We have shared posts about all the different way to make your own face masks this week and we nearly forgot about those of you who can’t sew your own masks, knit your own masks or crochet your own masks.
These no-sew masks are so easy to make and require little to no skills. Again these masks are only an alternative if you can not buy medical-grade masks
. As different states enforce rules where you have to wear a mask the already short supply is going to be stretched even further.
For these DIY face masks, you can use items you already have at home. Bandana masks are really popular as a bandana is something you may already have in your house. obviously you need to use what you have available. Now is not the time to go to shops just to buy a bandana. A piece of fabric will work too.
Gather these materials:
- Bandana
or handkerchief (ours is folded in half diagonally in the picture) - two hair ties or elastic bands (the mask will be more comfortable if the bands are looser)
Step 1: Fold the bandana in half towards you twice.
Step 2: Take your two bands and put them around the sides of the bandana.
Step 3: Fold the left side in.
Step 4: There should be four “lines” of fabric. Find the middle.
Step 5: Tuck the right side into the middle of the left side.
Step 6: Pull the bands tight and lift the mask to your face. (The side that you folded on should be the side touching your face) Hook the bands around your ears and you’re done!
These two tutorials both use bandanas. This one has photos to follow and this one is the same design but a little thicker which I like. You could also slip in carbon filters
for extra protection too. If you do not have a bandana then a scrap of fabric or old shirt would work well too. It is recommended fleece and flannel work well as well as cotton as the weaves are tighter than most fabrics.
Here is a mask pattern made from a scarf and some hair bands. This one all you need is some stretch fabric and scissors to create the Ear holes.
This mask is made using the arm of a stretch fabric t-shirt. Slip it over the head “Survivor buff
” style.
Wondering about buying a handmade mask? Is it ethical for people to be selling them? Check this article out.
Looking for medical face guards or shields? We created a list of great tutorials here.
No matter where in the world you are, or what you are doing, stay home and stay safe folks!
Check out this article about all the different options for safe and suitable mask filters. Wondering how to strengthen your mask? Add interfacing.
Looking for Mask Mates headbands with buttons to prevent the elastics pulling on the ears? Check out this Crochet Tutorial.
I have to say I’m a bit wary of the way you call all these face masks “medical masks”. I think there’s a chance people will think them more effective than they are. I’ve been looking into the issue of effectiveness and what it seems to boil down to is that the effectiveness of a fabric (or let alone knit or crocheted) mask that doesn’t include a filter just hasn’t been tested enough to say anything much about it for sure. The consensus seems to be that any face covering will probably be better than none, but that most home made masks can not be trusted as a protection if dealing with actually infected people.
A case in point is this video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnVk12sFRkY ) I found, published by a hospital about making face masks with filters, and what material to use for the filters (spoiler: it’s HEPA vacuum bags). But EVEN THIS video states that these masks should NOT be used in the place of manufactured masks. In theory they should work, but there just isn’t data to show that they are effective enough to truly be used as medical masks, i.e. PPE. The video also speaks a bit about what the effectiveness of a mask is based on, including the tidbit that in theory a plain cotton mask without an added filter ought to be about 50% effective. Again, however, no data.
I appreciate that you want to be helpful and give people hope, but I think you could do that more effectively, if you made more clear the distinction between an actual medical grade mask and a personal mask with some, but not as much protective properties.
BTW: The “have you read” text and picture banners (as well as other content) you have on this page get placed on top of the comment field and the email fields, making it very difficult to write a comment longer than a few words. I realise you don’t get much comments, but it still is a pretty grave issue with the functionality of the site. Mindyou, it’s the only functionality issue I’ve found so good work otherwise!
Hey Miffy – great point. We have removed the medical part from the first sentence which should help. The second paragraph goes into detail about how these should only be used if you can’t get proper medical masks. Thanks also for the note about the comments section. I believe that is on a mobile device and we are looking to fix it. Stay safe!
These are perfect since healthy people should not be buying the N95 masks as the medical professionals so desperately need them. They say these are really more to provide a physical barrier from you touching your face or coughing. It’s definitely better than nothing and I thank you for sharing this since I cannot sew.
Thanks for replying! I don’t mean to nitpick, but this is a serious matter and I think needs a lot of care. I do recommend the hospital video I linked, it’s a great one about masks.
The issue with comments section isn’t just on mobile devices, I’m using a PC and I had to repeatedly disable the intruding elements off the page to be able to comment. I wish I could elaborate more, but sadly my computer skills are limited.
All the best!