As you might have guessed, I am not a sewer. In fact, the last time I touched a sewing machine was when I was a teenager. It was not a pretty picture and I happily gave up sewing when Home Ec class was over. But now we needed face masks and they are impossible to come by, and even if you can find them, the doctors, nurses, EMTs, and other front line people need them more urgently.
I saw masks for sale on Etsy and other locations, but for what they were charging for one mask, I could make dozens, and from what I read, these masks have to be washed after one wear, so it requires dozens. That left sewing. Me. Sewing. Gah!
I do have a sewing machine. My mom had three machines when I moved to Atlanta and she gave me her newest one. It was still in the box and she'd never used it. When she sewed, and she enjoyed sewing only about 1% more than me, she always used her original machine.
I had a pattern that looked achievable, I had fabric, and while my elastic hadn't arrived yet at that point, I decided we could use yarn or something in the meantime.
Cutting out the pieces taught me a few things. First, don't cut them out facing the same direction when you need to sew them face to face. Second, I could actually fold the material in half and cut both pieces at the same time instead of cutting them one by one. Three, my good scissors might be good for paper, but they were not good for fabric.
Because of mistake one, I ended up cutting out for two face masks immediately even though I meant to try my hand at one before cutting the second.
Next came sewing. I had the directions out because I was clueless. I also hoped the machine would work. My mom bought it in 1994 and never used it because she kept using her old machine when she sewed. This new one was still packed in the original box and completely untouched. She gave it to me as a gift when I moved to Atlanta just in case I needed it. (Thank you, Mom!)
The machine did fine. The person running the machine? Not so much. I'll save you my winding the bobbin issues and take you straight to face masks with seams that are...interesting.
That was following the marker on the sewing machine for 1/4". I have since decided to mark it with a pen and follow the drawn lines. I'm still not perfect, but that works better for me and my seams have improved from this zig-zagging nightmares.
The first face mask... Well, let's just say it's a good thing I labeled that the practice mask from the start because it's got issues, including being lopsided.
Mask two came out better. In the picture at the top of this blog post, it's the lower mask. The one with the better point at the top. I learned a lot just between one and two. I've since made three masks. I need to sit down and make more now that I have thread that didn't come out of my sewing kit and the elastic finally arrived.
But sewing peeps, how the hell do I regulate the pedal? I'm either going so slow it's ridiculous or the machine is racing and I can't keep up. I can't seem to get my foot to be more moderate when I press. Tips?
Also, how in the name of all that's holy am I supposed to sew 1/8" elastic together? I can't even pin it let alone sew it. Help!
