Introduction
Updated on August 14, 2020: I've been making many of these masks using Halyard H600 medical sterilization wrap material for the inner filter layers, and I highly recommend it. This material is easy to work with, gives the mask just the right amount of stiffness, and provides effective filtration of particulates.
In the spring of 2020 I began making surgical-style masks at home, for which there are many online guides, but found them to be frustratingly uncomfortable and seemingly ineffective, as they fail to form even a rudimentary seal around the wearer's nose and mouth. Instead, I decided to try and make a smaller, more comfortable, and potentially more effective homemade mask in the style of certain disposable half-face respirators.
Wikipedia says, "a respirator is a device designed to protect the wearer from inhaling hazardous atmospheres." By attempting to create a proper seal between the user's face and the edges of the mask, inhaled air is forced through the filter material and not through gaps between the mask and the user's face.
This design has gone through several iterations and seems to work well. It uses less material than a homemade surgical-style mask, is more comfortable to wear (in my opinion), is reasonably easy to sew (even for a beginner like me), and it offers arguably better protection by eliminating any large air gaps.
Warning
Please note that this mask has NOT been rated or certified in any way whatsoever. Its effectiveness will depend entirely on the quality of construction, the particular materials used, and how it fits on the person wearing it. This mask should NOT be used by anyone with a beard. This mask may provide better protection than a bandana or a surgical-style mask, but it should NEVER be used EXCEPT when medical-grade equipment is UNAVAILABLE.
Disclaimer
I am not a healthcare professional. This design has not undergone any laboratory or field testing. No warranty is implied or provided. Use at your own risk. Please use common sense, and please be safe out there.
License
The face mask pattern PDF and this step-by-step guide are licensed CC BY-SA. That means you can use or modify these materials for any reason you want, including commercial purposes, as long as you provide attribution, and that any derivative work is released under the same license.
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Start by gathering all the tools you need to make the mask:
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A sewing machine. Pretty much any basic machine will be fine, since we won't be doing anything fancy.
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Thread. Any kind or color is fine, as long as it works with your machine.
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Scissors that are able to cut through several layers of fabric at once.
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A pencil, or anything that can leave a light mark on your fabric.
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Pins. You only need 5 or so. The tomato is optional, but adorable.
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Tape measure. Nice to have, but you can probably get by without one.
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Gather the supplies you need to construct the mask:
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Two 6" x 9" (15 x 23 cm) sheets of non-woven interface material. These give the mask structure and provide additional filtering of particles. Standard melt-blown filter material comes on rolls that are 6.89'' (17.5 cm) wide and sold in lengths of 5-100 meters.
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Two 6" x 9" (15 x 23 cm) sheets of high thread-count cotton fabric. Look for muslin (plain woven cotton fabric) with a thread-count of 200 or higher. Old pillowcases are great.
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Two 12" (30 cm) long pipe cleaners. Four 6" (15 cm) long pipe cleaners will work too.
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Two 12" (30 cm) long pieces of 1/4" (or 6 mm) wide woven elastic band. Slightly thicker elastic band should also be fine. This material is often found on 100-200 yard spools.
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Download the face mask pattern to your computer or device.
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Print the pattern with any printer onto a regular sheet of copy paper.
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Use your scissors to carefully cut out the pattern, following the solid black line.
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Recycle the paper scraps.
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Stack the mask material in the following order, from the bottom up:
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One sheet of interface material.
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One sheet of cotton fabric, with the front side facing up.
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The second sheet of cotton fabric, with the front side facing down.
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The second sheet of interface material.
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The cut pattern, facing up.
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Insert pins through all the layers of the stack. Make sure there are no wrinkles or bunches, and that the pattern does not extend beyond any of the edges.
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Carefully cut around the outside edge of the pattern, through all four layers of material.
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Discard the fabric and interface scraps.
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Remove the pattern from the stack.
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Place the stack on top of the pattern.
