Mask making

I've resisted making masks up to now - it was really unclear for a long time that simple cloth face coverings did anything against such a small virus. Apart perhaps to help to remind you not to keep touching your face - or maybe to encourage you to fiddle with them and hence touch your face even more?

Anyway, it has gradually become clear that, whilst doing little to protect against catching the infection, they probably do help to prevent the wearer from spreading it.  And it has also become increasingly clear that you can be spreading the virus whilst asymptomatic.  W was still not totally convinced, as we are going out so little that it is difficult to see where we could pick up the infection - but I do go shopping.  And we are now starting to contemplate getting out a bit more - we went up to Pensthorpe last week, and would like to get out to other places.  So I decided I really ought to make some masks.

I'm not short of material, and in particular I have some "fat quarters" left over from when I was making Robin his wings.  I started with the pink and green one on the left - I downloaded a pattern from the internet, and sewed that yesterday.  I liked it, because it is open at the sides to allow insertion of a piece of kitchen towel or other paper filter material, which may (or may not) increase the efficacy.  But when we tried it on, it was too small.  So amongst the plethora of patterns on the internet, I found a pattern for a larger mask yesterday evening, and downloaded it. 

I had to adapt the pattern, as this new pattern did not have the open sides, and had sewn in elastic, which I felt was not ideal as it doesn't allow individual adjustment.  So using a mixture of the old and the new, I made a second mask this morning from the same material, and in extras you will see W modelling it.

He wasn't very chuffed with it, as he has no clothes to match it.  So I found some blue material instead, and have now made two more masks.  The three finished masks are on the right, by the iron.  Actually, they are not really quite finished, as the only suitable elastic I could find in my store cupboard is really old - it was bought from Woolworths, probably by my mum - and is "tired" and lacking in that vital property of elasticity.  So I want to replace the elastic - which is simply threaded through the sides and tied - with some elastic cord, which should arrived from a seller on Etsy tomorrow.

They're a bit fiddly to make, and not very exciting - three in one day is more than enough.  But really I think we need about 5 each.  So I will make a few more over the next week or so.  My neighbour was impressed with the one she saw, and I fear I may be getting orders for some more!