Disposable masks have long been sold out and local hospitals are now calling upon the sewing community to create CDC-compliant facemasks!
According to a tutorial recently published on the Deaconess site, sewists should:
- Use tightly-woven cotton fabric.
- Please remember that both women and men in a variety of roles may wear these masks.
- When your masks are complete, please call 812-450-8673 to arrange delivery.
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UPDATE: DUE TO A HIGH VOLUME OF DONATIONS, PLEASE REACH OUT TO YOUR LOCAL HOSPITAL
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- Collected masks will be immediately sent to laundry/processing to be prepared for use.
- Any surplus masks will be distributed to other organizations in need.
29 comments
I am a garment sewist who made fabric face masks for my pup’s groomer last year writing a blog post linking to the free pattern and showing a mini-tutorial of how I used and inserted ponytail holders for the elastics. My post is now trending at the top of Pinterest searches and has been picked up by larger sewing websites in their collective face mask posts. Thought I’d let you guys know in case some might want to use a different type of coverage pattern. All content is free…. pattern, instructions, etc. Thank you. Lisa
https://www.lisascarolina.com/2019/02/fabric-face-masks-easy-but-fiddly-and.html
thank you!
Really helpful especially in times like this, I can’t now at least have a fun colourful fabric!
These are needed in other health related agencies as well. Shelters, homes for people with disabilities. I am in Vancouver, Canada and sewing/collecting donations for 250 supported individuals and staff.
All county Emergency Management services are accepting mask donations. Please folks, they are trained for this. Let THEM decide where the priorities are for the need of mask. We just need to SEW them and drop them off at our local fire departments. THEY will get them to your local EMS, who will in turn get them to the greatest need. Lets keep it simple. SEW ON!!
I began with this pattern but then adjusted it to be a little bit wider to fit from nose to chin as men will be somewhat squished in this size. I also added a way to put in a wire nose piece so the mask could be fitted to the face better.
awesome!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIKJe03ecos&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR2ZaYSjV9VWRzqyQQGtUhV5NClat8ZlnRXikxCTxuyeYifujTmeq3zsOV8
could you please tell us how you added the nose wire?
Lisa,
Zigzag it over before you sew the pieces together. I’m using a double row of thin wire (it’s what hubby has in the garage;) twisted together and clamped on the ends with pliers so there’s no sharp points. You can also use bread ties or pipe cleaners. Saw a tutorial that used thin flat 2” x 1/2” pieces of aluminum pie pans wrapped in interface.
Hi Lisa. 2 options: 1. Cut your wire between 5-7 inches. Place on top of stitching line above the center of mask. Zigzag over wire. Make a zigzag bar stop on each end of wire to secure each end.
2. Make a 1/4-1/2 inch casing. 1/2 inch longer than your cut wire. Insert wire into casing, secure both ends. Attach casing to upper top of mask. Being sure to center. Casing at top stitching line. Secure sides of casing with straight stitch down to stitching line on both ends. Trim excess. Good luck!
I’ve been using pipe cleaners. I just signed zag over the top
I just stitched a 1 1/2″ strip of 3/8″ elastic over the nose area. Mark off 1 3/4″ center top, sew one side of elastic, stretch elastic to sew on the other mark, and you have a built-in nose piece.
thank you for the mask instructions
Does Mood have elastic in stock?
We’re completely sold out, but we’re working on getting more asap!
Question: Has any one tried putting a layer of either PUL or goretex between the layers of cotton? It seems a waterproof/breathable fabric may help with droplet transmission.
I’ve been making masks for a couple weeks now and have made several different styles from the pleated with elastic, pleated with ties (I’m out of elastic), to the N95 style. I started using felt lining and it’s not only useless but too hot. I’m now sewing the pleated style with NON woven interface and ties. I’ve used the lightweight and now I’m using the Dura Foam. It’s much heavier but breathable and still cool enough to wear for extended periods. I’m using twisted wire for the nose “clamp” and zigzagging it in before I construct the mask. Sew on!
Denise…so we are to use the NON woven interface, not woven?.
Can I use light weight woven interface?
( making them for my friends and neighbors)
Barb….Watch the YouTube videos put out by The Fabric Patch about making masks. It’s very informative and explains the reason why you want NON woven. I’m using non woven lightweight, shirting interface and even a thicker dura foam that I use in my bags and totes. As long as the little virus buggers can’t get in, it’s washable/durable and you can breathe through it, that’s what you want. The video (I think it’s the 2nd one of the 3 videos they did) shows how easy viruses can get through woven material.
Sorry for my delay replying 😉
Texas A&M’s Biomedical Engineering professor Dr John Criscione and his team tested various N95-type DIY substitutes. It’s fascinating to watch, if you haven’t seen it before.
https://youtu.be/J_ehkaYDUqE
I have made several samples and have asked about a few modifications I wanted to try. Here’s what I learned:
The N95-similar protection comes from the polyester fabric inside those AC filters that you use in your home, but the MERV rating has to be 13 (4 layers of it) or higher. (Tip from Dr Criscione: to get to the polyester MERV fabric, cut the outer cardboard lattice of the filter at the the midpoint of the filter, not at the sides. It’s so much easier!) (I don’t know if a lower MERV rating but with increased layers would work.) The protection obviously also comes from how fully the mask covers your face. The team added material that covers over the AC fabric to keep it all in place, to keep your face away from that polyester MERV13 fabric, and for comfort. This outer fabric can be any tightly-woven light-weight fabric with these qualities. It needs to be:
1) strong
2) comfortable for skin
3) breathable
4) bakeable at 200 degrees for 20 mins
The A&M mask is a right-left-fold type. The final product looks very snout-like, so I flattened the snout and made it look a bit more mask-like. You just have to be sure that you’re not creating gaps. I’m working up towards assembling a bunch to donate through the local emergency management team. Best wishes, everyone.
Wonderful video. I’ve been making masks and it is a good feeling to be helping in some way.
I saw an online video using a large paper clip opened at almost the center, leaving the curled ends curled, straighten out as much as you can by hand or with pliers. I made a 3/4″ pocket in one side of the fabric and slipped the paper clip in the middle of fabric; then stitched a 3/4″ vertical seam on either side of the paper clip. With right sides together, I stitched up the sides together, leaving a 2″ gap at the bottom so I could turn it right side out. Works great and you adjust the nose wire to fit the mask wearer. I also lined mine with 2 layers of washable interfacing to make a good barrier. Works great!
Fantastic…I have made quite a bit for family and some neighbors. It is a shame that The First Lady and President of the USA are not wearing them….they are not very good example and yet he spews that everything is great here…LIE
I’ve been making lots of masks as well for about 6 weeks now (about 200 so far) using my 40 year stash of cotton fabrics. I found that an inexpensive nose wire is “bell wire” from the hardware store It comes with 2 wires loosely twisted together so you end up getting 50 feet (hank of 25 feet) of wire for about $4.00. It’s plastic covered 18 gauge that is flexible enough to bend to secure the mask, bot not so stiff that it hurts–curl the ends with pliers into little loops. It’s also washable where pipe cleaners will rust and break after several uses (I tried them at first and was not happy with the results as I had to replace all of them). For now I use a piece of bias tape (like a tube at the top inside) to secure them, but since I can’t get more bias tape, I’m going to try just stitching a casing through the layers of fabric and inserting the wire on the inside between the lining/filter fabric and the outside fabric side with straight stitch tack bars at both ends. For breath-ability, I’m using 2 layers of polyester chiffon between the fashion fabric and 600 TC cotton sheet lining. I have a website coming soon (HeartofSewing.com) but . I’ve been too busy making masks to work on that right now. check back at the end of summer.
I’ve made over 1500 of these masks for healthcare workers and educators. Many prefer the surgical ties to earloops for extended wear. They fit nicely over a full N95 or can be worn alone. The pattern can be modified by sewing an 1/8″ seam along the top border of and leaving the top side open for filter placement. I purchase MERV13 cotton/poly filter fabric by the yard and cut to size. You can sew in a 1mm x 4mm x 3″ flat nose wire if desired. (I sew a piece of 5/8″ grosgrain over the wire to keep it in place) I cut the fabric to 8″ x 7″ (2 pieces) and use different patterns for each side. This helps the wearer know which is the ‘dirty’ side after wearing. They sew up pretty quickly – especially if you premake the bias tape strips.
This was filmed in my city, Prague! The grassroots was incredibly strong at the beginning of the outbreak, everybody was sewing masks mid march <3 Proud we went viral
Stay safe out there!
Bumping up Teresa R. Wood’s comment: I’m also using two layers of polyester chiffon (or silk) on the inside, as recommended by AARP. This acts as an electrostatic barrier for incoming particles as well, protecting almost as well as an N95 mask. https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/info-2020/making-cloth-face-masks.html
Thanks Mood! I’ve been making the adult mask with matching ties. Bonus: I’ve discovered that if I rip the seams of a spare pillowcase, I get a 42 x 36 inch rectangle that translates to exactly a week’s worth of masks if cut this way . . .
Photo: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bYBakNXnsGd3BLTOPtXipMNEaXhUVK-k/view?usp=sharing
Diagram: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Aw2Vol32V-qPqlA6yfMTBK-Qil994YQm/view?usp=sharing
(I start with a 7-1/2 x 13-1/2 rectangle rather than 8 x 14 which I find fits my smaller face better!)
Wanted to share in case that helps anyone. Of course pillowcases are not all the same size, so anyone trying this is encouraged to measure theirs before ripping the seams. 🙂