Since so many places are encouraging people to wear a face mask right now, I thought I’d make my own version of it and share it with you. This is based on the only masks I can really wear here in Japan, where a face mask is significantly more common than it is in the West.

Intermediate ★★☆

I am rating this one as “Intermediate” because if you don’t sew or use an iron regularly, it might be a bit more challenging. However, you can do all of this sewn by hand instead of using a machine, and that makes it actually easier to do! It’s how I’ve made quite a few already!

Tools

• Scissors
• Sewing machine or hand sewing needles
  • This entire pattern is made with just a basic straight stitch on your sewing machine, or use a (half) back-stitch by hand (you can find a tutorial I made on that here)
• Thread
• Iron & ironing board

Materials

• Pattern (see below)
• 1 “fat quarter” of cotton fabric should make you 2 masks.
  • A “fat quarter” is roughly 18″ x 22″ (45cm x 55cm). One yard of standard cotton fabric (36″ x 45″) is 4 fat quarters, hence the name.
• Hair-tie elastic, narrow elastic, or ribbon, roughly 18″ (45cm) per mask
  • Hair-tie elastic is round elastic cording that is very common in some places but not in others.
  • For this pattern, any sort of thin, comfortable elastic will work perfectly. You can even use ribbon or, by looking at my notes in the instructions, hairbands or rubber bands if needs be.

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Instructions

A quick note on how I do tutorials – the images will have the general idea of what to do, with as clear of shots as I could get while making mine. However, after each image, I’ll put optional details, notes on any difficulties I encountered, or other thoughts I have on the topic. If you just want the general directions as one long image, click here.

Pattern

Here is the pattern I’ve developed after a lot of testing and experimenting based off of the masks I wear here in Japan. Please, when you print this, check the scale — that little grey box at the bottom should be nigh exactly ½” x ½” (12.5mm x 12.5mm). The reason for this is that you might be using a different standard paper size, or your printer might shrink/expand images. Just take a moment to double check!

Cut out the pattern along the outer line.

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Step 1: Trace out the pattern with a standard pencil.

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Step 2: Sew the outer edge

Sew along the outer edge, that curve that’ll become the front of the mask.

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Step 3 (optional)

To make the mask a bit more comfortable, press the seam allowance to one side with your iron (this is tricky, don’t burn yourself!) and then top stitch that down with your machine.

↪ Note: I found it easiest to work on the right side of the fabric (the side you’ll see) when ironing the seam to the side (or even open if you’re super ambitious). Do the bottom part of the curve first, then the top part. Just be careful, I burned myself lol

This makes the mask more comfortable, and quite a bit more durable in washing. I stitched it just a little ways in (maybe ¼” or 6mm).

After you have the front stitched down how you want, trim away the extra fabric on the inside, the extra seam allowance, for comfort.

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Step 4: Top and bottom seams

Press the seam allowances at the top and bottom (those ½” (12.5mm) extra), and then top stitch those down in place using the edge of your presser foot as a guide.

↪ If you’re new to sewing: you can use a fabric glue here to just glue the top and bottom seam allowance down, or even a narrow fusible web (stitch witchery) too.

↪ Note: If you want to add an adjustable metal nose piece, now is the time to do that. Before you top stitch the top edge down in place, insert whatever you’re using for a nose bit there, and sew around it to hold it in place.

Be careful not to break your machine needle by accidentally hitting it! I’ve been considering using coated paperclips for the nose bit by just unfolding them in the middle so they make an 8 shape, but I have no idea how well that will work as I haven’t tried it yet.

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Step 5: Start the side straps

Take the rectangles that will make up the side pieces and press the top and bottom (longest edges) down ½” or 12mm. Then, top stitch them down.

↪ If you’re new to sewing: you can use the fabric glue or fusible web here, too, or simply just cut off the extra ½” from the top and the bottom and leave the edges raw. They’ll start to fray quickly, but it’s easy enough to cut off any fly-away’s after wearing them a few times.

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Step 6: Attaching the front of the mask to the side pieces

First, you’ll want to line up the top and bottom edges of the mask to that of the straps. They’ll be laying so that the fabric on the mask is flush on the edge to the strap, and make a 90° angle.

Now since no one is perfectly accurate in sewing 100% of the time (and, indeed, if you were, this should happen!) there mask edge will probably be longer than the strap. Don’t fret! That’s how it should be, but also, if it isn’t there, don’t fret either! It’ll work just as well without it!

So take that extra fabric…

… and fold it into a little pleat (a fold in the fabric, where it doubles back on itself and is sewn in place. Your curtains probably have pleats on them!)

This should be towards the bottom part of the mask, say in the bottom half or so of the mask. It just gives it a bit of wiggle room for when you’re talking so it doesn’t slide around.

Pin it all in place, right sides together and then sew it down.

