Pull out some fabric scraps & make face masks for next to nothing

Let’s face it, it will be a while before we can feel really safe going into crowded public spaces. But if we need to wear a mask, it does not have to look boring or medicinal. Wearing a face mask can be the new fashion trend. Use it to express your style! Make a dozen, one to match each outfit. Use silly fabric or draw a smile or moustache on it to show you still have your sense of humor. Use lovely fabric to show elegance isn’t a casualty of these trying times.
We used 100% cotton fabric with contrasting ribbon. You can make the ribbon yourself using a two-inch slice of the fabric and folding each side in before sewing it onto the mask. Our color echoes the medical mask color, but the flowered ribbon indicates femininity and style. You can choose to use the patterned piece for the pleated body of the mask. Use white lace on white cotton, if you want to be able to bleach the fabric. Cut a little slit on the inside if you’d like to slide in a paper towel or coffee filter for more protection. Have fun with this project and give them as gifts to you friends or medical community, remembering we are all in this together!
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Materials
- Fabric scraps, 2 designs, at least 7:25” X 7.25” each, or one piece 15” X 7.25”
- 100% cotton ribbon, 1” wide
- Work surface
- Iron
- Paper for a pattern
- Fabric pencil
- Straight pens
- Sewing machine with matching thread.
DIY Everywhere
Instructions
1. Choose two scraps of fabric that match.
2. Lay out the fabric onto the work surface and iron the material so that it is nice and flat.
3. Create a square pattern on paper that is 7.25” by 7.25”.
Note: this square can be made larger for men or those with larger heads.
4. Using the fabric pencil, draw all around the square onto the fabric.
5. Cut out the square of fabric.
6. Do the same for the contrasting material.
7. Place the two squares together.
8. Fold down two inches of fabric and of that two inches, fold one inch back up.
9. Pin in place at edges with pins facing out.
10. Fold from that edge a little more than two inches, and fold back up one, making a second pleat below the first.
11. Pin at the edges.
12. Repeat step 10 and 11. There are now three pleats.
13. Sew the vertical edges, removing pins as you go.
14. Cut off excess, very close to thread line.
15. Measure ribbon 1” longer than the vertical edges of the mask and cut out two pieces of ribbon that length.
16. Fold each ribbon lengthwise and fit over the edges of the mask. Pin.
17. Sew the ribbon onto the edges of the mask. Trim the excess.
18. Cut two more pieces of ribbon about eighteen inches each. Fold lengthwise.
19. Center the ribbon on the horizontal edge of the mask. Sew the folded ribbon onto the edge. Repeat for the other side.
20. Sew the entire length of the ribbon, securing the two halves and securing it to the mask.
21. Tie the ends on each side of the mask to fit the owner.
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Wear your mask with confidence and pride!
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