Author’s edit 5.13.20: I want to give an update about the “controversy”. I have listened to scientists and have also spoken to folks in infection control who have all made themselves clear about masks. They now ALL believe that the public wearing them is the best route to limiting this virus. While they would not want hospitals to be forced to wear cloth, the public wearing masks of any kind keeps as many droplets contained as possible.I wear a mask for you, and you wear one to protect me. Every day we learn more and this is no longer controversial. I want to make that clear. It is a minor inconvenience that we all need to endure because, frankly, it’s all of us versus this virus. And the virus is virulent. (Yes, I know it’s alliterative.) Here’s an article for reference. I’m now convinced this simple change in behavior can save a lot of lives.

I’ve been asked to share my mask pattern with you and it’s so simple, you won’t believe it.

But first, I want to talk a little about cloth masks.

1. Don’t wear a cloth mask for more than 2 hours. Change to a fresh one.
2. If it gets wet for any reason, even from your own breath, you need to change it.
3. Put them directly into a washing machine and wash in hot water with soap or bleach.

That’s the end of my Public Service Announcement. Knowing that, if you are on this blog, you are likely someone who sews, and anyone who sews can make masks out of their stash. I did not have elastic on hand for some of the patterns I’d seen, and then I ran across this video of German women making masks. They are using what appears to be a layer of muslin, another fabric, and then the ties appear to be cotton.

I made my masks out of white fabric so that anyone using them could bleach them. Please pre-wash your fabric before you start to assemble. I’m sure any color would be fine.

I start by cutting 8 inches along WOF (so 8 x 44). Then I make four cuts of 2 inches WOF.

Trim the 8 inch fabric to 8 x 15. You should end up with 2 pieces of 8 x 15 which will make 2 masks. You’ll use 2 ties (2 x 44 each) for each mask.

Fold the 8 inch fabric in half right sides together and sew with a quarter inch seam. Turn it right side out and press with the seam at the bottom.

Start adding pleats that are approximately 1/2 inch deep. Fold it over and press. You do not have to measure, You do not have to be precise. Just keep them basically even, and you’re good. You’re making 3 pleats.

Press all three pleats down nice and secure. Then I run them under a 1/8 inch seam just to hold them in place.

I use an edgestitch foot for this, (my favorite!) and move the needle as far to the left as I can. Remember, you’re making two masks at a time with these instructions, so you’ll make 4 seams, on the short pleated sides only.

Next we’re making the ties. Take a 2 inch strip and press it with both long sides folded into the center. I usually do one side, and then the other.

Then fold down about half an inch from the top and give it a press.

Then you give the tie one more fold in the middle and press it really well. I usually use steam at this point. Next find the center of the tie…remember, it is approximately 44 inches long, so somewhere around 22 inches. This does not have to be precise. Just fold it in half and find the center. Put the center in the middle of the short side of one of your masks and wrap the tie around it. (See pic.) I use 3 clips for each side–like a binding.

Start at the very end of the tie, and sew across the top of the tie and then down along the side. Again, I use an edgestitch foot. This time with the needle moved all the way to the right. This secures the tie and attaches it to the mask. Do this on both sides and you’re done.

Again, the pieces we just cut will make 2 masks. If you’re like me, you have tons of yardage lying around that was meant for a quilt a long time ago, or that was on sale. I heated up some water for tea and Iiterally had a mask completed and my tea was still warm enough to drink.

Please keep in mind the precautions I set forth in the beginning. We are all truly in uncharted territory.

I am *almost* a senior…not quite. But you might be.

Here’s a good breakdown of hours for grocery stores.

The best advice we can all take right now is this:

1. Stay home.
2. Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands. If you don’t remember the last time you did it, wash your hands.
3. Social distance. This is not a joke. Assume everyone is spreading the virus and stay away from them.
4. Clean commonly used surfaces regularly with disinfectant wipes or bleach water.
5. Don’t touch your face. Just don’t. (This is hard.)

As of this writing, we’re looking at another month or more of this isolating behavior. This is our new norm and we need to recognize that we are not alone. The entire world is battling this and it is our job to give the scientists, epidemiologists, doctors and nurses time and money and supplies to help us, and find a vaccine or cure. If my biggest hardship is staying at home and sewing, I am truly lucky.

I am also sending food via local restaurants to hospitals for the workers. This has the double effect of sending business to local restaurants and giving a gift to those on the frontlines.

I have no words of wisdom here. But with all my heart I am praying that you and your loved ones, and me and mine, will all be well.

How’s everybody holding up?

Everyone I speak to is frightened, anxious and agitated about the future. We have no road map for this pandemic. But I think this much is clear.

We are permanently changed–physically, psychologically, financially, mentally.

Perhaps the way we were “doing” everything before was not ideal.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how I am changing my daily life. First of all, I stay close to home. I don’t run around unnecessarily, I don’t shop at 5 different grocery stores to get a little bit of everything for each person in my household.

Second, I’m not spending any money now on things that are throw-away. I’m not purchasing that cute top that I know will only last a season. I’m not buying earrings that go in and out of fashion like the wind. I’m using the fabric that I already own to make things other people need, instead of catering to my own whim and fancy.

Third, we are wasting less. Do we really need to use that many paper towels? Do we know when we will be able to get more? What about that food? Time to make something with what’s currently in the pantry or the fridge because going out for something else is not much of an option. We are eating home-cooking more.

Fourth, I am caring deeply, anxiously, and actively about others. My mind is constantly on healthcare workers, grocery clerks, truck drivers, mail delivery people, folks who keep the lights on and the water flowing and even the Internet bubbling and Netflix churning.

Of course, I am worried about all those who now have no income. Can they move their business online? Can the local plant shop or chocolate shop or quilt shop be nimble enough to move online and are we all willing to purchase online to keep our friends and neighbors employed?

What about restaurants? I don’t have the answer here, but I certainly think we should be able to order takeout. Have the days of crowded, chattering, noisy restaurants passed us by? Maybe not for everyone, but for those of us getting up in years or with health problems or compromised immune systems, the answer is yes.

What will the future look like? I think that’s the question that torments me the most. It almost certainly will not look like the past. As I said, we are permanently changed. And if we are not, then we will learn lessons the hardest way possible.

How about this paper device created by Chinese company Meituan? You can order takeout to eat at your desk, but every meal comes with this paper shield that protects your food from any droplets that might be shed by a passing stranger. I don’t know how I feel about that, but at least it’s the way China is starting to think and create, as they begin to reopen their economy VERY slowly.

The doctors are thinking that even after this first wave, the virus will head to the Southern hemisphere and then be back for round two next fall. That may or may not give us enough of a reprieve to prepare with equipment, masks, gowns gloves, respirators etc.

But for now, I am still creating masks for local nursing homes, assisted living centers and anyone who wants them at the moment. For the first time in my life, I ordered groceries for delivery. My area of the country has been identified as a growing hotspot for the virus. I have a husband who still must go in to work three days a week.

May we learn how to live a little better together on this planet. May we learn to care for one another. May we learn how absolutely interdependent we are on one another.

And may we all be well.