on masks and coffee bags
Sep. 14th, 2020 07:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chhotiiI tried to throw money at the problem of needing masks, good masks, several masks for each of us. This failed spectacularly.
I bought one from a vendor on Amazon and it's awful. The ear loops are too long and floppy— even though it's supposed to be my size. It was falling off all the time until I tied a length of t-shirt yarn around the back of my head, attached to the ear loops. Tacky but functional, but now all my exhaled breath shoots up the sides of my nose and fogs up my glasses like crazy.
My mother bought a mask for Vic with a cat's mouth pattern, which seemed like a cute idea in concept— but the mask's fit is terrible, and the cat mouth is scary and weird and awful. Vic rejected this mask totally.
Ordered masks from various places, but they are all back-ordered and will arrive who knows when.
Vic ordered some clothes from Uniqlo, and, while they were at it, a package of masks. I tried to talk to Vic about looking at the cute masks offered for sale on Etsy, but they responded in irritation "I already ordered masks! From Uniqlo!" OK!
But then FedEx lost our Uniqlo package. Tracking information went from "at FedEx facility in Northboro" to "expected to be delivered today" to "to be updated when we have information from the shipper". This was the weekend before Vic had an in-person start-of-school activity. Outside and socially-distanced, but still.
Out of desperation, I set myself to trying to sew one of the mask designs I had been admiring. The Fabric Patch lady has most recently been recommending the "Jesse" design. Reading Jesse's FAQ, one of the questions is "can I use any fabric I like? Denim?" to which Jesse says "sure!" I had been thinking that making a mask out of denim was a bad idea, but someone else had thought of the idea, and thought it not a bad idea, at least not Jersey-barrier-bicycle levels of bad; so I thought, I should try this, once. Unify my hobby and passion (making things out of reclaimed denim from old jeans) and what I feel I need to get done (a mask).
And, actually, the mask made out of up-cycled denim is not terrible. It's actually better than any mask I've bought. It's kind of big and bulky looking, not attractive, and the fabric is so thick, it's a bit tricky to get my glasses to sit right. But it fits well, it's reasonably comfortable, and my glasses don't fog up at all. It's surprisingly breathable. I wore the denim mask on our outing to the fabric store, and had a nice and relaxing time browsing through all the fabric, and not once did I think "oh god let's get this done with so I can take this mask off." I think the denim mask would be rather warm for taking outside exercise, and I need to explore lighter fabrics for that.
The brilliant part of the design is the use of a coffee bag closure for a nose bridge. Fortunately, I have been saving the bendy strips off the top of coffee bags for a bit (having had it in might for a while that I should make masks).
Vic's sense of style was deeply offended by the denim mask, but they agreed that the design looked promising otherwise. So I made another mask, purple, lighter fabric, which Vic thought was... better. Vic wanted to go to the fabric store to pick out the perfect fabrics for this, inside and out; and requested some changes to the design.
I've now made 6 or 7 masks and I've run out of coffee bag closures. I ordered a package of coffee bag closures off of Amazon. These come in packages of 100, and each 7" strip is enough material for 2 or 3 nose bridges. Vic and I do not need 207 masks. I want enough that we can each have a fresh one for every outing, and I do laundry approximately once a week. These go into the washing machine, but not the dryer, so they are not ready to be used again immediately after laundry, but have to sit and dry for a day or so. So maybe... 10 each? At most. (Vic does not leave the condo every day, but I get restless.)
My shipment of coffee bag closures is scheduled to arrive next Monday, the 21st. I will then make all the masks Vic and I will ever need. After that, I might be persuaded to make masks for other people, and/or share both what I've learned about mask making and some of my enormous supply of coffee bag closures.
I bought one from a vendor on Amazon and it's awful. The ear loops are too long and floppy— even though it's supposed to be my size. It was falling off all the time until I tied a length of t-shirt yarn around the back of my head, attached to the ear loops. Tacky but functional, but now all my exhaled breath shoots up the sides of my nose and fogs up my glasses like crazy.
My mother bought a mask for Vic with a cat's mouth pattern, which seemed like a cute idea in concept— but the mask's fit is terrible, and the cat mouth is scary and weird and awful. Vic rejected this mask totally.
Ordered masks from various places, but they are all back-ordered and will arrive who knows when.
Vic ordered some clothes from Uniqlo, and, while they were at it, a package of masks. I tried to talk to Vic about looking at the cute masks offered for sale on Etsy, but they responded in irritation "I already ordered masks! From Uniqlo!" OK!
But then FedEx lost our Uniqlo package. Tracking information went from "at FedEx facility in Northboro" to "expected to be delivered today" to "to be updated when we have information from the shipper". This was the weekend before Vic had an in-person start-of-school activity. Outside and socially-distanced, but still.
Out of desperation, I set myself to trying to sew one of the mask designs I had been admiring. The Fabric Patch lady has most recently been recommending the "Jesse" design. Reading Jesse's FAQ, one of the questions is "can I use any fabric I like? Denim?" to which Jesse says "sure!" I had been thinking that making a mask out of denim was a bad idea, but someone else had thought of the idea, and thought it not a bad idea, at least not Jersey-barrier-bicycle levels of bad; so I thought, I should try this, once. Unify my hobby and passion (making things out of reclaimed denim from old jeans) and what I feel I need to get done (a mask).
And, actually, the mask made out of up-cycled denim is not terrible. It's actually better than any mask I've bought. It's kind of big and bulky looking, not attractive, and the fabric is so thick, it's a bit tricky to get my glasses to sit right. But it fits well, it's reasonably comfortable, and my glasses don't fog up at all. It's surprisingly breathable. I wore the denim mask on our outing to the fabric store, and had a nice and relaxing time browsing through all the fabric, and not once did I think "oh god let's get this done with so I can take this mask off." I think the denim mask would be rather warm for taking outside exercise, and I need to explore lighter fabrics for that.
The brilliant part of the design is the use of a coffee bag closure for a nose bridge. Fortunately, I have been saving the bendy strips off the top of coffee bags for a bit (having had it in might for a while that I should make masks).
Vic's sense of style was deeply offended by the denim mask, but they agreed that the design looked promising otherwise. So I made another mask, purple, lighter fabric, which Vic thought was... better. Vic wanted to go to the fabric store to pick out the perfect fabrics for this, inside and out; and requested some changes to the design.
I've now made 6 or 7 masks and I've run out of coffee bag closures. I ordered a package of coffee bag closures off of Amazon. These come in packages of 100, and each 7" strip is enough material for 2 or 3 nose bridges. Vic and I do not need 207 masks. I want enough that we can each have a fresh one for every outing, and I do laundry approximately once a week. These go into the washing machine, but not the dryer, so they are not ready to be used again immediately after laundry, but have to sit and dry for a day or so. So maybe... 10 each? At most. (Vic does not leave the condo every day, but I get restless.)
My shipment of coffee bag closures is scheduled to arrive next Monday, the 21st. I will then make all the masks Vic and I will ever need. After that, I might be persuaded to make masks for other people, and/or share both what I've learned about mask making and some of my enormous supply of coffee bag closures.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-16 03:17 pm (UTC)We also like to use coffee bag closures in the masks that Marc sews. Unfortunately, we've run out since I'm the only one in the house who drinks coffee. If you want to sell off some of your closure excess, let me know!
no subject
Date: 2020-09-19 09:33 pm (UTC)I wouldn't really recommend denim, other fabrics have worked better.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-19 09:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-09-20 01:36 am (UTC)Thanks!
no subject
Date: 2020-09-25 10:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-09-26 11:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-10-03 04:34 am (UTC)