I made 6 of the craft passion ones with pocket and wire. It took me like 7 hours yesterday and 2 more hours today. I kept having issues with my machine, and I’m pretty slow on it. That and there is just SO MUCH stitching on those. The top stitching is necessary to get it to lay flat, but it’s a lot. My stitches are a little wonky, but they fit, so that’ll do!
Are you finding that they fit? Mine look so small, I worry they won't fit for my friends. I sent one off to my friend who is working at the polls in Wisconsin.
I found the women's one uncomfortable for me with 3/8" seam allowance. I switched to a 1/4" seam allowance and like the fit better.
Is anyone here selling them? I can't find any in my area and while I am pretty much only going to work I'm nervous about spreading COVID on the rare times I am out since I'm an RN in a hospital. Thanks
I'm happy to send you some that I made. I'm not the best sewer but they're double layer of cotton quilting material and have a pocket to insert a filter. I promise I'm not a creeper and have met lots of CEPers in person.
That would be amazing! I’m running out the door right now but I’ll message you when I get to work to figure out details! Thank you so much! <3
I read the instructions for the Craft Passion fitted ones and printed the templates. The instructions seemed straightforward enough to me. Then I read some of the comments here so I watched the Craft Passion video. Yowza! I think I’m going to pass and try the pleated ones. I’m rusty on the sewing machine and the fitted one is more than I have time to really focus on with juggling all the other chaos at home at the moment.
I read the instructions for the Craft Passion fitted ones and printed the templates. The instructions seemed straightforward enough to me. Then I read some of the comments here so I watched the Craft Passion video. Yowza! I think I’m going to pass and try the pleated ones. I’m rusty on the sewing machine and the fitted one is more than I have time to really focus on with juggling all the other chaos at home at the moment.
I didn't watch the video, but it took me less than an hour to make one. Maybe I skipped steps but mine turned out fine. Don't overcomplicate it!
I read the instructions for the Craft Passion fitted ones and printed the templates. The instructions seemed straightforward enough to me. Then I read some of the comments here so I watched the Craft Passion video. Yowza! I think I’m going to pass and try the pleated ones. I’m rusty on the sewing machine and the fitted one is more than I have time to really focus on with juggling all the other chaos at home at the moment.
I didn't watch the video, but it took me less than an hour to make one. Maybe I skipped steps but mine turned out fine. Don't overcomplicate it!
And after you get through the first one it goes much faster. And even more so if you can make several at a time - so trace/cut for 4 masks, do step 1 on all of them, etc.
I didn't watch the video, but it took me less than an hour to make one. Maybe I skipped steps but mine turned out fine. Don't overcomplicate it!
And after you get through the first one it goes much faster. And even more so if you can make several at a time - so trace/cut for 4 masks, do step 1 on all of them, etc.
Yes, this is true. The first night I made 4 masks in 3 hours, making them one at a time. The second night, I made 9 masks in 3 hours. I cut them all, then sewed one step, then ironed them all, then sewed the next step, etc. Much faster. Plus I watched the late show while doing it so win win.
I read the instructions for the Craft Passion fitted ones and printed the templates. The instructions seemed straightforward enough to me. Then I read some of the comments here so I watched the Craft Passion video. Yowza! I think I’m going to pass and try the pleated ones. I’m rusty on the sewing machine and the fitted one is more than I have time to really focus on with juggling all the other chaos at home at the moment.
I didn't watch the video, but it took me less than an hour to make one. Maybe I skipped steps but mine turned out fine. Don't overcomplicate it!
This going to depend entirely on your setup, your fabric, and your skills. I'm not skilled, I had to watch other videos to properly figure out about bias fabric, I had to cut up a sheet while sitting on the floor (I don't have a cutting mat or rotary cutter), I kept screwing up where I had my threads and pulling them out of the needle, so I'd have to stop and rethread my sewing machine.
In the end it probably took me 3 hours to make one of the fitted Craft Passion masks. Now that I've done it once it would probably take me less than an hour, but the first time was an ordeal.
YouTube served me up this video after I'd watched the CraftPassion video several times, along several mask videos, and some other general sewing (not mask) videos.
It's has a filter pocket and a nose wire, but no pleats, and it's not fitted. It's 3 pieces of rectangular fabric, and came together in less than an hour for me (and most of that time was actually messing with getting my fabric squared because I'm still working with a bedsheet).
I used paracord for the ties, because my other available rope is much larger than what she used, so I could have made the channels smaller (and that would have been better). My sewing machine also isn't very beefy, so it had some issues getting stuck with how think it was in parts when sewing the channel.
I know this thread isn't about efficacy, but if you are making cotton masks to give to health care workers, you might want to rethink that. My husband just sent me this study.
