No need to iron. The mask unpleats as soon as you put it on anyway. The pleats are not for protection, just form.
I know this is the making and not buying masks thread but the Suay Sew Shop is selling masks now.
You need to sew in some nose piece if you want a good seal.
https://suayla.com/collections/masks
They recommend blue shop cloth for a filter so you have to buy that, too.
But with those things and their tie mask design, they tested their own masks and they seem to have some protective value. How much, I don’t know.
I am getting some. My friend also was very generous and made us some.
Those who have asthma and trouble breathing in some masks, what type of mask are you using? Thanks for any recommendations.
We are having a few discussions about face coverings on lung health forums I participate in. The key thing to remember is that the mask is primarily to protect others from the wearer’s exhalations, sneezes and coughs.
If you have a pulse oximeter, you can determine whether your mask is affecting your oxygen saturation rate—folks qualify for supplemental oxygen if they can’t keep their oxygen level above 89% all the time—while sleeping, resting and exercising.
Most places at minimum require a face covering that covers your mouth and nose. A thin cotton scarf or bandana folded in half and tied around the head is sufficient and can be fairly comfortable.
I have made multiple cotton masks. They are all varying degrees of comfortable/ uncomfortable. I honestly can’t breathe too long with any face covering, never have been able to for the past 20 years.
My family members favor the pleated mask with a nose wire and elastic over the ears best. H requested and I did make the top of that mask curve a bit, so there’s more room for the nose. They are all mildly asthmatic and have tried all the masks I’ve made.
I’ve made 2 styles (don’t know the design names). I prefer the pleated with elastic behind the ears for short visits of approximately 1/2 hour at a store. Easy on & off. It doesn’t hurt, but it pulls down behind my ear just enough to make hearing harder. Ah, gravity!
The other more fitted style with a front dart & straps works better for me during longer trips. I used shoestrings with the bead trick instead of ties, and that works great! Forgot who suggested that earlier, but thank you!
One huge advantage of never downsizing some of my former sewing days or kids crafts: All kinds of “treasures” found. Pipe cleaners, beads, fabric scraps, even some elastic.
No need to iron. The mask unpleats as soon as you put it on anyway. The pleats are not for protection, just form.
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Just lay them flat to dry and they are fine. They dry quickly.
Something interesting to note: my local quilt shop, that does sewing machine repairs is getting a bunch of machines in for repairs, and I was one of them, yesterday. The alignment on the upper “arm” of my machine was off, so they’re fixing it and should get it back to me by tomorrow. The woman in front of me, with her mechanic, was discussing her BabyLock, also was having similar issues plus her machine was skipping stitches.
I spoke to my “ sewing” mechanic he said, that yes, “the fabric part of the store isn’t as busy now, as the repair part of the store”. Our machines aren’t used to this nonstop kind of work. With the different levels of fabric constantly being changed it’s affecting our non-industrial machines.
I’m on my back-up newer Singer, which I don’t like using because the stitch isn’t as good. I miss using my grandmother’s 1920’s Singer. It was a great machine, easy to fix, with a great stitch. I think over the years our the family just wore it out, didn’t take care of it, and I had the last part of it.
Wow!! They are getting $44 for pleated mask in the link above. I could be rich!!
The demand for my masks is gone. Everyone has a couple now. But as businesses reopen and people go back to work, they might need a lot for backup and to match outfits.
I’m thinking of making a bunch of plain color masks and having a Mask Embellishment party with my friends. In the future of course
Here’s a pretty comprehensive website with videos on making masks, patterns, and lots of info and resources.
http://www.fabricpatch.net/face-masks-for-covid-19-relief.htm
My daughter made free masks for her old workplace and any of her friends and relatives who wanted them. Now she’s selling them online for $6 and has made lots of money. You go girl. (She would still make them for free if there was a need.)
I’ve made enough masks to get us by without anyone really leaving the house much, but am starting to think ahead to fall and kids back in school (hopefully!!), and want to buy some masks, but just the thought of shopping for them is overwhelming! I want masks that are made out of the “best” material (as in tight woven cotton), that have a nose wire, and are comfy. And of course I don’t want to pay $44 each. Any suggestions? (Or PM me, I am happy to buy from mask makers here). My sewing skills are not good enough to make great-looking, high quality ones that we will continually wash and that my kids would wear to school, for example.
