Proper medical masks, even the cheap ones you wear for four hours, are in short supply.
If you have to travel, or or home and want to help others, you might want to make a mask.
Sewing an emergency cloth mask is really simple. (Even quicker if you have a sewing machine.)
Start by washing your hands, disinfecting the surfaces, boiling the cloth you are using for ten minutes or more.
You might work in an existing mask, or your fist prototype mask to make others.
You need clean cotton cloth. A t-shirt or teatowel. Or pillow case. Ideally new. A washed sheet cut up to make many masks. You might have two thicknesses of cloth, the softer inside and the tougher patterned outside.
Check if you can breathe through the doubled fabric. (Before washing so you don't give germs to others nor reinfect yourself. You might check breathing rhrough a piece of fabric you are not using.)
Two large oblongs for the mask.
For the straps, shoe laces or elastic or long strips sewn together.
You attach the straps.
Sew the sides of the two oblongs together (with the edges of the elastic or shoe lace or cootn strips inside.
If you want to hot wash or bleach, cotton might be better than elastic.
Fold the mask like a concertina and sew both sides.
You can conceal the printed part of the pattern of the cloth inside, or enjoy the pattern on the outside.
I have seen other systems using goggles and flaps into which you insert wet wipes.
Before starting, check several patterns and suggestions for fabrics and styles. Do you want the mask for a child or adult?
I suggest you use an existing mask as a template or check the mask on yourself for size before sewing.
How To Search Online
If you just type in make a mask you get recipes for yogurt masks to cure skin problems.When searching online a useful phrases is sew medical mask.
Here are some detailed instructions with pictures:
Useful Websites
https://www.wikihow.com/Sew-a-Medical-Mask
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/opinion/coronavirus-n95-mask.html
About the author
Angela Lansbury is the author of twenty books including How to get out of the mess you're in.
