Covid 19 – More Facemasks!

I’m still making facemasks and my pattern keeps evolving.  The changes I’ve made are mostly to make them closer to a one-size-fits-all. Not being a natural born seamstress, I also want them to be as easy a sew as possible. Although the size of the initial cut of fabric has varied, in the end, the only change I made in the final editions was to take a tuck in the bottom center to make a better “seal” and fit under the jaw.

Left: Sewing a tuck on the bottom center of the mask. The “V” begins about an eighth of an inch and tops out at zero about an inch up. Right:

Although at first I simply ran out of elastic and couldn’t find anymore, I moved to incorporating ties because because the elastics either broke or were too tight and hurt after awhile to wear. Personal fitting is impossible to do these days of sheltering in and social distancing. So, the ties render them as adjustable to fit your own head size. I stopped counting at 50.  Here’s the latest batch.

My sister Marie tells me that all their masks fit and that they are being worn on trips outside. Same for Andy. And Brian just got his in the mail! Yay!

Left to right: Brian Moran, Gentleman, NYC; Portrait of A, Waquoit, MA; What’s Driving Sister Marie?, Merlrose, MA. I had a little fun with them in Photoshop…LOL!

Notes:

*Don’t forget to wash them. Hand washing is best. Hang to dry. Press to finish.

*You can tighten up the nose area to conform more to your own face by slipping in a paper clip. I used a large, thick needle to make the initial hole. Although you may not need to do this it will protect the fabric from fraying. I also straightened out the paper clip as much as I could before inserting. You can then manipulate it by pressing across bridge of your nose to make it fit. This helps some for those wearing glasses but it doesn’t completely suppress fogging up.