Any DIYers here making masks?

[Katia]

Oh my Lemon Curd is yummy!

It is! I found a recipe for it just the other day, and I might need to try making it one of these days.

- no don’t add the shirring as part of sewing the seam put it in the seam allowance

Rats. That's out, then. I haven't much seam allowance; I only had a quarter of an inch to begin with, but then I pinked the very edges so I have even less now. Elastic it is... I'll report back on how that goes. It'll make it snug to the top of my nose... I'm just not sure how much shaping it will give me to close the gaps.

[Lady Grey]

Rats. That's out, then. I haven't much seam allowance; I only had a quarter of an inch to begin with, but then I pinked the very edges so I have even less now. Elastic it is... I'll report back on how that goes. It'll make it snug to the top of my nose... I'm just not sure how much shaping it will give me to close the gaps.[/QUOTE]

My seam allowance is only about 5mm
Whatever the gap is between the edge of the foot and the needle?
As I said not couture sewing... quick n dirty.... I always plink the edges as I cut out to save time, then line up the edge of the foot and sew away!

I’m starting on a Closet Case Files Sienna jacket soon (once I get a friends scrubs made)
Gawd help me if I have to follow instructions with pesky things like seam allowance

[Lady Grey]

Ooh Ooh Ooh
I just found this on a sewing blog that may be of help to those of you in Northern America

http://stacysews.com/entry/2020/0429_yes-more-masks-2/

https://atwoodrope.com/

Doubt it will be available in Australia and trying to get it posted would be futile

But hopefully it will help others?

[Katia]

My seam allowance is only about 5mm
Whatever the gap is between the edge of the foot and the needle?
As I said not couture sewing... quick n dirty.... I always plink the edges as I cut out to save time, then line up the edge of the foot and sew away!

I’m starting on a Closet Case Files Sienna jacket soon (once I get a friends scrubs made)
Gawd help me if I have to follow instructions with pesky things like seam allowance

LOL, you forget how very novice I am... I'm not sure I'd be able to keep it straight enough to fit more in that tiny space! (My seams are certainly not perfectly straight... but passable and functional!

I had considered pinking in the initial cut-out as well, but decided I'd rather have the straight edge to follow when trying to sew straight. The elastic might do all right, though... I found a length of elastic in my mom's sewing box that she must have had left over from some project and saved, thinking it might be useful some day. She was right! It's not really of a length to be good for much, but this will do nicely, and as it's wide, I can cut it narrower and get 2-3 times the length, which will be more than enough.

[Tobus]

I still haven't received the order to go back to the office yet, but I did get an email saying that masks are now required in the office. I guess I need to make a few more so I can rotate them out between washings. I sure wish I had some tattersall material!

[Red1leader]

Here are my efforts, must say that hand sewing is very hard on the fingertips lol

Masks.jpg

[Taskr]

OK, it only took me about 9 man-hours to make this thing. But I did it! And all by myself!

This is from the pattern in my previous post, using some of the tartan scrap material I got from Barb Tewksbury. It's three layers of material (wool tartan outside, fiber interfacing middle, cotton inside), all hand-stitched, with a bootlaces for the tie. I'm actually sort of proud of myself for the tartan lines being so well aligned at the darts/seams, even though my stitching still looks like hell where you can see it. And hey, I only drew blood with the needle 6 times!

This mask almost completely covers my beard, which surprised me. Especially under the chin. About the only thing I'll do differently if I make another one is to add a wire or thin metal strip (aluminum flashing, probably) over the nose.

Great job!! Now, if you had left the lining open on both ends, you could fold over a sheet of blue shop towel (the paper towel roll type) and provide a very good level of filter. Indeed, some people are simply folding it and attaching an elastic with safety pins.

Stay well, all

[Tobus]

Great job!! Now, if you had left the lining open on both ends, you could fold over a sheet of blue shop towel (the paper towel roll type) and provide a very good level of filter. Indeed, some people are simply folding it and attaching an elastic with safety pins.

Stay well, all

I've not been able to find blue shop towels since the news broke that they were good for filtering. Granted, I'm not running all over town to every store like some people around here are. I'm just making do with what I have on hand. And to be honest, the interfacing material seems to make for a pretty decent filter along with the other layers. Again, I'm not trying to simulate an N95 mask here.

Anyway, I decided to try a different pattern. This was one I found following Katia's link to YouTube videos. It actually takes less time to make and the fit over the nose is surprisingly good. It *almost* covers all of my beard, and could probably be made to do so by altering the pattern just a smidge. But as-is, it's a very comfortable and well-fitting mask, despite my horrid hand-stitching. Thanks, Katia!

[pofloyd1]

I heard that you can use the paper from a air filter used for the furnace. They said that it would filter down to 3 microns. We use the blue shop towels mixed with clorox and water mixed 50 to 50 for wipes. I happened to have a package of 4 on hand before all this broke loose.

[Tobus]

Just be careful with furnace filters, as many of them have fiberglass in them. You don't want to be breathing any of that if it sheds fibers.