Part 2: Finishing up the Masks

 To continue the mask making progress . . .

The 1st part of mask making steps are available

in the previous blog post.

After you sew the side seams together and press you fold

those side seams to the middle.  What this does is allow space

for the nose.  It is recommended [and I agree] that you

sew the open top edge [and bottom edge]closed.  

What this does is hold the edges in place making 

it easier when sew on the straps.

 It's time to go into 'strap production time' so here we go.

Each strip is 2" wide by the width of the fabric [42"].

 Sew the short ends together to make one very long

strip.  This sounds crazy but ....

 After those short ends are sewn you need to snip the little

stitch that holds them together.  When you do this you get 

that mess of fabric below.

 What a mess ... but wait ... it works!

 I nearly gave this bias tape maker away ... and that

would have been a big mistake!  So you could see how

this works I've removed the presser box that sits on

the silver metal plate [which gets very hot].  Beyond the plate

is a roller which continually pushes the fabric out.

 Here it is ... all pressed and ready for the next step.

 With the folds from the bias maker I still need to take

these over to the ironing board and press the strip in half.

 But before ironing ... I need to separate them back

into individual strips. 

Here they are ... pressed and ready to be added to the mask.

 Now it's time to pin on the upper and lower straps.  

I sew the bottom strap on first [it's pretty straight forward].

The upper strap is a little tricker because you need to add

a 3" piece of wire.  What this does is make the mask

fit snuggly around the nose keeping those nasty germs out.

 So far I haven't put the sewing machine needle 

through my finger but there's still time!

 The upper strap is next.

You can see the little piece of wire I have placed dead center

on the mask.  It needs to be held in place and pinned on

both sides of the wire so while you're sewing you won't

push it off center.

 It's not a good idea to hit the wire with the sewing needle.

 The center nose wire is now secure with two side seams.

 Let's make the 3 side pleats.

Each side of the mask gets 3 pleats.  

While they don't need to be perfectly set, I try.

 A simple 1/4" seam holds the pleats in place.  I start the

seam on the strap making the straps more stable.

 I haven't counted all the masks.

 These will be mailed next week.  I want to re-check

all the seams, cut any long threads off, then fold 

and place each one in a zip-lock bag.

I'm taking this extra step because it seems like the

best way to keep a bunch of hands from going through

the masks looking for just the right one.

 Derby has a bed under my sewing table.  This is the

table that is shown above with all the masks.

While these are work I find it's enjoyable work.

I really don't mind making these for workers that

really truly need them.  Stay tuned for the 

final total of masks made!