Face mask on…
The Butcher’s Sew Shop face mask in Meander Sateen
After trying a lot of different face mask patterns over the past year, we were drawn to the comfortable fit of this one by the Butcher’s Sew Shop. It’s a downloadable pdf with a $3 optional donation to help keep their business afloat during this difficult time. They have a wonderful video tutorial here, which is great for a beginner sewist or indeed any visual learner out there! We appreciated having the pleat markings so we could sew these before joining the front and back right sides together.
Pattern — Butcher’s Sew Shop Adult Face Mask
Fabric — 20cm of Meander Sateen in Rose
Size — Adult
Thread — Gütterman 473
Notions — Thin elastic (the softer/thinner this is, the better!) or ribbon/cotton twill/bias tape to use for ties, fusible interfacing
Alterations — We made the width of the mask slightly smaller to fit. Added a casing to cover the elastic for a more refined finish (we cut these on the bias, but we’ve tested just cutting strips of fabric and either option works well). We also pleated the front and back pieces separately, before sewing them together, so that no topstitching was required at the sides. We left a small opening at the bottom to turn the mask right side out and hand-stitched at the end.
We marked the pleats with a removable pen as per the pattern
Baste stitch the pleats in place before sewing the front and back right sides together
We went the extra mile in making this mask beautiful, obviously, this is entirely optional, we just figured we might be wearing them for a while yet!
We made the elastic casings a fairly snug fit, so it was important to trim the seam allowance down before turning the right side out. During this process, we discovered one of the most amazing tips for turning a small tube out with a bobby pin. This game-changer was courtesy of Nayila @sewing.archives, documented on her Instagram > Sewing Tips highlight > around the 12th video—definitely one to check out!
