DIY Fabric Face Mask With Elastic

Hello hello! I hope everyone is doing relatively well in quarantine. Like I've said before and as I'm sure you've heard countless times already: STAY HOME. If not for yourself then for everyone around you.

As we all know, the outbreak of the coronavirus has resulted in a shortage of face masks. This is where all of my sewing friends come in! Honestly have not used my sewing machine in a couple of months because I just wasn't feeling too motivated to create. However, I was super excited to get back to it when I realized how in handy this skill has come right now. Hospitals need masks and luckily, they are not too hard to make.

If you can in anyway, please consider making and donating masks to your local hospitals. Make sure to first call and find out what types of masks they are taking! This one is just a basic mask that can be used at home or if donated can be used as a cover for medical and surgical masks.

Here is what you'll need:

- 100% cotton fabric

- Two 7" long strips of 1/8" elastic

- Iron and or pins

- Sewing machine

Step 1: Cut out 2 sheets of 9" by 7.5" 100% cotton fabric.

Step 2: Fold in the edges of both fabrics about a quarter inch as shown in the picture to the right. I found that ironing and pinning the fabric down like this helped keep it in place.

Step 3: Put the two pieces of fabric together, the folded edges facing each other. Tuck each piece of 7" elastic between the two layers as shown. Secure with pins.

Step 4: Pin and sew the two layers of fabric together like below.

Step 5: Create the pleats. Watch the video below to see how exactly to make the pleats. You're going to want to make 3.

Step 6: Iron and pin down the pleats in place

Step 7: Sew around the two side edges over the pleats. This is what it should look like in the end!