How To Make Your Own Sanitary Mask : a Quarantine Tutorial

The Covid-19 outbreak has become a sanitary crisis of astronomical proportions: it has definitely made us far more paranoid in terms of hygiene. Suddenly, we're washing our hands every two seconds and we disinfect our Amazon packages with alcohol wipes. Our habits have drastically changed since the spread of such a dangerous disease. Maintaining a lifestyle that will prevent us from being infected has become a top priority within our households.

The French government has installed a national lockdown for almost a month now: during this time, many of us have spent our time trying to rid ourselves of the fear and uncertainty that come with this tumultuous period of time. Some of us have spent this time wisely - working from home when we can, watering our plants, catching up on chores - and some of us have spent our time playing Animal Crossing New Horizons *ahem* *me*

However, some of us have truly exceeded the boundaries of productivity during quarantine season- let's face it, not everyone is really making the most out of this situation. That includes myself. My world politics essay has been calling my name for a month now.

Time spent at home can make room for creative activity that could have been seriously neglected during our periods of normalcy. I believe that creative outlets can be incredibly pertinent to our current situation- hence the creation of this post.

For those who love DIY, you probably have spent much of your time crafting new projects.

The following tutorial is essentially a byproduct of the lockdown and is incredibly useful and relevant to the Coronavirus pandemic made by 19 year-old college student Adélie Aubin.

This girl is pretty much my Warwick ride-or-die. She's gorgeous, she's brilliant and incredibly creative.

Through her sewing skills, she managed to create a tutorial explaining how to create your own re-usable fabric mask to protect yourself from the virus.

Not only is this a fun DIY project to work on, it is also a much more sustainable alternative to sanitary masks, seeing as this one can be washed multiple times whilst a typical medical mask is single-use.

I will link the original video Adélie had created at the end.

Be sure to check her out!

Now let's get to it.

Step One: Using a sheet of paper, create a 20x20cm outline. This will be the model used to cut out your fabric

Step Two: With your fabric of choice, create two identical squares from the previous outline (make sure you have enough fabric to actually do this). Pins can be used to make the cutting process easier

Step Three: Cut out the same 20x20cm model onto a much thicker piece of cloth. This will essentially serve as an extra barrier. Adélie had used this piece of thick fabric from a jacket she was no longer wearing

Step Four: Stack all of the squares you have created on top of one another.

Begin by placing a piece of your fabric so the pattern is facing down.

Continue by placing the cloth over the top neatly so the edges overlap neatly.

Next, place the last piece of fabric on top neatly so the pattern is facing upwards.

Take your time to make sure all the edges overlap correctly. 

Step Five: The following is a sewing technique that Adélie completes using a spare piece of fabric she had.

Using a sewing machine, place the corner of your cloth parallel to the edge of the presser foot and perpendicular to the needle. 

Lower the presser foot and push the pedal. It's imporant to start slowly.

Once you’re about 1cm in, hit the reverse button, sew up for about half a centimeter, and then continue to sew all the way down to the end of your cloth, repeating the reverse technique down there once again. 

Step Six: Complete this process on all the edges of your squares.

Make sure that all three squares are sewn together: the sewing will be made more difficult seeing as the overlapping of fabrics will make them distinctly thicker, and therefore harder to pin together. You may have some excess thread at the ends, you can cut them off if you wish to do so.

Step Seven: To make it easier for the squares to be stuck together, iron them down : this will flatten them enough for them to be mask materiel

Step Eight: Now we're getting into the nitty-gritty.

Find a pencil - preferably a colorful one so your lines will stand out- as well as a ruler.

Fold down the middle of your fabric and mark a line to indicate this.

Step Nine: Open the seams of your fabric so that the two middle lines are horizontal.

Grab your ruler and mark up and down the middle line some smaller lines every 2.5cm.

Complete this on each side so that at least three lines appear above and under your middle line. 

Step Ten: ensure that your middle line is distinct from the other lines

Step Eleven: Starting from the middle line, find the point situated at the second line located upwards.

Grab the fabric on both sides at this second line and pull it down to the middle line by folding it in a way where the fabric is overlapping the rest.

There should be a first downward fold on the first line and a second upwards fold on the second line. The second line should be overlapping the middle line. Do this on both sides in order for the fabric to meet together.

Step Twelve: Iron it down once again so that the folded fabric flattens down.

Stick in some needles over the thicker folds so that it remains neatly in place whilst we sew it on. Ensure that it’s symmetrical. 

Step Thirteen: Using the same sewing technique, sew down the folds on the left and righthand side.

Ensure that you take enough time to grasp the entirety of the fold and fabric correctly.

Once you reach the needles, you can either keep them in place or you can remove them.

Adélie preferred removing them as this it made the fabric smoother.

Step Fourteen: Ensure your sewing is secure in order for there to be little to no risk of it ripping.

Step Fifteen: Grab some elastic bands, it doesn't matter how thick or thin they are, ultimately it is up to you.

Adélie's were relatively thin, which made them a bit difficult to sew on, but she managed to make it work.

Step Sixteen: Measure the first strip around the upper part of your head and bring it down to your cheekbone area.

Mark the end of your strip with a line, and cut it off.

Step Seventeen: Before sewing the elastic band to the fabric's seams, ensure that it is flattened and not twisted.

Sew it in such a way that it is horizontal.

Using the reverse technique as shown previously in Step Five, sew the elastic onto the fabric a couple of times (Adélie did this two or three times).

Sew one end on the upper-left handside of the cloth and then sew down the other end on the upper-right handside. 

Step Eighteen: Repeat the step for for the lower elastic band, ensuring this time the band is placed ABOVE your head and down to your jaw area.

Your bottom elastic is going to be longer than the upper one.

Ensure that completely covers your nose, mouth, cheeks and jaw area.

Because the mask is made out of layered fabrics, it is reusable but it is imperative to wash it after every use. 

And there you have it!

Here is your custom-made reusable mask.

Below I have attached the original tutorial on Youtube Adélie had made.

This post serves as a platform to showcase Gen Z innovation and creativity. Although not politics related, I think we all need a break from the harrowing news we've been following recently and focus on the little things that drive us in these times of turmoil.

Again, a huge thanks to Adélie for even coming up with the idea for this post: you go girl.

I hope you enjoyed this!