Face Mask Pleated Tutorial

😷

 Pleated Face Mask

Made from fun fabrics above and backed with 

muslin or white fabric

It's important for the wearer to know which is the

front and which is the back.

When removing the mask, you want to avoid touching

the front, so knowing this is important!!!

Pleated Face Mask

Materials needed:

2 pieces of cotton fabric measuring 8 1/2" X 7 1/4" (1 novelty fabric for front-white/muslin for back

1 non-woven fusible interfacing (optional) measuring 8 1/4" X 7"

2 pieces of 1/8"-1/4" elastic cut 6 1/2"-7" depending on adult head size.

1 5-6" twist wire/pipe cleaner/plant tie for nose piece (optional)

Scissors, coordinating thread, pins, sewing machine, fabric clips(optional), fabric marking tool,ruler

If using ties instead of elastic you will need 1/2" bias or fabric strips approximately 42" long. And you will cut your fabric pieces a little different. See below for instructions.

Construction: All seams will be 1/4"

1. Fuse interfacing to wrong side of mask front

2. Place fabrics right sides together

3. Start sewing about 1" from center of bottom edge, see photo below. Notice the drawn seam lines-this is just for demonstration. You will be leaving the center bottom open for turning the mask right side out.

Stop with needle in fabric about 1 1/2" from the corner.
Place elastic on the diagonal in the corner, sandiched between the top and bottom fabric as below and hold with your finger.

Sew to the corner, 1/4" from edge, back stitch two stitches and then back to the 1/4" seam. Make sure you are stitching through the elastic. The back stitching helps to secure the elastic in place.

With needle in, lift up presser foot, pivot, and begin sewing to next corner.

Again you will stop about 1 1/2" from the edge leaving needle in. This time you are going to reach into your fabric and grab the other end of the elastic, make sure it remains flat, and pull it to the corner of the fabric.

Hold the layers down and sew to the 1/4" seam line, back stitch twice and then forward twice ending in the seam line.

With needle in, lift up presser foot, pivot, and sew across long edge stopping 1 1/2" from edge.
Place second piece of elastic on the diagonal in the corner, sandiched between the top and bottom fabric as below and hold with your finger.

Sew to the corner, 1/4" from edge, back stitch two stitches and then back to the 1/4" seam.

With needle in, lift up presser foot, pivot, and begin sewing to next corner Again you will stop about 1 1/2" from the edge leaving needle in. Reach into your fabric and grab the other end of the elastic, making sure it remains flat, and pull it to the corner of the fabric. Your fabric/mask will be a bit bunched up at this point which is normal and to be expected.

Repeat as above, sew to the 1/4" seam line, back stitch, go forward, pivot, and stitch, leaving a 2" opening for turning.

Clip corners and turn mask right side out and press with iron.

Excellent 😀😷😀

Insert nose piece at the top of the mask and secure with clips or clothes pins. This can be tricky, just work it up to the top edge. When you get one end situated, clip it in place and continue down the edge as seen below.

I found doing it from the back was easier because you can see the pipecleaner through the fabric

Once nose piece is in place, carefully top stitch a 1/4" seam across top, edge to edge. This will secure you nose piece in place.

Looking good!!!

Now we are going to mark the pleats for folding!!! This is easy!! Flip the mask over and begin marking from the bottom up. The bottom of the mask is where the opening is and the top is where the nose piece is.

I am using a Frixion pen. The markings go away with heat. However, they can reappear permanently. That is one reason why I am marking the pleats on the back. The other reason is, I can see the marks easily and by folding from the back, bottom upward folds, it creates downward folds on the front.
My thinking is upward folds on the front will catch and hold debris, downward folds won't. 👍

As you can see, my markings are 1 1/2", 1", 1/2", 1", 1/2", 1", 1" from the bottom upwards.

Once marked, fold on bottom line back towards from and finger press. Flip back to back and bring fold up to the line above and pin. I pin the sides in the front and pin the center in the back. Why? Because we will be edge stitching the entire mask on the front. See photos below.

Crease/finger press next 1/2" line and bring that fold up to the 1" mark and pin sides and center.

Repeat with the next 1/2" line, finger press and bring fold to the 1" line and pin. You will have about an inch left over at the top.

Once pinned, gently press on both sides. This makes the top-stitching much easier.