↪ Note: If you’re hand sewing the mask, I’d recommend you do this part two or three times to really make sure it’s secure, since it’s going to be taking the brunt of the stress of wearing.

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Step 7: Pressing that seam

The seam you just sewed should be pressed towards the strap with your iron.

↪ Note: Just remember, ironing is half of the work of sewing. Yes, it seems tedious. Yes, it sucks. Yes, it’s boring. But it makes your sewing life so much easier, your pieces look better, and is a necessary evil. And if you’re someone who likes pressing, I have to ask: who hurt you?!

And while you’re at your iron, press the end of the strap down ½” or 12mm.

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Step 8: Finishing it off

This was a little hard to photograph, but I hope it makes sense. We’re basically taking that long rectangle for the side strap and folding it in half to make a loop to slide the elastic through.

The reason we pressed the seams flat and the way we did is so that it makes a nice little case for all the raw edges, so you can wash this bugger more than once without it falling apart!

↪ Note: If you want to use regular hair bands or even rubber bands, slide them into the side loops now, before you pin and sew them in place!

So fold the pieces together and pin them in place.

Then, stitch it down!

↪ Note: It’s best to stitch this from the other side than shown here, from the front of the mask, so you can avoid any randomly weird puckers that may happen. You can even get super fancy and do a stitch in the ditch to hide the seam on the outside if you’re really fancy!

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Step 9: Elastic or ties

You can put this mask on your face in one of a few ways.

This method is using elastic cord that you slide through the loop created by the side seams, and tie it up. I used between 8″ and 10″ (20cm to 25cm) per side of the mask, and this worked perfectly for me (with a normal sized head) but was too short for my husband (who has a still normal but much bigger sized head).

Some other ideas on how to attach this to your face:

• Use any other narrower elastic if you can’t get elastic cord
• Use ribbon and tie it up like my images show with elastic
• Use ribbon and have it go around your head, where you can tie it behind your head in place
• Use a shoelace to have it tie around your head in the back
• Scraps of yarn from other projects can be fine for tying it on
• If you have tons of fabric but nothing else, you can even make fabric cording or just tear longer strips of fabric to make ways to tie these up!

I’m sure there are a billion other ways I can’t think of to wear this, so hopefully you can work with what you have and what you can get easily and cheaply!

Cleaning your masks

Here’s where it gets tricky for me – in Japan, no one really has a dryer, or a washing machine that has hot water attached. So, for these masks, I’ve been washing them and hang drying them to dry like all of my normal clothes, and then once every few days, I will boil a small pot of water to at least 150°F (80°C) and let them sit in it for a few minutes. Then, let the water cool a bit and throw them in with the regular wash.

I am unsure that if you have a washing machine that can do hot washings that it will get hot enough, but I think having a dryer that does hot air will definitely help!

Also, if you make these out of solid colored material or the like, you can bleach them as well to help keep them clean. Just remember, bleaching on a patterned cloth may damage the design, and also, if you bleach something often, the fibers can break down and it will especially start eating away at the elastic cord so you may have to replace that.

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Final Thoughts

Since we’re not leaving our homes, try to be creative and use what you have on hand. For these masks, they were just scraps of fabric I had bought over time at the ¥100 (Dollar Store) for the most part. I didn’t have enough of each type of fabric to always make a mask out of the same stuff, so I mixed and matched as I went, and it worked out great.

I made about 8 of these over about 2 hours, but that also included stopping and trying to take good pictures of each step for you (please tell me you can follow them!). Plus, my space isn’t very sewing-friendly at the moment. Man, I miss my sewing room back in the US sometimes…

Anywho!

The way I see it, having worn masks for years now as I’ve lived in Japan, a mask is two-fold for a situation like the world is in right now.

First, when it fits comfortably, it keeps you from touching your face. This is the primary way to get sick with any sort of influenza-type illness. It enters through your eyes and nose easily, and every time you touch something and then touch your face, you’re risking getting sick. We unconsciously touch our face like a bajillion times a day, and wearing a mask makes you a little more aware of it when it happens so you can break the habit.

Second, we know with the current COVID-19 infection that tons and tons of people can either have it but not show symptoms (asymptomatic carriers), or have it but not know yet because they haven’t started showing symptoms but can still transmit it to others (incubation periods). Since this is spread by the little droplets of moisture you emit when you cough, sneeze, or even talk, even a cloth mask will help catch any you are giving off so you don’t get others sick by accident. That means when someone is wearing a mask, they’re doing it to try to protect you, so you should have the courtesy to do the same.

Finally, none of this beats good hygiene. Washing your hands for longer periods of time than you normally would (30 seconds) and actually wash your hands, not just run them under water. Here is a really good example of how to do it – wash your hands like a doctor or nurse!

I hope that this tutorial helps you, and now is as good a time as any to pick up a skill in sewing – either by machine or by hand!

The full tutorial