Suzanne from Wild Women Stitchers has been making masks and has some helpful suggestions …
… I am making masks for nurses at Ben Taub. They were able to snag some fabric the surgical supplies are wrapped in. It turns out that this fabric (Halyard H600) works well and passed the Respirator Fit Test. I made fabric masks for this individual and she requested I make these more efficient ones. I need acrylic yarn. Do you have any you can spare? They prefer white. The ties are to be reinforced with the yarn to strengthen them. Unfortunately, I have none.
I’ve made approximately 80+ cloth masks for nurses, family, friends, and people who are friends of my friends. I also sent some to Church to be distributed at SW Memorial. The good thing is I am using fabrics that I’ve accumulated over the many years of sewing. When I ran out of elastic, I was using ribbons to tie, however, I had trouble keeping it on. I’m using long shoelaces for ties and securing it with spring loaded toggles. It works!
There are two suggested prototypes. See notes on tutorials and suggested supplies:
