Newest mask favorite is this one. (September 2020) I also made some modifications and include how to make the pocket for the aluminum strip.
Basic styles of face masks:
Close-fitting Mask
AKA, the so-called “Olson Mask“. Patterns above are Craft Passion (animal face, lower) and Crafty Quilter (black and white, above). More links are listed below.
Accordion, or pleated, Mask
You all know what this looks like. Deaconness Hospital has a good tutorial.
The above tutorial, from Eileen Fisher, is also helpful and is for basic sewers.
The Shaped Mask
My newest favorite shaped mask is shown at the top of the post. It’s a variation of Orange Dot Quilt’s mask (shown below), but is a little lighter weight and not so bulky.
Orange Dot Quilt’s free mask (shown above) (or the Washington Post, shown below) I’m using Dora’s picture (without permission) as I got into a major tussle with someone on IG about how the mask didn’t cover (admittedly, it was a lame photo of me). Here you can clearly see how well it covers. If you make this one in batiks or Art Gallery fabrics (very closely woven) along with one layer of interfacing, you’ll have very good coverage.
Tea Rose Home has made a hybrid of a close-fitting mask and a darted mask like Dora’s. I like her construction; she has a downloadable pattern in three sizes.
My friend Rhonda sent me a link to this 3D face mask, kind of a variant of Dora’s. It’s from Bilikis Signatures.
For those who need a “ruler,” Creative Grids has one you can buy that has three sizes. Do an internet search to find it, as it goes in and out of stock quickly.
Face mask from Washington Post. It didn’t get very good reviews from those who had made it. (Link is above.)
I’ve taken to using regular quilting fabric (outside and inside lining) and sewing in a lightweight non-woven interfacing. It’s lighter than I’ll use it more, and still protective. I can also breathe through the quilting cotton more easily than the batik, but I carry both kinds in my purse (they fold up to be small).
I’ve recently used a combined pattern (listed on the first link below) of Crafty Passion and Crafty Quilter: Crafty Quilter for the method and Crafty Passion for the mask. I cut soft corded elastic 9″ to go through the plackets at the sides, then knotted them. If you have glasses, you may want some aluminum strips for a nose bridge. I usually make a placket on the inside for the strip, but other times have just sewn in in between the layers.
Face Mask Sewing for COVID-19, a post published April 4, 2020–has basic pattern info, and links to basic face masks.
The Times We Live In, a post published April 1, 2020 — has info from The Fabric Patch, about zoom conferences.
COVID-19 Face Masks, a post published March 26, 2020–discusses the uptick in sewing face masks, article links about face masks, and the critical link to the DEACONESS data base, for finding people for who you can sew.
Page updated July 18, 2020
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