Est. 2010
How to Make a DIY Face Mask & Matching Dress Refashion (Without a Pattern)
I know that by now we’re all heeding the CDC’s instructions by wearing face masks on the rare occasions in which we have to go in public for essential supplies, right?
The other day, I shared an easy no-sew face mask tutorial, but a few of you asked me to share a tutorial for a sewn version.
When my husband asked me to sew a mask for him, AND I had a refashion I wanted to complete, an idea (albeit a creepy one) was born.
Here’s How to Refashion a DIY Face Mask & Matching Dress.
Yep. It’s as weird as it sounds, but these are weird times. If feeling “unfashionable” was keeping even one person from wearing a mask when in public and this changes that one person’s mind, it will have all been worthwhile.
First, find a dress you want to raise the hem on.
I started with this one.
I really like this dress. The fit is spot-on, and I’m really digging the vintage vibe of the collar and sleeves. The print is lovely as well.
Those shoulder pads were a bit much though, so I ripped them out.
Then I chopped off some of the bottom by pinning where I wanted it fall (allowing a couple of extra inches for a hem allowance) then snipping that part off.
I folded the raw edge of the dress over twice and gave it a new hem.
And then I stitched it down!
After a quick press of my new hem, the dress part was done.
Now to make a mask to match my new dress!
When I cut the bottom part from my dress, I was left with these two scraps (two, because the back had a slit).
As I’ve mentioned before, we don’t own a printer, so making a mask from a pattern found online wasn’t going to work.
No worries! You don’t need a pattern to make your own custom face mask.
I needed two sizes of face masks. One for Brian (large), and one for me (small).
I took one of the fabric scraps and folded it over, like this:
To make a large mask, you’ll want to cut this folded-over part into a 9×7″ rectangle.
To make a smaller mask, you’ll want to cut this folded-over part into an 8×6″ rectangle.
Turn this inside-out and pin along the open edge.
Now, just stitch that down!
Turn the fabric tube you’ve created inside out and press your new seam.
The next step is to make your pleating. Fold three pleats into your fabric tube with the raw edges facing left & right.
When this is done, you can either pin these down or weigh the middle down with something heavy (I used my sewing shears and that worked just fine).
Now, grab your quilt binding and hair ties. Cut the binding to the size of the vertical edge of your mask, and put the hair tie inside of it like this:
Then, pin this to the sides of the fabric for your mask!
We’re almost done!
Here’s what the small mask looked like after it was done!
And that’s it!
Here’s what my newly-hemmed dress looked like after I was done:
And here it is with my matching mask.
And here’s Brian & I looking incredibly creepy together:
Creepy or no, I was able to make a couple of face masks for us out of a fabric scrap without having to run to a craft store (because we should all be staying home as much as possible right now), so I’m cool with it.
Stay safe, friends! These are strange times.
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