lot.
2: two pieces of cloth. I use a fine woven cotton. When you hold it up to
the light and try to look through it, you should see absolutely no little
holes and basically only that there is light on the other side. For the
inside I use cotton for a decent quality bedsheet. Some people use old
t-shirts. I measured, and this cotton is about 150 gram/meter squared.
The outside can be more colourful. Again one can use cotton. Safest is a
piece of a cotton dishtowel. They are rather thick. Again, nothing fancy
and no little holes when you try to look through them. A fine lycra can
also be used.
The pieces of cloth are 25x15.5 cm
3: two pieces of elastic. Should be quite strechable. I make them 14.5 cm
for an average headsize. My neighbour has a rather big head, so I make them
a few cm larger.
4: The metal strip from a binder for paper sheets.
The first step is now to put the two pieces of cloth on top of each other
with the 'good' sides touching each other (we start inside out).
Sew the long sides together. I used a lock stitch, but a straight stitch
can be used as well. In that case, do not get too close to the edge because
cotton can fray.
Now we have to put the elastic between the two layers. It should be
attached to the corners and it is important that it does not come loose.
Hence I go over it with a rather fine stitch and then three times. On one
side one should sew it closed over the whole width. On the other side not,
because otherwise we cannot turn it inside out.
The red lines indicate where the elastic is between the two layers.
Next we turn it inside out, showing the true colors. As you see, the
elastic shows itself now. The edges have to be made rather 'sharp'. Most
people will do this with an iron. I find this a little tricky and prefer to
do it with my nails. This works of course only if they are not too long.
This leaves the open side.
Here we have to make some folds as shown in the picture.
With those folds in place we can now close this side. Whereas before the
colour of the thread was rather unimportant, now it is best to use
something that does not contrast very much with the front of the mask.
Now we have to make the folds in the sides of the mask. How many folds you
make is up to your taste. In some videos I have seen, they made three. I
prefer to make two. Pin it in as in the picture. Here the upper side of the
mask is at the bottom of the picture.
You do this on both sides making the folds allign. Then you sew the sides.
This gives us the result:
Next we have to take care of the metal strip. First you have to remove it
from the plastic. Then you need a pair of plyers to bend the pieces that
held the strip attached to the plastic into the position where they close
the holes. Finally you flatten the piece either with a rolling pin, or by
rolling a bottle over it. Now the strip is ready. To make room for it you
fold the top of the mask to the inside. about 1cm should do it. You can pin
it in position.
Next you sew this fold fixed. Important: only sew over a length that is
slightly longer than the metal strip. Do not sew all the way to the side of
the mask. Sew such that there is as much space as possible for the strip.
And finally insert the metal strip.
This finishes the mask. When you put it on you can bend the strip around
the profile of your nose. This has two advantages. The first is that the
mask stays in place much easier. The other is that if you wear glasses,
they do not fog up as much as with the more standard masks.
When you wash the mask, it is best to take out the metal strip first. In
that case you can put it in the washing machine and in the dryer, although
it dries rather fast by itself a
eady. You can flatten the strip again
with the rolling pin or a bottle. With a bit of practise you can make one
mask in under half an hour.
If you do not like to stick the elastic behind your ears, you can take
longer pieces of elastic that will go around your head. Of course then the
elastic has to connect different corners when you sew it between the
layers.
OK, have fun.
by now and the people whom I have given them to are all very happy with
them, saying that they are much better than any of the other masks they
have.
What you need:
1: a sewing machine. Of course you can do this by hand, but that will take
much more time. Personally I am not very good at handsewing, but with the
machine I can do a lot.
2: two pieces of cloth. I use a fine woven cotton. When you hold it up to
the light and try to look through it, you should see absolutely no little
holes and basically only that there is light on the other side. For the
inside I use cotton for a decent quality bedsheet. Some people use old
t-shirts. I measured, and this cotton is about 150 gram/meter squared.
The outside can be more colourful. Again one can use cotton. Safest is a
piece of a cotton dishtowel. They are rather thick. Again, nothing fancy
and no little holes when you try to look through them. A fine lycra can
also be used.
The pieces of cloth are 25x15.5 cm
3: two pieces of elastic. Should be quite strechable. I make them 14.5 cm
for an average headsize. My neighbour has a rather big head, so I make them
a few cm larger.
4: The metal strip from a binder for paper sheets.
The first step is now to put the two pieces of cloth on top of each other
with the 'good' sides touching each other (we start inside out).
Sew the long sides together. I used a lock stitch, but a straight stitch
can be used as well. In that case, do not get too close to the edge because
cotton can fray.
Now we have to put the elastic between the two layers. It should be
attached to the corners and it is important that it does not come loose.
Hence I go over it with a rather fine stitch and then three times. On one
side one should sew it closed over the whole width. On the other side not,
because otherwise we cannot turn it inside out.
The red lines indicate where the elastic is between the two layers.
Next we turn it inside out, showing the true colors. As you see, the
elastic shows itself now. The edges have to be made rather 'sharp'. Most
people will do this with an iron. I find this a little tricky and prefer to
do it with my nails. This works of course only if they are not too long.
This leaves the open side.
Here we have to make some folds as shown in the picture.
With those folds in place we can now close this side. Whereas before the
colour of the thread was rather unimportant, now it is best to use
something that does not contrast very much with the front of the mask.
Now we have to make the folds in the sides of the mask. How many folds you
make is up to your taste. In some videos I have seen, they made three. I
prefer to make two. Pin it in as in the picture. Here the upper side of the
mask is at the bottom of the picture.
You do this on both sides making the folds allign. Then you sew the sides.
This gives us the result:
Next we have to take care of the metal strip. First you have to remove it
from the plastic. Then you need a pair of plyers to bend the pieces that
held the strip attached to the plastic into the position where they close
the holes. Finally you flatten the piece either with a rolling pin, or by
rolling a bottle over it. Now the strip is ready. To make room for it you
fold the top of the mask to the inside. about 1cm should do it. You can pin
it in position.
Next you sew this fold fixed. Important: only sew over a length that is
slightly longer than the metal strip. Do not sew all the way to the side of
the mask. Sew such that there is as much space as possible for the strip.
And finally insert the metal strip.
This finishes the mask. When you put it on you can bend the strip around
the profile of your nose. This has two advantages. The first is that the
mask stays in place much easier. The other is that if you wear glasses,
they do not fog up as much as with the more standard masks.
When you wash the mask, it is best to take out the metal strip first. In
that case you can put it in the washing machine and in the dryer, although
it dries rather fast by itself a
eady. You can flatten the strip againwith the rolling pin or a bottle. With a bit of practise you can make one
mask in under half an hour.
If you do not like to stick the elastic behind your ears, you can take
longer pieces of elastic that will go around your head. Of course then the
elastic has to connect different corners when you sew it between the
layers.
OK, have fun.
