Best Fitting Face Masks {Tips on how to Make Face Masks}
Face masks, are you sick of this topic yet? I’m sure you have seen lots and lots of different styles and face mask patterns and takes on the best face masks to make. I figured that face masks aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, so it’s time to embrace it and find the best fitting face mask. I have made more than 100 face masks in the past couple weeks. I have made some for my family, for my friends and for people who need them. As I have sewn them and worn them myself, I have figured out what I like and what I don’t like about them. So I thought that I would write up some tips on how to make the best fitting face masks for kids and for adults.
This is not a tutorial, I figured that there are plenty of face masks tutorials out there, I just wanted to tell you what I have done and what I have learned from the process. The recommended fabric to use is 100% cotton.
There were a couple patterns that I used, the first one was from Joann. It’s a more generic, accordian style face mask. This was the first style that I made.
With all the research that I did with making face masks, one of the biggest complaints about the masks was the STRESS ON THE EARS from the elastic. I have heard from several people, including my doctor friends, that it hurts their ears. I know that they have come up with devices to relieve the stress, but I figured might as will just have ties from get go, so there is no stress on the ears. Plus elastsic is SUPER HARD to find right now. So I went to my scrapbooking supplies and got out my ribbon. So for the ties, I used ribbon. Each piece is about 15 inches long. I then burned the edges of it, so it wouldn’t fray. And yes, ribbon washes just fine as long as it’s a fabric ribbon and not a paper ribbon.
Here is what this mask looks like on me. I wore this one to go shopping and I’m not going to lie, it wasn’t super comfortable. It worked but I didn’t love it, I felt like the whole time I was shopping I was messing with it and adjusting it, so I was touching it non stop. Not too great when you’re trying not to spread germs. Here are some pro and cons about this accordian style face mask.
Pros:
• It’s a generic pattern, so it’s kinda one size fits all adults. That’s beneficial when you are making them for a lot of people and don’t know if they are male or female. • Easy to sew and cut, it’s a rectangle, so you don’t have to sew curves, just a straight line.
Cons:
• It’s not fitted so it’s loose and moves around when you wear it. • It is not super comfortable.
The second pattern that I used was from Craft Passion. This one is the best fitting face mask and the one that I used for 75% of the masks that I made. She has sizes for men, women, kids and young kids even. So I printed out that pattern and went to work. Once again, I just used the two ties instead of elastic. I started running low on ribbon, so I used a jersey knit fabric that I had. I just cut them into 1 inch strips and made them at least 15 inches long. I didn’t measure exactly, I just made sure they were long enough that I could tie the face mask on.
Here is what the face mask looks like on me, much more fitted and comfortable. I like this one much better that’s for sure. The only con about it is because it is fitted, it’s not one size fit all. So when I make them for people or donate them to clinics, I have to ask how many men and women there are. You have to keep them separate, but that’s an easy fix.
I sewed these a little differently than the tutorial, instead of having one piece be bigger, I had both of them the same size. I didn’t fold over the sides, instead when the two pieces were together, I sewed the ties into one of the sides and then left the other side open, with the ties coming out of it. Then I flipped the face mask inside out and then did a top stitch all around, and then sewed the ties into the side and closed the mask up. ***This process changed a little bit when I decided to add a pipe cleaner to the nose, but I will get to that in a minute.***
I used the pattern and made masks for my whole family. Like I said at the beginning, I don’t feel like face masks are going away anytime soon, I think that there are going to be one of the solutions to reopening up our cities.
Alright, now let’s get to the pipe cleaner around the nose. The only complaints we had about this fitted mask was it was a little big on the nose and that my glasses would get fogged up. I had read that you could put something along the nose to help with those two issues. So I did just that, I added a pipe cleaner to it because that is what I had on hand. I’ve also heard that you can do a thin strip of a soda can, a paper clip, or floral wire there too. I will tell you that it does make a big difference, once I made one with it, I went back and added pipe cleaners to all the ones I had made with out one (including all the ones I made for my kids). So before I added the two ties to the open side, I put a little strip of pipe cleaner about 2-3 inches long into the tip of the nose and then I sewed it into place. Then I closed up the open side like I did before.
These fitted face masks take me about 8-10 minutes to make for each one. So I turned on a movie and just started making some just to have on hand. Since a lot of works are requiring their employees to wear them, I made up some more nuetral ones to have to give out to my friends that needed them for work. Whenever I make one now, I add the pipe cleaner. I eventually ran out of knit fabric, so I ended up cutting up some shirts instead, I had plenty in my get rid of pile :).
I really think that we should embrace face masks, so I thought it would be fun to put some personality and character to them, so I decided to add some vinyl to it. My family loves the University of Wyoming (that’s where my husband and I met) and so I made us up some Wyoming Cowboys face masks. I just added some heat transfer vinyl to side of the mask. I put the heat transfer on before I put the pipe cleaner into the mask, that way it could be flat when I pressed it with my heat press. You could easily put your favorite college logo on there or a sports team that you love, get creative!
Here are a couple other Wyoming face mask designs.
I made up a couple more college face masks just for fun. Because of copyright you can’t sell things that have logos on them, so no, I am not selling these. I just made them so you can get an idea of what other college logos look like on these face masks. I also wanted to show them to try to get people more excited about face masks and wearing them :).
I think everyone is going to remember this crazy time, especially if you had a major event during it. My friend wanted me to make her some masks for her wedding and I love the idea!! What a great keepsake and they are going to be awesome in wedding photos. Such a fun way to remember such a crazy time!
I love the idea of personalizing face masks with vinyl, really the possibilites are endless. *** One quick thing, you don’t want to put vinyl on the nose or mouth area, because that you don’t want anything blocking you from breathing. ***
My brother has his own video production company, so I made up a few masks for him so he can stay safe and promote his business, it’s a win-win!
I hope that you all embrace the idea of face masks, if you don’t love the idea of them- go find a fun fabric or personalize them so you can get excited about them :). One thing I definitely recommend is having two masks because you are supposed to wash them every time you go out, so when one is in the laundry, you can have another one ready to wear. If you need more info about face masks, this is a great post from the Craft Patch, she really goes into great details of all the different elements on making them.
I made a holder for our face masks now that we have to wear them all the time. You can get all the details about it here.
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