Now that the Governor of Maryland has made it mandatory to wear a face mask when visiting retail establishments, I had to figure out what we were going to do about face masks. The disposable ones have been sold out online forever but there have been a ton of make-your-own tutorials popping up all over Facebook. So, I decided to try a few.
No-Sew Mask from a T-shirt from Jennifermaker.com
I found this tutorial at Jennifermaker.com and thought that it looked super easy to do. Basically, she sends you a pattern in a variety of sizes, you print it out, and then cut your t-shirt to match the pattern.
I used her Adult Large pattern, cut up a black t-shirt and it worked okay. However, I had trouble keeping the ear bits hooked over my ears. Also, when I tried it on my husband, the pattern was way too small for his face. I never really thought of him as having an overly large face… but apparently, he does. If I had liked this pattern more, I would have tried it again making it a bit larger. As it was, this was my least favorite DIY mask.
No-Sew Mask from a T-shirt from the CDC
This is one of the most common ‘make a mask from a t-shirt’ instructions that I’ve been seeing out there and this particular one came from the CDC.gov website. Here is how you do it:
I followed these instructions and ended up making about a dozen masks. Once again, they aren’t perfect, but they are pretty easy to make and easy to tie onto your face. You do need to either double up or stick an extra square of cotton fabric in the mask in order to keep with the ‘two layers of cotton’ rule. These work pretty well and I thought they were a winner, until I tried the next tutorial.
No-sew mask from a T-shirt sleeve
I saw a video for this one on Facebook, but it won’t allow me to link to it here. However, here is one on YouTube that is very similar:
I found this one much easier to make and wear than the first two tutorials. Basically, you cut a sleeve off a shirt and then BOOM that’s your mask. I made this with a couple t-shirts and also used one long sleeve shirt from our donation bag to make 6 masks.
Travis likes this one best, since they go on easy, fit well and are plain colors (I made black for him). These will stay in his truck for when he needs them and are super easy to launder after each wear.
My DIY Masks
I wanted to make myself a couple ‘nicer’ masks to wear when I go into stores, so I dove into my old fabric bin and found a few different options. I don’t have any elastic in the house and my rubber bands are too tight to stretch them over my ears, so I shredded a couple t-shirts and made string out of them.
Anyways, I didn’t follow a pattern and just sewed small pillows – I took two pieces of fabric that were about 9” x 6” and sewed three sides together just like a pillow. I left holes in each corner and poked the ‘string’ through on each side. I flipped everything right side out and I sewed up the top and bottom so they looked less messy. That’s about it. They aren’t perfect and I certainly wouldn’t sell them or anything, but they should be fine for when I have to leave the house for a grocery run.
Have you been making your own masks or buying them from somewhere? Do you have a favorite seller or tutorial to share?