How to Sew a Mask With Old Fabrics

Start by gathering necessary materials, I have provided a list:

A needle

Scissors

Sewing thread (make sure its relatively thin)

Two pieces of 7x4 inches fabric (I used an old T-shirt and just cut out 2 pieces)

Any long elastic band that you can find around your house. This can be anything soft and elastic-y (if you can’t find anything like that, you can honestly cut off the bands of a disposable mask and use those bands).

Cut out two 7x4 inch pieces of fabric, they should be approximately the same size, a few millimeters off won’t matter too much.

Thread your needle.

Grab your sewing thread and cut it at about 5ft in length. Thread the string through the top of the needle and pull the string so the needle is sitting in the middle of it (needle should be sitting at about 2.5ft of the string)

Further clarification in video.

Sewing the fabrics, (recommend following along the video for this portion):

Note: Pictures of sewing correspond to the text above it, unless stated otherwise

i. Start at any corner and poke your needle through, make sure you have knotted your thread as demonstrated in the video and have left a bit of room to reinforce the knot, do not pull your needle all the way through until you reach step 3iii.

ii. With your needle, go through the same side about a pinky’s fingernail’s width away and poke it through.

iii. Once your needle is through, thread it through the knot you tied and pull it all the way through. You can now cut off any excess thread behind the knot, making sure not to cut the knot.

iv. Next, move the needle about a pinky’s fingernail’s width from the nearest thread and poke it through.

Keep repeating steps 4 and 5, sewing along the edge until you reach another corner.

Continue sewing until you have a small gap left (check the next step).

i. Afterwards, poke it through and thread it one last time and you may cut the thread

ii. Next, you want to turn the mask inside out through the little gap you’ve left so the stitching is no longer able to be seen

iii. After you have flipped the mask inside out, thread your needle again, sew (same as step 3-5) the hole close and knot the thread (same as step 8).

Now, you should have a fully sealed mask, just missing the elastic bands. This part is included because the elastic band you're using is likely different for everyone, some are tighter while others are looser.

i. You want to start by measuring out around how long you should be cutting the elastic band. Do this by putting the mask up to your face and putting one end of the band at a top corner of your mask and wrap it around your ear (just like you are wearing the mask) and loop it around to the bottom corner of the mask.

ii. Pinch both ends of the corners with the band while taking it off your ear and cut the band where your finger is holding the attached end.

iii. Once you have one of the bands, match it with the elastic band and cut it so they are both the same length.

Sewing the bands to the mask

i. You want to attach one end of the band to one of the corners of the mask and sew it together using the same sewing method mentioned in step 3-5 (except you're starting at the end of an elastic band instead of a corner.) This should almost be the exact same sewing process, just with an elastic band instead of another piece of fabric and you will be sewing a millimeter or two apart instead of your pinky’s width. You should sew back and forth about five times and the mask should be attached firmly.

ii. Seal the knot with the same method mentioned in step 8.

iii. Repeat steps 10i. and 10ii. for the other end of the elastic band and attach it to the shorter side of the mask.

iv. Lastly, redo this entire step once more for the other elastic band--on the side across from the elastic band you just attached--and you are done!