A helpful step by step guide on how to make your own face mask at home

As of last week, we have been supporting frontline workers in desperate need of personal protective equipment through making regular donations of linen face masks. We find ourselves across the globe facing many challenges as we try to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

One of the challenges includes the lack of personal protective equipment such as face masks available to frontline health workers, volunteers and those who need shielding from the virus while carrying out critical work.

You can now purchase a linen face mask from our online store and with every purchase that you make we will donate a mask to help support the fight against the virus. We want you to be aware that this is not a substitute for a medical mask but if used correctly will help to reduce the chance of spreading germs to others and reduce person-to-person droplet transmissions as well as provide a little extra shield. We highly recommend you use a medical mask on the inside if you have one.

However, we understand that you may also have everything that you need to make a face mask at home and would rather use your own resources, so below is a helpful how-to-guide showing you how you can make a face mask at home from the materials that you already have.

STEP BY STEP GUIDE HOW TO MAKE A FACE MASK AT HOME

What you will need: for your face mask you can repurpose old materials such as bed linens, T-shirts or bandanas. You will need to have scissors, needle, thread, a few elastic bands, paper, and a pencil.

The time it will take: 20 - 30 minutes

Tip: We recommend using a sewing machine for a neater finish but you can also do it by hand with needle and thread.

Step One: Measuring and Cutting

You will need to trace or copy the pattern to a blank piece of paper and cut out 4 identical pieces. Using these paper pieces trace them onto your chosen material and again cut out four identical pieces.

*Please note the markings labeled 1,2,3 and 4 in red. You will need these for later when you start sewing everything together.

Your four pieces should come out looking like this:

Step Two: Sewing it All Together

For this part, you will need to use numbers as guidance noted down in the diagram in red. Please follow these steps:

Put together two of the pieces on top of each other and start sewing together the side labeled (1) this is the middle seam. Now sew together the top (2) and then the bottom (3). Now reverse it out and sew together the sides labeled (4). Remember to leave some space here so you can insert your elastic band and create an ear loop.

Here at MagicLinen, we leave a slot on the inside of the linen face mask so you can insert a surgical mask or a filter if you have one. This is just an option and if you don’t have anything you can sew this part shut.

Optional: The inside slot would look like this:

At the end once you have sown your pieces together your face mask should resemble something like this:

We hope you find this guide useful and stay healthy and safe through this challenging period!