"Both surgical masks and cotton masks seem to be ineffective in preventing the dissemination of SARS–CoV-2 from the coughs of patients with COVID-19 to the environment and external mask surface."
I know this thread isn't about efficacy, but if you are making cotton masks to give to health care workers, you might want to rethink that. My husband just sent me this study.
"Both surgical masks and cotton masks seem to be ineffective in preventing the dissemination of SARS–CoV-2 from the coughs of patients with COVID-19 to the environment and external mask surface."
I don’t think most people here are making them for healthcare workers other than as potentially mask covers to protect N95 masks underneath. I am making them for friends and family members who could unknowingly be asymptomatic carriers to wear when going to the store or to other unavoidable public locations (doctors appointments). I don’t want any of us to use surgical masks which are better directed to healthcare providers (like we could even lay our hands on them) and this provides some level of protection to us and the general public. Trudeau has also recommended that Canadians should do so so this is my stopgap solution.
I combined the NYT pattern with the See Kate Sew Tutorial for pleated masks with pockets for shop towels. I’m going to try fitted ones next. I’m using t-shirt ties.
If anyone is in MD and needs quilting cotton, I have tons to share.
I've read a similar study that looked at fabric mask use in health care workers and concluded they were pretty bad at protection. The thing is, if you're talking about relying on fabric masks for healthcare workers who are in constant, close proximity to infected people for hours on end, then yes, I think that study is an accurate reading of the protection levels and they're dismal. (I'll have to look more closely at the one sonrisa linked). For the rest of us, who *may* encounter someone infected when we're out? Hopefully out rarely, hopefully briefly, hopefully at a distance of 6 feet or if we're closer, passing by them rapidly? I don't think that study is an apples-to-apples context, and I'm not a scientist or expert in viral transmission, but it makes sense to me that a couple of thin layers of fabric may offer just enough additional protection to be useful (as long as you are then careful about how you remove it, wash your hands, wash it promptly every time you use it, etc.). And of course, if we have it ourselves and don't know it, a fabric masks seems like it can certainly curtail the worst of droplet transmission.
I'm making the ones for my sister the nurse strictly as mask covers for whatever PPE her hospital gives her, and at her request. They are rationing PPE and if she can reduce the level of contamination on her n95 or surgical mask by using a fabric mask cover on top of it, or ideally, by having a stash of them so she can replace the mask cover several times a shift, then that can reduce her overall risk.
I know this thread isn't about efficacy, but if you are making cotton masks to give to health care workers, you might want to rethink that. My husband just sent me this study.
"Both surgical masks and cotton masks seem to be ineffective in preventing the dissemination of SARS–CoV-2 from the coughs of patients with COVID-19 to the environment and external mask surface."
My husband isn’t making these to give to healthcare workers. He is making these for us because the leaders of Pennsylvania issued a recommendation that all residents wear masks whenever we leave our homes.
Edited to add: Here's what Pennsylvania's governor had to say about wearing masks:
“Two days ago, I amplified our social distancing efforts by instituting a statewide stay-at-home order, and today I am asking all Pennsylvanians to wear a mask any time they leave their houses,” Gov. Wolf said. “Masks help prevent people from sharing illnesses. But, they don’t do a great job at keeping people from getting sick; and, they’re not foolproof, so it is critical that our first act is to ask ourselves if we really need to leave our house. If we don’t really, truly need to leave, then we shouldn’t.”
“Staying home is the most effective way to protect yourself and others against COVID-19,” Sec. of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said. “But, if you must go out because you are out of food or medication, then wearing a mask, or even a bandana across your nose and mouth, could be an extra layer of protection.
“You don’t need a surgical mask – we need those for our health care workers and first responders. We have guidance on universal masking on our website, including instructions on how to make your own mask using materials you have at home.”
Dumb question. Someone made masks for us and they are really hot to wear. That’s normal, right? I’m just thinking if I go back to work with a mask then maybe we need to do something besides masks (interacting with the public) like the plexiglass shields. My boss says the post office has a shower curtain up lol. Then for other people at work staggering their shifts of their desks or not doing certain work do they can be away from each other.
Dumb question. Someone made masks for us and they are really hot to wear. That’s normal, right? I’m just thinking if I go back to work with a mask then maybe we need to do something besides masks (interacting with the public) like the plexiglass shields. My boss says the post office has a shower curtain up lol. Then for other people at work staggering their shifts of their desks or not doing certain work do they can be away from each other.
I think it’s normal but I switched to lining my masks with some high thread count cotton sheets for a bed we no longer have (and were only washed a few times, we didn’t have it long) and those are much cooler. Still warm but not unbearable, IMO.