An Artist & Her Community

I made all these masks using four cotton Fat Quarters. I cut one piece wrong, but if you are careful, you can squeeze out seven masks.

These are precarious times. The world as we know it will not be the same. Even when we are able to peer our heads out beyond our doors, what do we hope to really see? I hope we can pick up the pieces, but it will be a new normal. The kind of normal that makes us pause after seeing businesses close, loved ones who might have narrowly escaped death, and still many who have meant something to us, be it mentors, friends, family, neighbors, the person who delivered our groceries—they might not have been so lucky. Even as my own government points fingers at who might be at fault, the virus continues without discrimination. Isn’t it time to just stop and think about who we really are as humans? Not who we want people to believe we are behind the snaps of social media. Today, and for many days to come, we as a humanity must step up and become our best selves. Otherwise, we will become the very virus that we are trying to so desperately avoid and cure.

What can a single person do? Don’t be a nuisance is one. Don’t panic buy, or violate any Shelter-in-Place Order, and if we go out—we must wear a mask. Right, there aren’t any masks available right now, and whatever is available needs to go to first responders. This is all correct. But we STILL NEED A MASK. We all need to wear one, regardless of what the CDC is saying, and negating all the mandatory mask use in Asian countries that have faired much better than the US thus far. The virus is airborne. In fact, if you haven’t heard, it can travel much farther distances than six feet. If someone sneezes without a mask, it can travel as far as 20 feet, and if one of us are in the path of those droplets, and that person is asymptomatic, and we are not wearing a mask, expect a pretty heavy viral load to hit us. If that asymptomatic person wears a mask, then chances of getting infected using the six-foot social distancing rule will work. We must wear masks, because by doing so, we protect others as well as ourselves. Microphone drop.

For the past couple of weeks, I have been sewing masks for my friends and family instead of making hats. This is what I know how to do while staying at home. I had considered making my own mask pattern, but didn’t really want to flush out a prototype. I decided to use an existing pattern, and customize it if needed. I narrowed it down to the Olson Mask, created for the healthcare workers at Trinity Health in Iowa. They are not replacements for the certified N95 masks, but they can still protect us. Even while the CDC mulls over whether masks work, and failing to acknowledge the success of Asian countries where masks have been mandatory and socially accepted, but instead create a public stigma for American mask wearers, we cannot sit and wait. Mask wearers must unite. When someone walks up to us, and lifts their hand over our heads looking like he is about to strike us. What is our instinctive response? We lift our arms up to create a barrier against that person who means us harm. COVID-19 is that person, and we cannot stand there and just take it. Being proactive is also another way to flatten the curve.

So here is the link to the YouTube video on how to sew the mask: OLSON MASK TUTORIAL

There is also a link below the video to the PDF pattern, but in case you can’t find it here is that link: OLSON MASK PDF PATTERN AND WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS.

I made my first six masks with four pieces of Fat Quarter cuts I had saved for quilting purposes. I have now upgraded to some better quality quilting cotton. I recommend using better quality, thicker cotton over the thin ones. Although I did not prewash the cotton, because I find it faster to sew unwashed fabrics, it’s possible to do, to create a softer mask. If you are giving the masks away, don’t try them on yourself. If you do, you will need to wash them and sterilize them. If people don’t have fabric, cotton shirts are acceptable, and even old sheets. My daughter made three masks by hand because she doesn’t have a sewing machine from donated scraps and a cheap scarf from the drug store.

The Olson Mask pattern has a pocket sewn into the back side of the mask where you can add a filter. The original instructional video was a call for masks to donate to their hospital, and they would add the filters themselves. They also did not put a metal nose bridge on theirs, but instead, used double-stick tape. I added filters to my masks using materials from a high quality air conditioning filters that are rated MERV 13. You can also use vacuum cleaner bags and cut them into filters.

When creating filters, use either MASK 1 or 2 of the pattern. Just make sure you have two pieces. Remember to trim the MASK pattern piece down slightly around the outside edges after you sew the center together to create a good fit. You can also add a metal nose clip using thick wire. I don’t recommend pipe cleaners, they are too thin and flimsy. I used a flat metal piece normally used for jewelry making, but millinery wire would be perfect, create a loop on the wire ends or wrap them with cloth medical tape to cover the sharp edges. You can also create a thin pocket using bias binding tape. You can see that I have done that on the mask in the below picture. People who can’t really sew should just follow the pattern, get double stick tape, but still make a filter like I have to put inside. The Olson Mask instructions are really designed for non-sewers so a seasoned seamstress will miss things like notches, grain lines, and find that there is a pattern for both the left and right sides of the mask, when you can just take the three pieces and cut them over two pieces of fabric. I have to admit that the missing sewing language jarred me a bit. But I am sure everyone will figure it out.

If you can’t figure it out—ask a friend who sews to make one for you. It’s a community effort after all. My husband thinks I should add a few masks into my online shop on ETSY. I just don’t know about charging people for things that they can make themselves. Plus I am pretty happy making sure my friends, family, and neighbors can get these from me. Happy mask making everyone!

I am holding up the masks I made from the air conditioning filter to put into the pocket of the Olson Mask. If you’re wondering what that little dot is on my forehead, it’s an acupuncture tack that helps calm in down. My acupuncture skills have been really useful.

Just off the sewing machine last night—Kitty! Please excuse my runaway thread in the photo. I decided that it’s okay to share “normal” photos about my work, my life, and me without my hair done during the Shelter-in-Place order. It wouldn’t be me, if I didn’t have Kitty with me during this pandemic.