Notice that the markings have disappeared!!!

Top stitch close to the edge all the way around the mask, removing the pins as you sew.

Top stitch again starting at the top side, 1/4" from edge. You do not need to top stitch the very top as this has already been done when securing the nose piece.

FINISHED!!!!

 💜NICE💜

Happy Sewing and Thank you!!! Martha

Come back later and I will have the instructions finished for the ties!!!

Face Mask with Filter Pocket Tutorial

Materials Needed

Fabric- 1 piece cut 10" X 15"
Elastic- 2 pieces cut 6 1/4"
Twist wire-1 piece approx. 4-5" long (I am using the twist wires that came with plastic sack)                OR a pipe cleaner cut to fit
Thread
Sewing Machine
Marking Tools-chalk, Frixion Pens, fabric pencil markers, etc.....
Filter material/non-woven

Fold fabric in half right sides together (RST) matching short 10"ends together

Measure and mark 2 1/2 " in on each top edge.

Stitch 1/2" seam from edge to the 2 1/2" markings, back stitch to secure seam, leave the center open.

Press center seam open.

Fold under edge of seam and press, then edge stitch to finish edges being careful not to catch the underneath layer.
If you prefer you can simply serge the edges before sewing, or after. I like this finished edge because it will make the opening more durable as it will be utilized often from changing out the filters.

Place the seam in the center of the tube. To find the exact center, fold tube in half at the newly made seam. Flatten out gently. On the opposite end where the fold it, place a pin on each side to designate the center of the front of the mask. Open up and match the seam to the pins, pin in place as shown.

Measure and mark each corner  at 1 3/4". Draw a diagonal line matching the markings at each corner.

EASY BUTTON

cut a 1 3/4" square out of poster board and cut in half diagonally

Place in corners

mark corners-no measuring-easy 😀👍

Sew each diagonal line, backstitching to secure stitches.

Trim off corners leaving about a 1/4" edge.

Turn right side out and press.

This is the inside of the mask where the filter can be inserted.

If your fabric is directional, be sure to check the front of your mask before placing your twist wire nose piece. Flip your mask over, decide what is the top and once determined, slip in the twist wire in along the top edge of the mask. You can secure it with pins to make sure it doesn't slip out of position before and while sewing.

Top stitch 1/4" from edge on all STITCHED seams.

Lay mask on pressing surface, outside down, pocket up facing you.
You are going to fold the top and bottom sewn edges into the center overlapping slightly and press.
Use the top-stitching around the filter pocket opening as your guide. Press.

The next part is a little tricky. If you aren't sure what or how to do it, please leave a comment and I will try and explain better.

You will be folding the corner of the folded edge down

to the folded edge, creating a 90 degree angle.

Below, notice how it made a 90 degree corner 

Clip or pin in place.

You will notice that as you are folding the corners down and securing that the mask doesn't lay flat, the ends curve up, that is normal.

These folds are what helps the mask contour around the chin and nose.

To finish the ends, turn a 3/8"-1/2" seam towards the 90 degree corner you just created, then turn again covering/catching the fold. Clip or Pin in Place. See photos.

Tuck ends of elastic at both ends and edge stitch all the way around. Go over the ends a couple times to firmly secure the elastic in place.

And you are done!!! 

Well Done!!!

Ideas for the filter fabric: Hepa vacuum bags were tested and shown to be one of the better materials to use as a filter. Not as good as the N95 or surgical mask.

Other ideas for elastic? Hair elastic!!! I have a few black ones and when cut they are about 6 1/4" long!! So they might work. I will be trying them out. 

ALSO

I will be experimenting with ties for this pattern. Elastic is getting hard to find so making ties out of bias or out of coordinating fabric can work too. Just need it long enough to make a bow in the back to make undoing it easier for the wearer.

Once I get a few made with ties, I will update this post showing how I did it. If you have ideas, please share here!!!

And, if you make any masks from this tutorial, email them to me and I will post them on my blog!!!

Happy Sewing!!!

Martha

Disclaimer: These face masks do not replace the N95 or Surgical Masks
I did not design this pattern, it is not for sale. Below is the link to the video showing how to construct this mask. I put this in writing because it is much easier seeing it in print than watching a video. That being said: Here is the link to the video