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Repurposing Idea for Face Masks: Patch Pockets!

Easy Strapless Summer Dress Refashion
Black Midi Sundress Refashion

One of the ways my friend Erin and I like to save money is by giving each other first dibs on any clothes we don’t want anymore before we donate them. We’re roughly the same size, so this works out really well!

In my last Erin haul, I found this lovely lightweight maxi dress.

Repurposing Idea for Face Masks: Patch Pockets before
Wait…there’s nothing wrong with this dress!

The only snag we ever encounter with our swapping arrangement is that we have very different personal styles. Erin likes more classic looks, and I’m…well…a bit quirkier.

There was nothing wrong with this dress, but it just didn’t feel quite me.

I could have just worn my new-to-me dress as-is, but then I remembered this awesome fabric face mask a friend gave me.

golden girls face mask
Thank you for being a friend!

That’s right! It’s The Golden Girls!!!! This is one of my favorite shows of all time!

But now that life is getting back to normal, the thought of tossing out my favorite masks makes me a little sad, as many of them were handmade for me by close friends.

A quick examination of my new dress revealed it didn’t have pockets.

jillian in dress without pockets
There’s nowhere for my hands to go!

Here’s how to repurpose a fabric face mask into two patch pockets!

First, I used my seam ripper to carefully unpick the pleats from each side.

mask with unpicked pleats
Here’s what it looked like when I was done!

Then, I pulled the side elastic taut (so none of it would show when I was done) and snipped it off.

cutting off side elastic
Pull & Snip!

I used my seam ripper to unpick the top of the mask so I could remove the metal nose piece.

unpicking top of mask
Get outta here!

When it was removed, I re-stitched the top of the mask.

I pressed my newly-depleated mask so it was nice and flat.

pressing mask
Sorry, Dorothy!

I folded my mask in half and pressed it again.

folded mask being ironed
Lots of ironing in this project, folks!

Then, I made a single cut right down the center of my mask.

cutting mask in two
Sorry to break to you girls apart!

So, I’m not thrilled with how the pattern of this fabric lined up for this project. My girls aren’t exactly centered on each pocket, but there isn’t anything I can really do about that.

If this is the sort of thing that bugs you, I’d recommend using more of an all-over patterned mask for this project.

I unpicked a few stitches on the top and bottom of the open sides.

unpicked side of mask
Just like this!

Then I folded them inside and (you guessed it!) pressed them into place.

pressing edges in

I clipped each side down…

clipped side of pocket
Hating that this isn’t better-centered…grrrrr…

…then stitched both sides down.

sewing side of pocket
A quick whirrrrrr!

If these pockets-to-be look to too long, that’s because they are!

I folded the top part over so 1″ of the contrasting back fabric showed and (yep!) pressed it into place.

pressing front flap of pocket
A pretty front flap is born!

Time to attach my new pockets!

I measured from the top and sides to make sure they were even and pinned my pockets to the front of my dress.

pinning pocket to dress
There ya go!

I also tried my dress on to make sure I felt the pocket placement was optimal for my hand (or arcade token) holding needs.

Time to stitch those girls down!

sewing pocket onto dress
No turning back now!

And that’s it! Now my formally less-than-exciting dress has cute and quirky pockets!

dress with repurposed face mask patch pockets
Can’t wait to travel down the road and back again with my new pockets!

Have I mentioned I hate that Blanche and Sophia got cut off a little? Let me reiterate that.

refashionista Repurposing Idea for Face Masks: Patch Pockets after
Picture it, Sicily…

I’m still happy with this project overall though!

refashionista Repurposing Idea for Face Masks: Patch Pockets after on dress form
Why did I put it on my dress form? I’m not sure. But here ya go.

I hope this project inspires you to look for ways to repurpose your old fabric face masks rather than tossing them out!

Cheers!

refashionista refashionista Repurposing Idea for Face Masks: Patch Pockets before and after
Easy Strapless Summer Dress Refashion
Black Midi Sundress Refashion