For those who may wish to sew face masks . . .

britechguy

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. . . whether for themselves and their families/friends, or as part of a sewing circle for health care facilities.

What follows is information regarding filtration materials, as well as the online pattern my partner and his sewing circle have been using, with notes about errors in/changes to that pattern. Feel free to pass it along to anyone who may need/want it or point them to this message:
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First, ahead of discussing the pattern, is a link discussing some commonly available materials that are excellent filtration inserts for these masks:

https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/best-materials-make-diy-face-mask-virus/


Now, the mask pattern itself, with notes about problems with the pattern and instructions that you can avoid.

http://www.berninaworldofsewing2.com/FacemaskProject2020/PDFs/FacemaskSuppliesa.pdf

OK--here goes...First, the measurements are too small...we used 9 x 17&1/2 or 19 for more coverage. Make one and try and see if it fits you. I also sewed in either twist ties (three or four) or some light copper wire (if washing a lot) in the top fold to make it fit tighter around the nose.

Secondly--the first fold is with RIGHT sides together--not wrong.

Remember that the pleats in the mask should point down so that particulate matter in the air cannot just drop into the pleats and get trapped.

You can use elastic if you have it...or bias tape to tie...or strips of cut up old T-shirts which, handily, roll up all by their lonesome. There is huge demand for elastic right now and it is getting very hard to find.

There is a pocket for filter accessible from the face side. Since the 95 type filters are so scarce folks are using vacuum cleaner bags (95% effective for the virus but not washable), "feminine products" to include half bras (even), and sewing interfacing--medium weight is best but, hey, anything you have is better than nothing.

With this mask the end pieces are the most tedious to make and apply. But you don't really need them as you can just leave the raw edges and sew the elastic or bands of whatever for tying onto them rather than run them through the end piece as a loop.

Here’s another mask pattern I have not sewn myself:

https://www.madeeveryday.com/fabric-face-mask-free-pattern/
 
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