Tutorial for face mask with pocket for filter

I've had several requests from people who wanted to know how I put together the masks I posted on Facebook, and what the extra hints were that I figured out to make them a little bit easier to make – and that will hopefully reduce the amount of swearing involved when making them!

Thanks to my friend Peggy Smith, who gave me the basics of this particular way to put together a mask, and I particularly like that it can be used with a filter. Please remember, if you are using a mask you make, follow CDC guidelines. These masks are not medical grade like an N95 mask, but they may offer a little extra protection for you and others.

Now, let's get to it!

Materials needed:

• 100% quilter's cotton fabric
• Quilter's ruler, rotary cutter and cutting mat OR scissors and ruler
• Straight pins (I used long quilting pins and they were much easier than trying to use shorter pins)
• Iron and ironing board
• Sewing machine

You'll need one 6"x9" piece of fabric for the front of each mask, and two 4"x9" pieces of fabric for the back. The back pieces will overlap each other, making the opening in which a filter can be inserted. You will also need two 7" pieces of flat 1/4" elastic for each mask. If you have a smaller face or head, you may want to cut your elastic shorter. Note: All measurements in this tutorial are for an adult-size mask. You can follow these steps to make masks for children, just cutting your pieces smaller. I recommend finding a pleated mask pattern that has multiple sizes and using the measurements for a child mask from one of them.

Top piece is front of mask and bottom two pieces are back of mask

Take the two pieces of fabric for the back of the mask, and you will need to stitch along one long edge of each piece using an overlock stitch on your machine. You can serge these edges as well, if you have a serger. This prevents them from fraying, but doesn't add bulk like a hem does. 

This is what the overlock stitch symbol looks like on my sewing machine.

This is what the edges look like with the overlock stitch done.

Next, take your elastic and pin it between the right sides of the front and rear pieces of fabric at the corners along both short edges. Warning, this step is the one that induces a lot of cursing at my house (my pins, elastic and fabric don't like to stick together!). 

Front fabric, elastic, back fabric, all pinned together with edges matched up

Make sure your elastic strip doesn't have a twist in it between the corners. The back fabric will overlap, creating a slot for a filter to be slipped into the mask if one is needed.

When you have all four corners pinned together with your front/elastic/back sandwich, add a few extra pins (I put one in the middle of each side) to stabilize and keep all your edges lined up while you sew around.

TIP: Use a size 14 needle. It's much less likely to break as you get to the last steps of the mask where you are sewing over the pleats, and it goes through the elastic easier. 

Then sew all the way around the outside edge of the pinned together fabric. Use a 1/4" seam. I started in the middle of a long edge. At the corners, I backstitched a few stitches over the elastic to reinforce so it won't tear out easily. 

TIP: Keep those corner pins in as long as possible, until the elastic is under the presser foot of your machine so it doesn't slip.

One of the things I really like about this particular way of making a mask is that you don't have to leave an opening to turn, because you've built one in. 

This is what it looks like when you've sewn all the way around.

Now, flip that mask right side out. It will look like this:

.

Tug on the elastic right at the corners to pull the corners out. Also, make sure you work the seams out smooth. Then press the mask. After pressing it will have nice sharp edges.

Front

Back 

Back opening for filter

Now it's time to put in the pleats that allow the mask to more easily conform to the wearer's face. You will need to pin in three 1/4" pleats along the short edges of the mask. I pinned the middle pleat first, then did one above and one below. I just eyeballed it, but you could measure if you like.

I recommend checking how deep your pleat is the first couple times. After I had checked a couple, I was able to just fold and get it right at 1/4" pretty much every time.

TIP: When you are setting your pleats, make sure the top layer of the back of the mask is facing the bottom of the mask when you set your pleats. I found it to be easier to keep the opening easy to access by doing so.

Pleats pinned before pressing and sewing

TIP: When you pin your pleats, pin from the center to the edge, so the point of the pin is facing the edge of the mask. This enables you to sew over the the pins, or at least not have to pull them out until the pleat is under the presser foot on your sewing machine.

Pleats pinned after pressing center (don't press over the pins) and before sewing

Now, top stitch all the way around the edge of the mask, about 1/4" from the edge. I recommend starting in the middle of a long edge. Again, I backstitched a few stitches at the corners to reinforce them. You may find that getting the pleats fed under the presser foot is a little finicky, but when I pinned it this way, it was much easier. I left the pins in and sewed over them. I didn't hit any of them. 

Start topstitching in the middle of a long edge

When you've finished the topstitching, remove the pins and press well. Voila! You have a finished mask! Take out the pins, give the mask a good press and you're done. 

Make sure to press it well.

 

Mask is complete.

Even with the pleats, the pocket is easy to access if you need to add a filter.

Have questions? Drop them in the comments below. Thanks to everyone who is making masks and thanks to all the many people who have posted patterns. I hope this is a helpful tutorial!

If you would like to make your mask even more fitted to your face, you can add a couple extra small pleats at the center top and center bottom. This YouTube video shows how to do that.

TIE OPTION: If you don't have elastic, you can use fabric cut 1 1/2" wide by the width of fabric to make ties. Fold each raw edge to just shy of the middle of the fabric (wrong sides together), then fold that in half again. Place the center of one tie at the center of the short edge of the mask, with the edge of the mask inside the folded tie. Then, stitch from the center point all the way along the open edge of the tie. Repeat from the center to the other end of the tie. Repeat with second tie along second edge of mask. I will try to get a mask made this way and add some pictures to illustrate.