How to sew a mask with your own hands

You can sew reusable masks yourself, even without special skills. In life safety lessons we were taught that gauze masks are the best option. Yes, the gauze was dense, withstood washing, did not deform, and did not turn into a mesh. Now the gauze is such that it is possible to achieve the thickness required for real protection only with 10-15 layers.
I have experience using a modern gauze dressing from a pharmacy: after 5 washes it shrunk and turned into a sieve. So I decided to sew a mask from calico.

What materials may be suitable for a mask?

You don't have to run to the fabric store. Most people have old bed linen that is long overdue for discarding. An old shirt or knitted T-shirt will do. The main thing is that the composition is dominated by cotton, so that it is easy to breathe in the mask, and the fabric is thick enough.
Doctors advise making masks 2-3 layers. The best option is a two-layer mask with a pocket into which you can insert a piece of gauze or non-woven material. The pad can be soaked in propolis or essential oils, and also changed periodically if you have to spend a lot of time in the bandage.

How to design a mask

The bandage should cover the mouth and nose well and fit snugly to the body. But at the same time it should be comfortable to breathe in. A good fit can be achieved with a complex cut, making a bandage similar to a respirator. But, since my level as a seamstress is “zero”, I choose the simpler option. The mask will fit the shape of the face if you make a fold or gather on the sides (you can assemble it directly with an elastic band for the ears). Another option is to use knitwear. It is elastic and will fit better on the contours of the face.

Step-by-step instruction

I sew a mask from scrap calico, in three layers. My mask will be about 15 cm in height and 20-21 cm in width. These are the parameters for a teenager and an adult man. For an 11-year-old girl, this mask turned out to be very large.


I folded the 45 by 21 cm piece in three and stitched it at the top and bottom to fix the layers relative to each other.

I ironed the resulting part and smoothed out 2 parallel folds with an iron.

To fix the folds, sweep along the edges.

In order for the elastic to “go” and at the same time “gather” the mask on the sides, I decided to sew it tightly through an additional piece.

I trimmed the sides so that there was less thickness. On each side I sewed a “pocket” for an elastic band.

That's it, you can thread the elastic band and try it on.


Conclusions: The fabric is new and dense, the first time the mask sat quite roughly. After washing, it fits well to the face and lies softly on it. In my opinion, it is still better to use two layers of cotton, but leave a hole on the side for a non-woven scrap. Again, I always have a couple of packs of wet wipes in my house that are safely dry. I rinsed them a little in water to remove the soaking lotions, dried them and now use them as disposable pads for dressings.Non-woven wipes without impregnation can be purchased at hardware stores, they are usually packaged in rolls, like paper towels.