Making a face mask

I needed to acquire a face mask by 1st June at the latest, because that's the day I will take my car Fiona to the Volvo dealer for her annual service and MOT - and also to fit new rear brake discs and pads, and two new front tyres. I'll be dropping her off first thing in the morning, and she won't be ready for collection until late in the afternoon. So I'll want to go home for a few hours, then return. And that going home and coming back will entail using the train - they can't give me a loan car. I'll need to wear a mask on the train - not to protect myself from coronavirus (it's a feeble shield against infection) but to offer partial protection to the other passengers should I cough or sneeze. Indeed, I'm pretty sure it will be a condition of travel.

So, with less than two weeks to go, it was time to make one. In fact I would make two if I could. Then I'd have a spare, just in case it was needed.

I'd already got some likely materials together in my study:

And I had taken screenprints of a simple design for home sewing from the BBC News website:

The sewing would have to be done by hand, and I'm no seamstress! But a slightly untidy result wouldn't matter, so long as the mask covered nose and mouth properly, and wouldn't come to pieces, slip or fall off.

I'd heard that the village chemists had packs of manufactured masks in stock for as little as £5. But that was the easy option, for lazy people. I wanted the satisfaction of making my own.

So which bit of fabric would I use? (I had put those red knickers away. Who knows, one day I might want to wear them for fun again!) Well, I had an old pink and white top; a yellow and white pillowcase; a cotton tea towel striped in yellow, blue and white; and some smaller cotton off-cuts in white and blue, left over from making my rag rug in 2016. I commenced with the pillowcase, following the instructions on the laptop screen.

My super-sharp Fiskars scissors made the cutting easy. I made use of the pillowcase edge, to save a bit of sewing. Two folded rectangles later, I had second thoughts. Actually, I'd prefer to use the tea towel!

It had a crease in it, so I got out the ironing board and steam iron...

...then cut out the required rectangles all over again.

Only half an hour had gone by. But now the time-consuming bit had come. Each folded rectangle would form a pouch, into which folded kitchen paper could be inserted as a filter. So hems had to be made, either to create that pouch, or to prevent cut edges fraying with use. The side hems would have elastic looped through them. A lot of rough needlework. It only needed perseverance. 

Finally it was done. My mask was all sewn, and was ready for the elastic. I used a crochet hook to pull each length of elastic through its side-hem.

I couldn't yet know how long the loops of elastic would need to be, in order to fit over my ears. I knotted the ends experimentally, then tried the mask on. Too slack. But I got it right on the second attempt.

Well, it wasn't too awful. My mask certainly looked home-made, and no doubt some nasty, sniffy sneering folk would make snide remarks that it looked like a 'butchered tea towel'. But hey, it did the job; and it didn't make me look like an off-duty nurse, a smog victim, or some kind of hypochondriac. And it was reasonably comfortable to wear. 

I trimmed off the excess elastic, and pulled the knot on each side into its hem, to hide it. 

The parts that faced inwards - which the public wouldn't see - were a bit rough and ready. But the outward side seemed neat enough. The mask simply had to be a practical part of my public attire in a confined space. It had to look effective, but it didn't have to be smart, sexy or high-tech. So I didn't think anyone would actually smirk and chortle when they saw me wearing the thing. However, we'll see. 

Finally I put a folded square of kitchen paper inside the pouch section between the side-hems. My mask was complete. It could now be rolled up and kept in my bag for instant use. Train rides or bank robbery: I was ready for action!

By now about three hours had passed since starting. The second mask was definitely a job for another day. 

In fact, it will have to wait until I can enter a fabric shop and buy some more elastic - I imagine that this will be possible sometime in June. At least I do now have one finished mask to wear into the shop.