A prototype cloth mask: Tutorial

With the onset of the current pandemic, I've taken to making cloth face masks for myself and my family. My mom and sister asked me for my pattern, so I'm sharing it here as a tutorial. Now, that said, this is NOT a medical grade mask. I have no medical back ground. The only research experience I have is Googling, and I encourage you to do your own research on how effective or not this type of mask might be. From my reading, I've concluded that cloth masks like this one can block maybe half of the ick. Better than nothing, but not as good as an official mask, and will NOT totally prevent you from contracting COVID-19. What it is really good for is blocking your own droplets from going all over the place when you cough. I figure that since there is a chance that you can be contagious before you know you have the virus, wearing these if you must go out in public protects other people from you. Folks have been saying, "My mask protects you. Your mask protects me."

So, disclaimer done. Not medical grade. Do your own research.

There are two types of masks that are popular right now. One is sort of cup shaped, fitted in the shape of an n95 mask. The other is a pleated rectangle, which ends up shaped like a surgeon's mask. That is the type I'm making here.

When making the masks, there are several choices you need to make. Do you use cloth ties, or elastic? Do you include a wire at the nose, for shaping? Do you include a pocket, so folks can add an extra layer of disposable non-woven filtration? (Think paper towel, coffee filter, dried out baby wipe...) This mask uses cloth ties, a wire, and a pocket, and an optional plastic toggle on the ties. Check the folks you are making masks for, and see what their requirements are. One of the medical folks I'm making masks for didn't want the toggle or the wire. My husband wanted both when I made his.

Materials:
100% cotton woven fabric, in two colors. Quilting cotton is a good weight.
Sewing thread.
Cloth ties: Bias tape, or make your own. Folks are also making ties out of cut up t-shirts.
Wire. I use 18 gauge copper craft wire. Folks are also using floral wire.
Optional: plastic paracord toggles.

Cut 1 piece of your decorative fabric 7"x8". Cut 2 pieces of your contrasting fabric, both 7"x8". I'm making 6 masks at once in this tutorial, so I've cut 6 blue fabric, and 12 white fabric. Having two colors of fabric makes it easy to tell which side is which at a glance, so you don't put it on backwards.

Actually, I didn't cut my fabric. I'm using woven, so I just snipped the edge of the fabric at the proper length, and tore the fabric. Since it is woven, it will rip along the grain line. Snip and rip for the win. Much faster for me. You just have to remove a few raveled threads as you go along.

Take half of the white rectangles. You're going to turn these into the pockets. Finish one of the 7" sides. I folded it down narrowly twice to hide the raw edge, and sewed it down.

I take this time to make my wires and ties. For the wires, I cut them to 6", and fold the ends over so they won't poke folks.

For the ties, I prefer to use bias tape. But that gets expensive when you are doing a whole batch of these. Some folks are making ties out of old t-shirts...but I did a closet purge recently. I don't have clothes I want to cut up. I did however have some twin sheet sets I wasn't using anymore. They are nice light weight cotton. Perfect.

Using the snip and rip method, I tore the sheets into 2" strips.

Then I folded the edges in once, and again, so the raw edges were encased. Then I ironed the strap down. You can use a bias tape maker if you have one, but I found this easier for myself. If I kind of tugged on one end of the folded fabric while the iron was weighting down the other end, the fabric just kind of wanted to fold in on itself.

Cut two 40" ties per mask.

Ok, I have all of my parts. Time to assemble! (Ok, the toggles aren't in this picture. Those are later.)

First, I stack my fabric. The outer decorative layer goes right side up. Next, the pocket layer goes right side down, on top of the decorative fabric. Line up the unfinished edge with the bottom edge of the decorative layer. Finally, the inner plain fabric goes on the top, right side down.

Sew the fabric stack together on the shorter 7" sides, with a 1/4" seam allowance. One side will have three layers. The other will have two layers. Be sure you tuck the finished top of your pocket layer back out of the way while you sew the 2 layer side.

Turn your mask right side out.

Press your seams.

Ok time to top stitch those seams. Use a 1/4" seam allowance. A hint: if you are sewing lots of these at a time, you can just kind of sew from one mask to the next, chaining them together, instead of starting and stopping and cutting your thread each time. You snip the masks apart after sewing them. It is a time saver.

When you top stitch the 2 layer top side, make sure your pocket layer is flapping out of the way. We'll get to that soon, I promise.

At this point, grab your wire if you are using one, and slip it all the way into the channel you made when you top stitched the top of your mask. (The side with just 2 layers.) It will end up securely encased here in the mask.

Ok, that pocket piece that has been flapping around and driving your nuts? Smooth it down and pin it in place now.

The next thing we are going to do is make three 1/2" pleats along the 8" sides of the fabric and pin them down, so the mask ends up looking like this.The pleats all go the same way, away from your nose and eyes, to cut down on things getting stuck in the folds of the fabric.

Your first pleat starts 2" down from the top of your mask. I find it easiest to pinch and fold the fabric on both sides of the mask, and then weight one side down while I pin the other.

Pinch, and fold.

The sides should be somewhere between 3 1/2" - 4" when you are done pleating, and both sides should be the same. This doesn't have to be absolutely perfect, but even is good.

Sew down your pleats, on both sides. 1/4" seam allowance again. It is going to be tempting to just sew over the pins and take them out afterwards. You'll bend your pins and maybe break your needle. Trust me on this one. Take them out as you go.

Also? Make sure your encased wire is far enough in that it is out of the way of sewing. My needle does not like hitting that wire!

Mask part done! Now, on to the ties.

Find the center of one of your ties.

Pin or clip your tie so it encases the raw edges of the side of your mask. The center of the tie goes at the top of your mask. This is because it takes more fabric to go around the top of your head than it does around your neck when you are wearing the mask. So you want a bit more length at the top than at the bottom.

If you aren't going to use the plastic toggles, tuck in the ends of your strap and stitch them down, to finish the raw edges.

Sew the ties from one end to the other, so you're sewing them closed at the same time you are sewing them onto your mask.  Sewing the ties closed all the way along them ensures they don't come unfolded in the wash. Sew back and forth a couple of times to reinforce your strap when you get to the edges of your mask. These are going to be the stress points, so you want them to be strong.

Quality check. Flip your mask over, and make sure you actually caught the edges of your ties. I had to go back over this spot.

If you aren't using a toggle, you're done at this point!

If you are using a toggle, make sure your tops straps are the same length, and snip the ends just a bit with pinking shears if you have them. Stack the straps on top of each other, and kind of fold the ends over to make them as narrow as possible.

Shove the ends through the toggle. You might have to use a pliers to grab onto them and pull them through. Repeat for the bottom ties.

I tie knots in the end of the ties, to stop them from raveling, and to prevent the toggles from sliding off.

Done!! Here's a half dozen more masks ready for wearing.

This is what it looks like on. The toggles make it easier to take on and off. However, if you have long hair, I recommend you put your hair up in a pony tail before you use them, or you might cinch up your hair right into them. Ow. My short haired husband had no problems, but I did. If you don't have the toggles, just tie the straps.

Form the wire to fit your nose, and down your cheeks so the mask doesn't ride up into your eyes.

My recommendation is to use a fresh mask each time you have to go out of the house. Don't touch it when you have it on. Take it off without touching the outside of the mask when you come home, put it directly into a laundry bag, and then sanitize your hands. Wash  the masks on hot, tumble dry. The wire will get a bit bent in the wash, but if you grab the sides of the mask and snap outwards, the wire and pleats will straighten right back out.

Remember, wearing these masks is in addition to your social distancing routine, not instead of it! 

Take care, all!!