The price of the masks in the link above was $44 per pair. But still …
Try your Nextdoor (neighborhood) group. Mine has at least 20 people selling masks and there are two retail stores that are both tailor/alteration places, and I think one bridal alternation place in our area. Those are very inexpensive. Saw today that Old Navy is selling them but now they are on back order.
Just went to JoAnn’s. Ours is only open 4 hours each afternoon. There is a line to get in if you want fabric or anything measured. I did, but I was with my mother and all she wanted was yarn, so I just went to that side of the store with her (I have to do the coupons as she can’t handle figuring them out) I overheard the manager say they have 800 “Order on Line, pick up in store” orders and they can do 25 per day! I don’t know why they are only open 4 hours per day since there is clearly the demand for more hours. I will also say that I shop there all the time and I didn’t recognize any of the clerks. The person checking us out let me use the 40% off online order/store pick up when I told her I’d been trying to order online for 6 weeks.
And I forgot to look for the pony beads because I think those would work well with the tie masks. Oh well.
Someone on the closed COVID-19 thread mentioned ordering masks online from Gretchen Scott. Thanks for the suggestion! I received mine today and they’re quite nice! I like the thickness and the pattern is really cute.
Interesting video on how to improve seal of standard disposable surgical masks.
Also slightly OT for the “making” part --I’m a buyer. I just bought 4 cotton masks off of Etsy for $20 (for all 4), plus a couple of dollars for tax & shipping. They arrived within a few days after I ordered them. These are my first “real” masks – they are comfortable but do seem to feel a little harder to breath in than the bandana I’ve been using up until now. I was happy with my bandana because I only go out to do grocery shopping about once every 10 days, so plenty of time for laundry in between (and I actually have 2 bandanas plus a variety of other options that can be used in a pinch).
However, I have realized that mask-wearing is probably going to be the new normal for a long time to come – so when the stay-at-home orders are eased, I’ll need a fresh mask every time I go out. So on the topic of how many are needed … I’m thinking that my 4 pack probably won’t be enough when things open up and I return to old routines. Fortunately I don’t think there will be supply issues for us non-sewers – seems like plenty of people have gotten into the act of making them. I’d note that my Etsy masks were packaged beautifully, and I had a choice of colors – I chose two light blue & two pink.
Today, my sister stopped by and I helped her replace the elastic on the masks her boss had given her. (His girlfriend has made them and was trying to conserve elastic so the masks were all just too tight and therefore very uncomfortable.) They were very nicely made and once I helped replace the elastic for all of them with longer pieces of elastic, my sister was amazed at how much more comfortable the masks were. (Since she has to wear them every day at work, all day, I’m glad she can be more comfortable.)
I really like the Atwood Rope Company elastic, mentioned up thread. It’s so soft and stretchy and one spool goes a very long way! I bought 2 spools for $25, including postage.
On the number of masks…I have a lot because I make them. I like having them in the car because I might make a stop, and in my purse, and near the door in case I need to speak to someone making a delivery. I keep giving them out.
But I think 4 should be enough.
I also have changed the fabric I use. At first, the sewing instructions were to use very tightly woven quilting fabric, and to put a flannel lining in. Those were just too hot. I’ve found I like a thinner cotton, and I personally like light colors as the darker ones have too much dye (something else to breathe through). I make half with elastic (also like the Atwood Rope) and half with bias tape or grosgrain ribbon.
I have been using ponytail holders in my masks and found them to be comfortable and just right. I purchased 10 yards of electric and haven’t used it yet.
@calmom, I am curious how you folded the bandana. The first two times I wore a mask, I used a bandana. The way I was shown to fold it, it ended up being about four layers of material and it was very hot and hard to breathe through. My two layer Olson masks were much more comfortable, although yes, four layers of protection vs. two.
I sewed a boat load of masks for friends and family over the last six weeks using the MimiG YouTube video tutorial. A dear friend who is a musicophile, wanted some masks with rock themes. He was going to buy fabric online (expensive!) when I guided him to buy men’s button down 100% cotton shirts on e-bay instead (far less expensive). Along came some awesome shirts including Rolling Stones (with their infamous tongue logo), Pink Floyd (The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon) and The Who (with their infamous underground Tube logo) - I made him several masks, and he’s got tons of fabric left for more. I only used his “fancy” fabric for the outside, and the inner is plain cotton. I also think people will be wanting more masks to match outfits and personalities.