Sew Three Masks - PEP BB textile.straw.sew.mask

I made a mask for my husband, and took lot's of progress pictures, so I thought I might as well submit them here!

exterior fabric with pattern pinned on

interior fabric with pattern pinned on

exterior fabric cut and pinned together and interior fabric cut and pinned together

both inside and outside fabric sewed together

two sides sewed together

finished mask on a face!

My husband was kind enough to model for me

I had to make some face masks. In public transport (like the train) we need to wear them now. And in supermarkets it is better to wear one too.
I had this BB in mind, so I made photos. Some might look a little strange, that is because the (orange) sunscreen of the window was down.


It is a three-part pattern. Every part has to be cut of double fabric. A seam over nose and chin and an opening inside (meant to put some 'filter' in it, which I don't).


Material (fabric that used to be a blouse) and tools. Making of the biais-bands.


Sewing the biais-bands to make them the right length.


Hand-sewing the biais-band. Yes, this will be the most luxurious face mask!


Two face masks.

I've sewn a bunch of facemasks, both for myself and others. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I've got a picture of the *same* mask at all stages, so I'm hoping that these pictures will demonstrate well enough.

Jay Angler wrote:I've sewn a bunch of facemasks, both for myself and others.

I have tried three different mask patterns and the 3D mask from japanese sewing books indeed fits me best. Very clever design.
https://www.japanesesewingbooks.com/2020/06/20/free-mask-pattern-download-contoured-3d-face-mask/

Here's my submission for mask making. A friend is traveling and needed some masks for the plane trip.I made some up for them.

Also--a note: the BB page says make one mask, but the PEP Textiles page says make three. I've made three here, not sure which of the two locations needs changing.

Clarified BB requirements - make three masks. All post above are grandfathered.

Masks are one of my favorite projects to hand-sew while doing other things because they're very straightforward and simple to assemble. Plus they're useful since my partner and I both have to wear them at work. I've sewn at least two dozen since April 2020 - most of them from the pleated pattern my local hospital put out, but I perfer the curved-front ones because they're just more comfortable.

I was late to sewing masks myself. I didn't have a good space to set up my machine and it seemed daunting. But I've since moved and given it a shot. I now have a good stash of comfortable, well-fitting masks and a better understanding of sewing. I only sewed wrong sides together a handful of times 😂

I made new superhero masks for the family.

For the child's mask (spiderman), I made a template from a handmade mask we had been given. To make the template, I laid the mask flat, folded along the seam, and traced around it onto cardboard. Before cutting out the template, I added 1/2in seam allowance (larger to allow for clipping along the curve inside the fabric, as you can see below, which allows it to sit better in finished form. I've used this template for several children's masks.

For the adult masks, I used this tutorial that shows what face measurements to use for a good fit.

I've always had trouble with the fit of ready to wear masks, needing to add tucks or pleats in the cheeks and chin to make them fit. This mask fits far better than any of the homemade or store bought masks I've tried. In the end, I did add a small pleat at the chin on my mask but it's a great fit.

The fabric was new for all three masks: quilting cotton on visible layer and cotton poplin behind. The child's mask doesn't use a nose wire, just two small pleats around the nose. For the adult masks, I used nose wires and ear elastic harvested from factory-made cotton masks that were headed to the compost (too frayed to be mended).