Friday, April 24, 2020

More mask making and a lot of ironing

After being a part of the sewing volunteers in my Woman's Club to make masks to cover the N95 masks, it was decided that we had made enough. Not sure of the number, but it was a lot.

So since CT has decreed that everyone out in a public space (like a grocery store, drug store, etc.) must wear a mask. And since we have many members who cannot sew or find masks that this same group of volunteers would make masks as a fundraiser for the club. Since these are not meant to be used in a hospital situation, we are not putting extra pockets in for a filter. We are selling them for $5 apiece. A pretty good deal for a pretty handmade mask. All of our profits go to local charities.

I found this mask on a terrific blog where she showed a lot of pictures and a link to the tutorial. I made one and I was hooked. It was so much easier to make than the previous ones and I liked the way it fit so snugly against the face. I wore mine one early (6 AM) grocery store run with the other old folks and it worked out fine. I never felt the need to adjust it or touch it al all.

So I made 10 the next day. I thought that I would wash them after I made them. Big mistake! Most of the pipe cleaners I had put in the top channel came out and they all had to be pressed again. Extra work.

Just a few before the cording went it. Ribbon also works fine, as do shoelaces. They sort of look like bra halves.


I thought it best to wash all my fabric first. I went to my stash of batiks and pulled out any that I thought were suitable and tossed them in the machine. It was a big stack, but I laughed out loud when I pulled them out of the dryer and saw this mountain of fabric.

Off to the ironing board where they were separated into categories, not always an easy task since batiks so often have many colors in one fabric. This is what I came up with. Enough fabric for a LOT of masks, but it is all nice and organized for other projects.



Light multi


Browns and burgundies



Olives and multi


Dark Multi. I may have to have one of these.



Neutrals, sort of


Navy, bright and subtle. Does the second from the bottom look too much like Corona?


Warm colors



Cool colors

BTW I am finding that some of my photos are not showing up in my blogs. Instead you see a big white square with a gray circle in the center. Does anyone else have this problem and do you know how to fix it? I did see it on another blog.

I am linking up with Off the Wall Friday. Do stop by and leave some comments. We all like to know if anyone is viewing.

6 comments:

Shannon said...

I see all the pictures in this post! I also like Off the wall Friday though I haven't linked up lately (you are in my regular feed reader). Thanks for sharing the link to the alternative mask pattern, I'm tired of making the pleated ones and will look forward to trying a new type!

Kathleen Loomis said...

Norma, how long does it take you to make a mask? Counting the washing and ironing.

It takes me between 30 and 45 minutes. If I sold them for five bucks that would be less than minimum wage. Plus the cost of fabric!!

Don't sell yourself that cheap, girl!!! If you want to make masks and give them aeay, that's fine, but if you're putting a price tag on them, at least put a reasonable price!!!!

Gwyned Trefethen said...

That's some stash you have turned over to your mask making. The recipients/purchasers of your masks are going to be asked where they got them. Everyone is a stunner.

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

Yes I have that photo problem too. It goes all the way back into the end of March. Someone told me Google was working on the problem but none of my photos have reappeared. I have so many missing that it will take me several hours to go back and remove those white/gray images and put my photos back in.

Jan Jab said...

Norma, The material is beautiful. Thank you so much for all your hard work and supporting WCDNF Charities.

Vivien Zepf said...

These are all lovely! Value them and your time well!