ROUND 3: Craftalongs Challenge - Lettuce Help Our Communities CLOSED

Title: Back to School
Masks for: Friend who is a teacher and her kids
Pattern Link: magpie’s easiest mask

With schools getting ready to open this fall, I have been getting requests from teachers and parents for masks.

Here are some kids ones I made…colorful and cheery.

And for teacher and her hubby:

I purchased these metal nose strips online and they have made a huge difference in fit and ease of making…plus, if a person doesn’t like them, they can easily be removed with a few snips!

3 Likes

I really like the nose strips! I have been having trouble with my glasses steaming up, and I’m betting the nose strips would help. Can you share where you got them? You can message me if you don’t want to post it here :slight_smile:

I find that even when I add the pipecleaner to the top that my masks it will still steam up my glasses. I usually have to wear my masks high up and put my glasses over the nose on my masks to keep it from steaming up.

2 Likes

Good to know! I have to be careful- I have to find a mask that isn’t so big that it hits my eyes, but still fits under my glasses. Not a lot of wiggle room!

Love that record fabric!

And nice nose wire! I’m running low on jewelry wire, so I might need to make a purchase soon…

Title: 7/7/20
Masks for: I found some Harry Potter fabric, so 1 for me, some for a friend’s kid, and extras for those who need them. 8 total in this batch
Pattern Link to Share:

3 Likes

Ive been using rubber coated floral/vegetable wire for my masks, got it super cheap at the dollar store too! =D if you melt the ends a tiny bit you dont have to worry about rust from washing the masks too which is nice!

3 Likes

Title: Masks, Masks, Masks
Masks For: Family/Daughters school!

Pattern https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pZLEtwD-yM

I made the pattern out of a few pieces of paper and just mass cut them out with a rotary cutter! Instead of elastic, Ive been using paracord so the ties can be adjustable, and they handle in the wash pretty well. Floral/vegetable wire I put into one of the hem seams for a nose wire and it holds up great too!!

Ive got 16 ready to finish in this picture (they just need the straps and turned outside right!) these will be split amongst family who need em, and the rest put in a box to go to my daughters school. Figured it couldnt hurt to try and batch make as many as I can so the kids can have em when school starts =)

4 Likes

Title: 7/9/20
Masks for: Friends and family. 12 in this batch. My sewing machine and I got into a fight last night. The tension has been all wonky, which I blame on the incessant mask making. So I decided to open up the thing and give it a good cleaning. There was A LOT of dust! Like a whole family of dust bunnies in there! Many screw later, I got it put back together and then it acted like the pedal wasn’t attached, which I most certainly was. I had a minor panic attack and had a pity party. I researched and opened the sucker back up to try out what I had read only to find that I couldn’t find what they were talking about. Frustrated, I closed it back up and tried to sucker again. Boom! It worked. Well, ok then. So, I didn’t get what I wanted done yesterday and had to postpone it until today thanks to the emotion whirlwind the sewing machine put me through.
Pattern Link to Share:

6 Likes

I have been sending them with elastics untied and instructions for fitting.

3 Likes

Title: Back to Work
Masks for: Sister’s Administrative Assistant
Pattern Used: @magpie’s pattern

My sister asked if I would make some masks for her former admin asst. who has to go back to work soon. My sister asked if I could make them from Asian inspired fabrics.

This pattern has been my most successful as far as fit and comfort from the feedback I have been getting. I think I can almost make them in my sleep.

I, too, had to take apart my sewing machine and give her a good cleaning and oiling. I have gone through so many needles and I finally bought two huge spools of white and black thread.


6 Likes

Hey Friends! Since this round is still going strong, I’m going to let it continue until the end of the month. The deadline is now Friday, July 31st. Thank you for all you’re doing to help your friends, family and communities, and for cheering one another on! :heart:

5 Likes

Title: 7/14:20
Masks for: Friends and family! 17 masks in this batch.
Pattern Link to Share:

2 Likes

Omg, yes. Soooo many needles!!

I have not broken a single needle yet, but my sewing machine is BADLY in need of a tune-up! Unfortunately all the sewing machine shops around here have a two-or-more-week wait, where they KEEP your machine that whole time, and I’m not willing to wait that long between mask-making sessions (I’ve been doing them every day; it’s kind of a ritual now that I don’t want to stop until we don’t need the masks anymore!), so I’m gonna keep using it until I can’t. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Title: Floral & Sheet Masks
Masks for: Friends & Family - 8 Masks
Pattern Link to Share: https://www.craftpassion.com/face-mask-sewing-pattern/#face-mask-pattern (Same one Roler used; I did modify it by adding a cotton jersey nose strip across the top to hold a removable nose wire)

While I didn’t get pictures of all the ones I made, in the end there were 8: 2 large all purple ones each for my Dad and Boyfriend and 2 small floral and purple ones each for me and my Mom. In the end, though, I mailed one of the ones for myself to my Great-Aunt in CA, since one of the staff at her retirement home was diagnosed with COVID and she was only using a thin hanky over her face! I think the next batch I make I will use the pattern made by @Magpie, as I agree that this pattern is too flat at the bottom edge and does not cup the chin well enough for long-term wear.

Following the best info I could find about filtration materials, the outside of these is quilting cotton (floral) and a very tightly woven cotton blend bed sheet (purple) with an inner layer of non-woven grocery bag (the reusable kind you get at promo events; washed well!). I also left an opening at the sides for additional filters to be slipped inside.

2 Likes

I’d also like to know exactly where those nose strips can be purchased, please! A PM is fine. I found some like that a while back (contoured and with holes for sewing), but now I cannot locate them. Would definitely help with my next round of mask plans. :slight_smile:

The company is called Advanced Manufacturing Enterprise…they are on FB and came up in my feed. I am getting the straight ones that still can be bent but are a bit smaller o use for kids.

1 Like

YES! That’s exactly the one I was looking for! Thank you so much. :heart: They showed up in my FB feed a couple months ago as well, but at the time I wasn’t going to branch out into other styles/sizes, as I figured I had things covered. Now that mask wearing is mandatory where I am, and punishable by civil fines, I need more masks for myself and family members that are comfortable, close fitting, and can be washed well. Just ordered the 50/50 mix pack of curved and straight.

1 Like

My district (and state) are fairly committed to having kids back in school in the fall- I"ll be wearing a mask and a shield, apparently. There will be plexiglass in some configuration, too. So, I’m definitely going to be making myself a large supply of masks. I might switch them out multiple times a day.

2 Likes