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<\/a><\/p>\n\u00c2\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n 1 – Cut 9×7.5″ square of two fabrics, one for the front, one for the back. I use 100% cotton quilting fabric for the front, and prefer a t-shirt material\/jersey\/flannel for the back, since it’s softer against my face. Put them right sides together.<\/p>\n 2 – In the seam allowance on the back of the stiffer layer, mark where you want to attach the elastic. I go up a bit from the bottom, and down from the top far enough that it will be just below the fold for the wire pocket.<\/p>\n 3 – cut elastic to desired lengths. This will depend on which elastic you’re using, but 7″ per side works for a medium-size mask with what I’ve been using (loose on me but still functional, the right size for most folks I’ve talked to).<\/p>\n 4 – Sew around the edges, leaving a gap at the bottom for turning, and insert the elastics as you go, with the loop on the inside. I leave a presser-foot-width seam allowance. If using jersey, I find it much easier to sew with the cotton side on top, since the jersey stretches a bit.<\/p>\n I use long needlenose pliers to make it easier to position the elastic where I want it. The elastic is shorter than the distance between the attachment points, so I found it easier to position as I go rather than trying to pin ahead of time.\u00c2\u00a0 If using round elastic, sew over it a few times to ensure it’s secure.<\/p>\n 5 – Clip the corners, then flip right-side-out.\u00c2\u00a0 Push out the corners so they’re crisp.<\/p>\n 6 – Iron the seams (be careful of the elastic if it isn’t heat resistant – I’ve melted several!). Fold the top seam over about 1\/4-1\/3″ onto the back and iron well. Then sew it down as close to the bottom edge as possible to leave a pocket to slide the nose wire into.<\/p>\n 7 – Iron 3 pleats into the mask. I iron in half, then the top in quarters. I iron the bottom at slightly less than a quarter. Then use these as guidelines for pinning. With the pleats, I aim for 3-4″ height.<\/p>\n 8 – Top stitch around the remaining 3 sides, making sure to leave the ends of the top pocket open, and making sure the gap in the bottom seam is fully closed.<\/p>\n 9 – Wash (I use cool water with unscented detergent, then dry in the dryer on medium heat). Then I re-iron the pleats because I don’t like wrinkles.<\/p>\n Crafting, pandemic edition. I’ve been making masks over the past few months, and wanted to put my method up with a few pictures in case it’s helpful for anyone. Here’s what they look like finished. They loop around the ears like medical masks, and have a removable nose wire.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0Thanks to everyone who sent me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.melaniehayn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.melaniehayn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.melaniehayn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.melaniehayn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.melaniehayn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.melaniehayn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":731,"href":"https:\/\/www.melaniehayn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542\/revisions\/731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.melaniehayn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.melaniehayn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.melaniehayn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a>\u00c2\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"