Important information regarding Covid masks
@1creekgirl (44560)
United States
April 22, 2020 5:43pm CST
We started wearing masks before the government leaders told us to. In fact, my grandson was probably the first person in America to see where this then-epidemic was heading and bought surgical masks for all of us.
When we saw that there would be a run on masks, I decided to make my own. There are at least 3,829 YouTube videos showing how to make them.
I couldn't find appropriate material in my sewing stash, so when I saw one of my husband's white handkerchiefs, I thought it would be perfect for a mask.
The edges are already hemmed and almost the perfect size. I followed one of those 3,000 videos (I had some elastic already) and went to town on those little buggers.
I was very pleased with how they looked, fit, and were economical to buy. (I bought several packages of them at Walmart.)
I gave some to our son for him and his employees while they waited for corporate to ship them a supply. I mailed a box of them to our daughter and her family in SC. They were all very appreciative.
Well, I discovered two things.
1. Wash your mask materials BEFORE you sew them.
2. Hot water will shrink many types of materials.
I sure hope all those people got a couple of wears out of them before they washed them and dried them in a hot dryer. And if not, maybe the little kids could wear them.
Oh well. You know what they say about good intentions.
(In case you don't, it's the road to hell is paved with good intentions.)
15 people like this
14 responses
@youless (114117)
• Guangzhou, China
23 Apr 20
@1creekgirl You are very skillful
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (502573)
• Italy
23 Apr 20
Cotton usually shrink of about 8%, I remember when I learned to sew that the nuns told us that we had to wash the cotton with hot water before cutting. Congratulations for making your mask. I had two boxes of medical masks at home (200 masks in total), we are using those ones.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (502573)
• Italy
23 Apr 20
@1creekgirl Three or four years ago there was a bad flu during winter. They suggested to buy masks and be ready to wear them. The flu was not as bad as predicted and the masks stayed in our pharmacy cabinets all the time. Now they are useful.
1 person likes this
@1creekgirl (44560)
• United States
23 Apr 20
@LadyDuck That's good you have access to them.
1 person likes this
@1creekgirl (44560)
• United States
23 Apr 20
Glad you have a good supply of masks.
1 person likes this
@DianneN (254926)
• United States
24 Apr 20
Thanks for your tips.
We have nothing much to use at our condo, so we used old pillowcases to make no-sew masks, added coffee filters folded in half or cut up air conditioner filters, and used rubber bands.
I was finally able to buy masks online.
I haven’t been out of the house, but hubs has been using them. He throws them away after each wear.
1 person likes this
@1creekgirl (44560)
• United States
24 Apr 20
Good to hear y'all are being careful.
1 person likes this
@1creekgirl (44560)
• United States
24 Apr 20
Yeah, but I wonder how many were usuable in the end.
1 person likes this
@just4him (323168)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
24 Apr 20
@1creekgirl I hope they all were.
1 person likes this
@1creekgirl (44560)
• United States
23 Apr 20
Yeah, I just hate the thought of making them over again!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382240)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 Apr 20
@1creekgirl I can understand that.
1 person likes this
@1creekgirl (44560)
• United States
23 Apr 20
Sorry to hear that. Have you tried making your own?
1 person likes this
@Nakitakona (59987)
• Philippines
24 Apr 20
@1creekgirl We did. Our 3rd elder daughter knows how to make it. She has an electric mini sewing machine.
1 person likes this
@bluerubymoon53 (3286)
• United States
22 Apr 20
I will be making masks and I washed in hot water and dried in hot dryer the cotton fabrics that I will be using. I knew I better do that so that the already masks won't shrink in the wash after they've been made. I have some mask pieces ready to sew up for my niece and her 3 kids.
1 person likes this
@1creekgirl (44560)
• United States
23 Apr 20
What pattern are you using? That's good you preshrunk your material first.
1 person likes this
@bluerubymoon53 (3286)
• United States
23 Apr 20
I completed one mask out of four for my niece last night. The pattern that I used for my niece's masks is from craftpassion.com. Two other patterns are from UFHealth, University of Florida Health. The instructional videos can be seen at .
https://anest.ufl.edu/clinical-divisions/mask-alternative/
@1creekgirl (44560)
• United States
23 Apr 20
There are youtube videos on how to make a mask without sewing it.
1 person likes this
@Juliaacv (56298)
• Canada
23 Apr 20
I prefer my sewn fabric masks over the cheap disposable ones.
The sewn ones are far thicker and offer better protection, and when I wear a medical disposable mask, I get dirty looks-like I'm stealing PPE from those that work in the medical field.
I slip a coffee filter folded in half in between the top and bottom layers of my fabric masks.
1 person likes this
@Juliaacv (56298)
• Canada
23 Apr 20
@1creekgirl I found a little stash of cotton squares, left over from a high school project of some sorts that our son was involved in years ago.
1 person likes this
@1creekgirl (44560)
• United States
23 Apr 20
The coffee filters are a good idea. What do you make your cloth masks out of?
1 person likes this
@Courtlynn (67089)
• United States
23 Apr 20
I would hope people washed the materials first.
1 person likes this
@1creekgirl (44560)
• United States
23 Apr 20
I definitely would wash used materials first, but these were new in the package.
1 person likes this
@1creekgirl (44560)
• United States
23 Apr 20
Even though my intentions were good, I did actually make them. Just wish they had been more useful!
1 person likes this
@Lavanya15 (12888)
• Chennai, India
23 Apr 20
Nice advice. I must follow your tips.. Try to make my own masks..
1 person likes this
