How to be Fashionable During a Plague

 How to Make a Mask Cover


Or… How to be Fashionable During a Plague


Welcome to a tutorial on how to use basic crafting to extend the life of your personal protective equipment. This lesson is also known as how to be fashionable during the plague.  


Materials needed:

Cotton fabric with matching thread

Scissors

Ruler

Iron

Sewing machine




The first step is finding appropriate fabric. For nurses, this is the perfect time to make use of those old scrub tops that never get worn anymore. Otherwise, any regular cotton fabric is acceptable, cute prints are optional. Quilters are an excellent resource for fabric. Once you have your fabric you need to cut out two rectangles of fabric as shown in the photo below. The cut fabric measures 7 ¾ in x 7 ½ in. When looking at your print the longest measurement should be lengthwise.

Use a fabric marker or a highlighter to mark your pressing lines. This makes it easier to do the pressing. It will be easier to see the lines if you Mark the wrong side of the fabric. Don’t use any pens or markers that will leave permanent marks. Fabric pens are designed to wash out and highlighters wash out easily.

The six pressing lines when measured from either the top or the bottom of the fabric will occur at the 2 in mark, 2 ½ in mark, 3 ½ in mark, 4 in mark, 5 in mark, and 5 ½ in mark.

Using an iron you will press the fabric along the lines to create an accordion-type fold in the fabric. You will need to repeatedly turn the fabric over in order to press all the folds.

After pressing all of the folds you marked, you will need to press the short ends of the mask in toward the center. These will become the sides of the mask. 

After the sides are pressed you will then sew these pressed hems in place. 

You should now have two rectangles of fabric with the short sides hemmed and the long sides unhemmed. Place these two pieces of fabric with the wrong sides together and sew them along the two long unhemmed sides.

Once you have finished sewing both the long sides you will need to turn your mask inside out and press it flat. 

Insert the surgical mask into the cover.

Congratulations, you now have a fabric cover for your surgical mask that is washable and will extend the life of your personal protective equipment. 

Please send me a photo of your finished product as well as any comments or suggestions on the creation process or the instructions. Happy Crafting!

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