I’ve had quite a few friends ask me about making masks, so am putting together what I have discovered into this one blog post for easy reference.  As many of you know, Melbourne is currently in it’s second lockdown period while we attempt to prevent further community spread of covid-19.  This time around we’ve been asked to wear masks when we’re in public places where it might be difficult to keep a distance of 1.5m from other people.  So those of us who know how to sew have been sewing.

The Victorian government have some mask guidelines.  It is acknowledged that reusable masks are a help; they are scientifically shown to reduce the chance of transmitting the virus (mask wearing is more about protecting others than about protecting yourself).  We’re not pretending that they’re going to be quite as effective as properly worn and used medical grade masks, but every little bit helps.  There’s a good discussion about masks here and here on the Coronacast podcast.

Personally, I don’t like wearing these masks, for a plethora of reasons.  But I will wear masks when out, and my whole family have been, because it’s our responsibility to work together as a community.  We must do what’s needed for the common good at the moment – to state the obvious, it’s a pandemic!

As you would imagine, a plethora of patterns and tutorials are available for a variety of masks in a variety of styles.  I’m not covering everything in this blog post.  Google is your friend (other than google that leads you to conspiracy theories or articles that prefer to ignore science in favour of politics).  It is clear to me that different people prefer different styles of masks – it’s quite individual and possibly depends on face shape and size.  They also have different fastening preferences.  You do you. There are three main types of reusable masks:

• Flat with some pleats (like a fabric version of a surgical mask)
• ‘Origami’ style
• Fitted/shaped (I think they’re technically called Olsen masks)

I’ll go through each type with links to patterns that I have tried.

Clare quite likes the flat with pleats style. This tutorial gives you an outline of how to sew them. I found that there was less bulk if I sewed separate casings on to each side rather than turned the sides in to form casings because of the bulk of the pleats.

Clare and I like masks where there is enough fabric to sit flat against our face and nose once we’ve put our glasses on the top of them. They’re loose enough at the sides so that we can breathe relatively easily (fabric masks are not meant to have a tight seal the whole way around; it’s a balance between fit against the face and comfort – which includes breathing, unsurprisingly).

The mask in the photo above didn’t work well for Clare – the elastic is too wide and pulls against her ears. You can see the pleats though. The next style that we tried was a fitted/shaped mask. We tried a few patterns. The Dhurata Davies pattern is very popular on Instagram. It has darts for the nose and the chin. But you can see in the photo below that this one fogged up my glasses straight away.

We had much more success with the Twig and Tale panel mask.  This is Dan’s preferred style and pattern.

This one has a pocket in it to add a filter if you’re keen (we’re not adding them at this stage) and has a wire to shape around the nose bridge in the top. I used three plastic coated twist ties together for the wire – I found a heap of them in the bottom of a kitchen drawer. Different people use different types of wires to aid in shaping the mask to their nose bridge. I actually prefer my masks without the wire, but Dan likes it in his.

Other fitted/panel style masks that others have recommended include the Marfy mask, the Mimi G mask, and the Craft Passion mask. Many of these mask patterns have associated YouTube tutorials. The Ann Benson mask also looks interesting, but I haven’t tried it.

My preferred style of mask is the origami type of mask. Actually, the very first mask that I sewed was the Aplat mask!

I then moved on to the Summer Face Mask tutorial, which is on YouTube. This is one that I have used quite extensively.

A similar pattern is the 7 Pine Design origami face mask, and once again there are a plethora of YouTube tutorials for this style.

I also gave this contoured orgami-style variation from the Japanese Sewing Books blog a go, in foiled denim for a bit of farshun.

So, there are some patterns for you to consider. I also experimented a bit with fabrics throughout my mask sewing ‘journey’. I have ended up with a preference for three layers of fabric as a maxium. Maybe something like a twill or a denim or a medium weight quilting cotton for the outer, a lining type fabric or a lightweight knit for a middle layer (you can leave out the middle layer), and something soft and cotton for the inner lining layer (like flannelette or smooth cotton). I find that flannelette is good as it absorbs the moisture from my breath before it has the chance to fog up my glasses.

Then you need to consider how you want to keep the mask on your head. What works best seems to depend on your head size/shape, and your hairstyle! Elastic cord works well for Dan’s masks, but the girls and I prefer ‘t-shirt elastic’. These are strips cut from lengths of cotton/lycra knit about one inch wide, that you then pull and it rolls inwards. These work well for ties around the back of the head and for ear loops (the girls prefer ear loops).

Some other handy links:
How to tie a surgical mask to prevent fogging
No fog mask hack
A simple method to prevent glasses from fogging when wearing a mask

I have my fingers crossed that I never have to sew another mask again.  I intellectualised the process in order to make it bearable.  There’s no way to deny that we’re in a pandemic when you’re using your favourite hobby to sew masks because of it.  Anyway, I hope that this blog post proves useful to some readers.  To finish off with a giggle, my family had a few seconds of mask-related fame on breakfast tv this week.