How to sew a surgical-type mask at home

Here are the various steps to sew a surgical type mask at home. First, if you do not have it, you can download the paper pattern from the article:

How to make a surgical type mask at home – free pattern here

About the material, I have recycled a pillowcase and a shirt, both in pure cotton, machine washable at high temperature with antibacterial additive after each use, so I recommend that you sew more than one. Although they are not exactly as medical devices used in the hospital, they are still a barrier.

Let’s see the steps:

Download the paper pattern
Take the material: paper, cotton fabric, elastic, scissors, pins, dressmaker’s tape measure and sewing machine.
Iron the pillowcase upside down
Place the pattern paper on the 2 layers of fabric (or double fabric) making sure that the part where it is written “fold” is on top of the folded fabric
Cut out around the pattern
Cut two pieces of elastic according to the type of template you want to sew: Surgical mask A with elastic that goes behind the ear, two elastics 18 cm Surgical mask B with elastic that goes behind the head, two elastics 30 cm
Open the mask with the right side of the fabric facing upwards
Place the paper pattern on one of the sides, matching the “fold” writing where the crease is
With tailor chalk, draw the points where you have to place the elastics
The elastics marks should be made on all 4 sides
Place the elastics by stopping them with pins
Place the elastics as the mask “A” (on the right of the photo), to make the mask with elastics that go behind the ear. Place the elastics as the mask “B” (on the left of the photo), to make the mask with elastics that go behind the head.
Close the mask leaving the elastic bands inside
Sewn from the sides leaving the bottom open
Turn the mask over on fabric right side out
On the right side the masks will be with the elastic bands out as in the photo below
Iron in order to flatten them well, and on the open side fold 1 cm of fabric inside
The ironed masks will be as in the figure, with the bottom open and folded 1 cm towards the inside of the mask
Position the pattern paper on the mask so that the part with the “fold” writing coincides with the fold of the fabric, on the opposite side to the open one
With a chalk mark the place where the folds will position, mark it on both sides of the fabric
Fold the fabric matching the fold marks, stopping them with a pin
folds will form
Sew the folds
Sew the bottom folded in to close the mask
Iron the mask
The masks are ready to be wear. In the photo, the top one is the type “A” mask with elastics that go behind the ears, while the bottom one is the type “B” mask with elastics that go behind the head.