With new data coming from the CDC on the right protocol to wear a mask, it is looking like the best step forward is to wear a cloth facemask anytime you leave your home. This is good news that more research is coming out to help with the outbreak. The bad news is that masks are incredibly hard to come by now! Thankfully, you can make your mask at home following this tutorial and the video guide from the video at the bottom.

Easy, step-by-step guide on making your cloth mask.

Let’s get to it!

Prep

Materials needed:

• 6×9 inch piece of fabric (Fabric #1)
• 7×9 inch piece of fabric (Fabric #2)
• 5-inch pieces of elastic, 1/4 inch wide work well
• needle
• thread
• scissors
• ruler
• sewing pins

Directions

Step 1

Cut fabric #2 lengthwise through the center, giving you two 7×4.5 inch sections of cloth.

Step 2

On the lengthwise edge of fabric #2, fold it over 0.5 cm. Thread a needle and hand sew with a stitch running all the way to the other edge. Tie off some knots when you begin the stitch! Only do this on one side of the cloth as the other should be left alone for now. Repeat on the other identical piece of fabric.

Step 3

Place fabric #1 on the table. Lay a piece of your elastic on top of the cloth, placing one end of the elastic on a corner and the other towards the middle of the fabric.

Step 4

Place a strip of fabric #2 on top of fabric #1 with the sewn side on the bottom and facing up.

Step 5

Pinching the top right corner along with the elastic, poke the needle through both pieces of fabric and elastic, securing the three items into place. Repeat 2-3 times to really secure the elastic and corners together.

Step 6

Tie off the knot and sew another stitch along the other long edge, leaving a bit of room to attach the piece of elastic (shown in the following step).

Don’t tie off your knot yet!

Step 7

Place the second piece of elastic on the top left corner, sandwiched between fabric #1 and #2 like the other side.

Sew the elastic into the fabric and tie off your knot.

Step 8

Sew the pieces together on the short edge on both sides. (see pictures for details).

Only sew the two short edges, leaving the last free long edge alone.

It will look like this!

Step 9

Flip the main piece of fabric upside down.

Place the last strip of fabric #2 and place it on top of the main fabric.

Step 10

Sew the short edges to the main piece of fabric. Like before, leave a bit of room to let you secure the elastic later.

Repeat the process on both sides.

Step 11

Sew together the long edge at the top like before.

Step 12

Using your fingers, flip the mask inside out.

It is almost complete at this point!

Step 13

Fold the top about 1.2cm and use a pin to secure it.

Fold again, about 1cm.

And again, another 1cm.

It will look like an accordion.

Step 14

With the folds pinned, sew the short edge on both sides, securing the folds.

Enjoy!

You just made a homemade cloth mask! You can use these when you need to go out or as a safety gift to friends and family! Just a quick note, however, is that these are not regulation for medical use. Hospitals require N95 masks as the base for their work. I would say that something is better than nothing when at home though!

Check out the video below for a walkthrough of the process!

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: Home Hacks, CDC, I’m Sharla