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Slide the stack over a tiny amount to the left so you can see the dashed lines along the right edge.
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Mark the locations of the two lines with a pencil on the top layer of interface material.
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Slide the stack over in the opposite direction and do the same thing for the two lines on the left side.
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Remove an existing pin if necessary to make room, and place one of the 12" (30 cm) elastic straps between the two layers of cotton fabric.
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Position the strap so that it runs between one of the upper points that you just marked and the top of the V-shaped cutout.
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Leave about 1/4" (6 mm) of the elastic extending beyond the curved edge.
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Insert a pin through the elastic to hold it in place, as shown.
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Making sure there are no twists in the elastic strap, position the other end similarly on the opposite side of the mask, and pin it in place.
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Repeat this process for the lower strap. Angle each side so that it runs toward the closest shallow bottom point.
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Starting at one corner, sew along the entire length of the curved edge.
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Your stitching line should be about 1/4" (6 mm) away from the edge of the material.
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After you finish (and after all future sewing steps) trim away all excess threads with your scissors.
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Carefully turn the mask inside out. The stiffness of the interface material might make this a little difficult. Go slowly.
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Flatten the mask. Run your fingers along the inside of the seam to push it all the way out, then press the seam down to flatten it.
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Take the two 12" (30 cm) pipe cleaners and fold them each in half.
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Twist the pipe cleaners together to create a single piece.
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Place the prepared nose bridge insert inside the mask, between the two layers of interface material.
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Use several pins to the hold the insert in place against the seam.
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Starting from one corner, sew around the curved part of the mask, leaving a 1/4" (6 mm) gap from the edge, just like you did before.
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Be careful when you get to the nose bridge insert. Make sure that it stays pushed up against the seam. The presser foot will sit at an angle while you sew along the insert.
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Remove pins as you proceed, if necessary.
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Mark a point on the mask that's about 1/4" (6 mm) above the center of the V-shaped cutout.
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Draw two straight lines connecting that point to the two points where the upper strap connects to the mask.
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Draw two more straight lines connecting the two points where the lower strap connects to the mask to points about 1/8" (3 mm) above the shallow angles along the bottom edge of the mask, as pictured.
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Sew along all four of the straight lines that you just drew, extending all the way to the edges of the mask. Be careful to avoid the elastic straps.
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Fold the mask in half, aligning the two bottom corners with each other.
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Carefully sew the center seam, running from the bottom corner to the upper straight line.
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Stop at the point where the upper straight line meets the edge of the mask. See the orange arrow in the photo for reference.
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Using your scissors, trim along the front seam that you just sewed, leaving about 1/8" (3 mm) of material between the sewn line and the edge.
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Diagonally trim a tiny bit of material from the bottom corner of the mask, as marked, being careful not to cut through any of the sewn seams.
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Discard the scraps.
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Open the mask and turn it inside-out. The stiffness of the interface material might make this process a bit crinkly.
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Use your fingers to press the front seam outwards until the stitching is visible and the corners are crisp.
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Fold and flatten the mask in half, with the outside surface facing out.
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The mask is finished. Nice job!
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When wearing a mask like this, it should fit snugly around your nose and mouth.
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Pinch down on the area around your nose and underneath your eyes. When you breathe, air should not escape from underneath the edges of the mask.
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Attached Documents
16 Comments
Thanks again!!
One more question, sorry Daniel! Are you putting your halyard and cotton masks in the oven to sanitize? or washing them?
No problem! I’ve been washing mine normally with the rest of my clothes. They’ve seemed to hold up fine so far.
Good to know! Thanks so much Daniel!
Me again :) Everyone keeps asking me where I got my masks and how I get my glasses to stop fogging up. :) I’ve been pumping them out for family members. I saw somewhere on a reddit thread that you were going to try the pattern with Halyard H600 fabric. Just wondering if you did, and if it worked out well, because I just ordered some of the sterilization fabric.
Barbara