Hi! Our county put a plea out to area sewists to make 6000 masks for our first responders, as they were able to source medical grade filters, but not masks, for their use.
They delivered kits with fabric, elastic, and nose wires, to keep the masks within a professional parameter.
So. . . those pleats. . . There are several fantastic hacks out there for creating the pleats very quickly as you are edge stitching the mask, using a seam ripper, or a fork, or some such handy repurposed tool. Completely skip the marking stage for speed-speed-speed!
But when I do that, the pleats are never uniform from side to side, slanting this way and that, and not being evenly spaced. For these masks professionalism is prioritized over super slick speed. Straight and uniform placement is wanted, but I don't want to sit there measuring and marking each of the 165 masks I've been making!
Enter this hack, which I saw shared on Facebook last week, but apparently failed to bookmark. And, of course, I can't find it now. So here's how it's done:
Cut a piece out of a manila folder (or similar paper source) that pretty much matches your mask size.
Mark the spacing of the pleats and fold them into the cardstock, THEN cut the form in half vertically so that you have two identically folded pieces. Mark the bottom.
Sandwich the mask between the two pieces.
Starting at the top, hold the sandwich pieces together and fold the pleat. Pin the sides.
Repeat for the center and bottom pleats. Pin each time, and just keep your hand on the center as you're working to stabilize the process until the pins are all in. (Here you can see that the bottom form failed to follow the final pleat in, but it still worked fine, so I didn't sweat it.)
Take the forms away, and:
Voilà! Ready for edge stitching, and it didn't take long at all to process a stack of 25.
(Those pins at the top show me where the nose piece ends, so I can go around it as I edge stitch instead of killing a needle.)
P.S. The pattern I was asked to use is basically this one: DIY Mask with Nose Wire and Filter Pocket
With the sides done this way, instead: Missouri Star video for mask with elastic
Notes: Flannel isn't ideal, as the moisture in your breath will pool faster in it and make the mask less effective, and pipecleaner fuzz is not happiness at the nose wire. Use twist ties, instead.
Great idea!! Thank you for sharing and explaining. 👍
ReplyDeleteGreat idea for marking the pleats! I have a bundle of straight pieces of precut florist wire. It seems to be thinly coated with a green plastic. I can cut it to size....one piece makes two nose pieces. Do you know if this is good to use? It is easily bendable.
ReplyDeleteHi, Sally, I couldn't find your comment in my email notifications. Hopefully you're see this answer. I am by no means an expert, but I would think this wire is just fine. The problems with pipe cleaners that the county and Red Cross person relayed were that the fuzz pokes through the fabric, theoretically lessening the masks's efficacy, as well as getting uncomfortable poking on the skin over time. I don't see this being a result from using florist wire. :)
DeleteThanks for sharing the pleat hack that you found!
ReplyDeleteNifty!
ReplyDeleteI loved the manilla envelope for the pleats...perfect and fast! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete