Last of 2020

 

Here are the very last fabric buys of 2020 for me. First, from Spoonflower, a yard of the Calamityware design, Things Could Be Worse. I will either make napkins or placemats to go with our plates. And two of the matchstick quilting panels in case I jump off the waitlist in to the class with Cassandra Beaver. She has instructions on her blog, so if I don't get into the class I can try it out myself with these panels. I noticed that Spoonflower had masks and mask making kits for sale as well, but I didn't buy any.

From Sewtopia, I bought the RubyStar mask panel, a lot of those designs are really cute, and I'm definitely keeping the octopus one for myself. I got the Ruby Star Rising Alma Field Rising in Persimmon for the center of my Lone Round Robin quilt for SBAMQG. If I get it done in time it will be in the PVQA exhibit. And one more Ruby Star, the cool stripe on the left. I loved the mint chocolate truffle they included in the package, yum.

From SFBayQuilts, I got a Marcia Derse panel and the Kona solid Grellow for the SBAMQG Block of the Every Other Month. Such a perfect name for that color, Grellow. They threw in a freebie which is that cute Paris print.

And for local pickup, from Hart's Fabric I got three solids for SBAMQG Block of the Every Other Month, and a pack of bobbins. Memo to me, the back door of Hart's is inaccessible because of having to limit how many people at a time come in the store, so don't park there unless you want to walk around the whole building. And Hart's has a fabric they're recommending for mask making, it's a very finely woven cotton, smooth and soft, the one on the right, this one is a brick red. 

I'm still waiting on a package from Fabric Bubb that has the last of the Kona solids I need for the BOTEOM, so this isn't strictly *the last of 2020* after all. 

Cord Stopper Bonanza

 

I've been getting tired of tying and untying the straps on my favorite go-to mask. So I ordered some cord-stoppers. It really works well as long as I take care not to get my hair taken up in the thing. You can get a good fit on the mask and they don't slip.

I didn't check the quantity. And when the bag arrived I had a good laugh. Anyone needs some cord-stoppers? Let me know and I'll send you some.

And then of course I had to sort them out by color. I couldn't resist. Is that an OCD thing? I have no idea, but it was rather relaxing to do.

I think this might be one of my favorite inadvertent cellphone pictures I've ever taken by accident. 

Red Sun=Stay Inside

 

The sky was weird with all the smoke from the zillions of fires around our state. We're happy to find out today that"our fire" is 83% contained. Good thing, because the firefighters need to move on and save some of the Sierras and elsewhere. Dire. This morning it was so dark when I woke up, I thought I'd woken up too early (which almost never happens) but it was just the smoke layer added to the fog layer. And I was cold, finally cold, because the weather changed. ahhhhh what a relief. So staying inside is a big part of the plan for the next few days. A new wives' saying: If the Sun Is Red Stay Inside.

We did finally get some of our packages from the Post Office, which was nice. The mail was redirected to Scotts Valley at first, but then they evacuated, so then it was sent all the way down to Watsonville. But they weren't giving out packages and there were long lines, so I didn't bother driving all that way from where we were evacuated. 

So...it was nice to have something nice to open. These were things I'd ordered In The Before Times. I'd used up my Shapeflex on the Cotton Candy Pouches so I'd ordered more. I wanted to make some more masks and I wanted to get the right size bias tape maker for the ties. That was my least favorite step in making all the masks I've done, ironing the fabric strips.

I also ordered some soft flat cotton twill tape to use for ties and some very soft satiny elastic for around the head or ears types. Trims on Wheels has good deals. They even have some fabric for good prices.

Now that it's cool enough for me to use my iron, I'm getting some sewing done today.

Convex Mask

 

Documenting a new mask pattern attempt.

 DS Alex asked me to make him another mask since he's been wearing his 8 hours a day at work and washing it every night. He had a couple other ones that have elastic, but he found that it really hurts his ears after all those hours. Since he didn't want elastic I used a very soft cording. He's wearing it today, so we'll see if that's comfortable enough for him. If it isn't, then I'll swap it out for the fabric ties. I might use the strips of old t-shirt idea, because that would definitely be soft enough. But would stretchy knit cotton strips really get tight and secure enough?

I used one batik and one cotton fabric to make him the mask. The other masks I made were two layers of batik. Maybe it will be a bit more breathable? Also, this pattern has no pocket for an added filter. We haven't been utilizing that pocket in the masks I made previously so that seemed okay. There's a new study done by Duke University about the efficacy of different face coverings. I'm glad they're continuing to study this stuff!

The new pattern I tried was from Jen Carlton Bailly. It's made using her convex templates that she uses for quilts. She has very generously provided a free printout of the template if you don't own her plastic ones already. There's also a great instruction video which was very clear and easy. I thought it was a pretty cool idea and it went together very quickly as it's not as fiddly as the other pattern I had used. 

When I made this one up, it fit me quite well and felt pretty secure even with just one tie. But I have a very prominent chin so it didn't fit Alex as well. Different shape and size faces really impact the fit of masks of course, just like any other article of clothing. We decided we're going to modify the idea with an additional tie which should help adjust the fit.

A Whole Raft of Masks

My family put in their orders for masks, and I dug through my batik stash to find the ones that would work the best. Two pieces of fabric, one inside, one outside, with a big contrast so you can easily tell which is which.

 Here they are before adding the ties to the masks.

 Ack, so that was a whole lot of fiddly sewing. The instructions are clear, but there are a lot of steps. But these turn out really well, very sturdy. But hey, I'm done and these are all in the wash right now and ready to send out tomorrow. (in a lingerie bag so the ties don't get snarled up)

Hope your mask-making is going well!

Another Day Another Mask

Another try at this mask making thing. 

Thanks to friend Sonja for her advice on trying out this pattern which was designed by a nurse for other nurses. It's mostly a video tutorial along with lots of helpful notes. The pattern itself is very well done with useful and clear markings. 

This one fits much better and the integrated ties really made the mask fit well.  I used the same aluminum pieces as the masks from yesterday. 

By the way, I got the real story on where exactly my DH sourced his aluminum for the nose bridges. It is not 1/4" aluminum flashing, it is a 1/4" strip that my DH cut off of a roll of normal sized roof flashing which is 12" wide. Nice to know where my supplies are really coming from.

My DH really likes this one the best and has claimed it as his own, so I'm off to make a few more of these babies. Nieces have asked for black & white or blue/green, BIL wants pink, and my SIL said anything is fine as long as it has elastic loops because she has a broken shoulder and can't tie the straps behind her head herself.

Things we really like about this mask:

1. The pleating which will accommodate all sorts of face shapes and feels roomy when you're wearing it. (It can actually be worn over an N95 mask.)
2. The clever nose dart that helps the nose-bridge piece work so well to hold the mask to your face and come closer to making an actual seal.
3. The under-chin folds which help shape the mask around the jaw.
4. A pocket for an added filter if you want.
5. The ties are really sturdy and make the mask fit very well.

It's a little fussier of a pattern compared to the one from yesterday's post, but I think it's overall a better mask. This is the one  I'll be making from here on out.

Masks On

I've been sitting out all the face mask making drives so far. There was so much confusing information and so many medical professionals pooh-poohing home-sewn masks as being at all helpful. There are a lot of different types of patterns out there, and so many requests for one or another for different applications. Before I put in the time and effort, I wanted to make sure that the masks I made would actually be used.

From what I've gathered, having something on the bridge of the nose that will conform to the shape is most helpful. And elastic loops over the ears are easy to make but wear out quickly when the masks get frequently washed, so cloth ties are better as well as being more adjustable.

So now that the guidelines have been changed to recommend everyone wear a mask when going out, I'm going to practice and make some for our own use. My sister-in-law has asked for some. I think I'll also make some for my mom and dad as well.

According to the latest information, two layers of quilter's cotton, especially those very tightly woven batiks works the best to filter particles as small as the virus.

After our experience living in China, we got used to seeing a lot of people regularly wearing masks. Their society's experience with SARS and MERS made it essential for it to become the every day custom. So now when we go out here for our once weekly trip to the grocery store, it is good thing to finally see some people wearing masks.

* Wearing a mask tells other people that you are taking this whole Covid-19 thing seriously.

* You are wearing one not to keep yourself healthy but instead to keep others healthy.

* It also might help protect you, but it isn't a guarantee. At the very least it will help you remember not to touch your face.

Remember the whole thing with this particular virus is that if you have caught it, you may have no symptoms at all for up to two weeks! But during those two weeks, every time you are out and about, any cough, laugh or even talking can result in teeny droplets of saliva in which the virus is riding along going out into other people's noses, mouths or eyes. Then they have it, and you have no idea at all that you've been spreading it to others.

So wear a mask if you have to go out, keep other people safe from you, just in case.

Of course the key is to still stay home, ie, don't go out more often now, just because you have a mask.
There are no guarantees with this thing, it's an invisible enemy that we're all up against, and the more our fellow humans stay home or stay away away from each other, the faster we can go back to "normal".

Okay, so onto the mask making!

My super helpful husband made me the metal bits for the bridge of the nose shaper out of 1/4" aluminum flashing that we happened to have around  (?!?!? don't ask me I just live here).
We discussed how to not have the ends be sharp which would cut through fabric, thread or people's faces. At first we were going to go with duct tape, but I thought it might get messed up when getting washed over and over. He figured out how to round off the edges with some cutting and sanding. These feel just like the store-bought surgical mask nose bridges when they're sewn in, very flexible but still sturdy. Really makes the mask fit well.

Here's the first mask I tried making. Very easy directions and the pattern is well done. If you want a video tutorial, this is the one that goes with this pattern.

I thought it worked out pretty well, the curve in the center works well for the three nose/chin combinations in our household. I found that the elastic over the ears was irritating to my skin, but that might be just me and my sensitive skin.  I also think the length the pattern suggested for the elastic wasn't quite long enough.

So I tried making another one, this time with ties instead, and it was much more comfortable for me. Not as easy to put on, but not that much harder if you can tie a bow.

I liked the adjustable-ness of the ties instead of the fixed length elastic.

Also, this pattern has a bonus in that there is an opening to slip a filter inside, like a piece of vacuum cleaner bag, or a coffee filter for extra protection.

Tomorrow, I'm going to try out another pattern that is is a pleated rectangle instead of a curved center seam.