Lovely Face Masks

Thank you vegansrock.

(It will be too hot for gardening today so I may sew instead.)

I've made a three layered one from an old Ikea duvet cover some silver elastic, wrapped round a parcel once, and last night I added two rows of shirring elastic up the sides, as we are crossing the border tomorrow and may have to wear them in shops.

The pattern was issued by the Welsh Government and is the vaguest thing I have ever seen and obviously written by someone who had never sewn!

vegansrock I love your masks. Wish you did mail order

Is there a glasses-wearer out there who has found a make or design that doesn't leak over the nose/cheek area? I've tried several sorts and all are useless.

I think my big nose (!) makes for a bigger than average gap and more condensation even in wired masks. I'm so fed up trying to find a solution that doesn't involve taping the mask to my cheeks!

rosiestocks I have sent you a pm

I made pleated masks out of old sheets, with ties which go round the back of the head, and with pipe cleaners for the bridge of the nose. A filter can be inserted, eg J=cloth material. They were a bit fiddly to make, but I did 16, two each for all the family. Not as beautiful as Veganrocks' but serviceable and washable in hot water by hand, so as not not screw up the pipe cleaner in the machine.

mary51 I won't bother looking up the pattern then!

If we don't need them in Wales because the Welsh Chief Medical Officer is not particularly in favour of them, I must remember to put one in my handbag whenever I go out in case I cross Offa's Dyke.

mary51 I see what you mean

Oh dear. No sewing required presumably.
Possibly the worst pattern for a face mask yet.

Those Tana Lawn ones are lovely! I used to make dresses for little dds from Tana lawn. Tempted to make face masks now! Can you buy the material locally, vegansrock? I think I’d have to go to Liberty online.

If you don't want to use elastic and would prefer to tie in a bow at the back of the head, I have seen some with ties cut out of t shirt fabric.

I hemmed and pressed sides of rectangle and elastic went through a casing at both sides.

I wonder if the person who wrote this really had a go at it.

I haven't attempted one yet, vegansrock but that looks a lot easier than the Olsen duck mask.
The first one of those took me all afternoon to work out and make.

i hate this mask business and chose to hardly go shopping now; the sooner these restrictions are lifted the better.

Having re-acquainted myself with my sewing machine, I'm now quite enjoying myself making masks. I've cut up a pair of lightweight denim crops and have made myself one. I think the teenagers in the family might appreciate denim but if they don't, I will wear them myself. DS has a Metropolitan Police mask and has tie-died it so that nobody recognises him as a cop - he is plain clothes.

witzend I was fortunate getting a lot of tana lawn donated by a designer neighbour who heard I was sewing for charity. Its beautiful to work with and light to wear.

I bought Etsy ones. They’re a bit fiddly to get to stay on behind the ears. Mine are quite small, not much space behind. I may have to thread some elastic through the sides, to hold it on at the back of my head.

The English will be waiting with pitchforks Callistemon if you scramble up Offas Dyke in this neck of the woods

I can claim English nationality!

I see no problem with wearing pretty masks. Disposable ones are a complete no-no because of the environmental damage. I think we are going to need them for a long time so why not have some fun with them? As long as they do the job, it does not really matter whether they are "fashionable" or not.

I shall be making the three layered ones in future because that is WHO's recommendation.