May's multitude of masks

Like so many other people, this month I’ve been sewing masks for myself, friends and family. There’s lots of different advice as to what type of mask and what type of fabric should be used, but the main thing seems to me is to have something comfortable so that you are not continually touching your face and the mask to adjust it. 

I’ve gone for a simple two-layer mask without a filter pocket but with a casing for a removable nose wire. I started using the Craft Passion pattern, but modified it to remove the centre seam and this worked fairly well. I then tried the Dhurata Davies pattern which has a chin tuck for an improved fit, but I found this was too high under my eyes. Currently I am using a combination of the two – the top of the modified Craft Passion pattern and the bottom of the Dhuarta Davies pattern. My favourite fabric combination is two layers of tana lawn as it has a close weave but is very light and is cool to wear and I have plenty in my stash from the days of the factory shop in Lancaster, though the combination of silk pocket square remnants from Adamley sales lined with lawn comes a close second.

As I am not including a pocket for a filter, I’ve been able to simplify the construction method and reduce the trips to the iron to just one. l start by sewing the nose and chin darts; I don’t press the chin seam open, but I stitch it to one side when making the chin tuck. I then pin the outer and lining together, making sure the darts at the nose and chin seams are “nesting” (as with patchwork seams) to reduce bulk, and add in a folded strip of fabric to make the nose wire casing (~1”x10” in size, cut from the selvedge and the short edges are joined to make a double layer). The raw edges of the casing are aligned with the top of the mask so they are enclosed in the seam allowance and I put the joining seam off-centre so as to reduce bulk.
 

 
Once everything is pinned, I stitch around the edge, leaving a ~2” gap in the lower edge for turning (shown by the stars in the photo below).

 
After turning through the mask, I press the edges and fold in the sides to make the casing for elastic or ties. I then topstitch around the edge which closes the turning gap and forms the casings in one go and finally stitch the lower edge of the nose casing After trying some different types of elastic, I found that cutting “rings” from the legs of a pair of tights to be much more comfortable and easier to get hold of than elastic! I found a very large needle in my sewing tin and this is ideal for threading the “elastic” through the casings. For the nose wire, I am using heavy duty garden wire cut to ~4” and with the ends folded in.

I’m sure the research as to the most effective combination of fabrics will be ongoing and advice may change, but I hope that you might find something useful from what I have found works for me when making the masks.

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