Mask Making

This is an N 95 mask.

I wanted to do what I could to help during the COVID-19 crisis especially, those on the front line. I offered to make masks for a relative who works on the front line at the hospital. At first, he said no, then he asked me to make 6. I was thinking these were for him so that he’d have a clean one for each day. But it turns out he wanted to give one to each person on his team. One of his teammates had distributed homemade masks to them and he wanted to return the favor.  This relative is a good guy that's selfless and giving. He has always been that way. For privacy purposes I won't reveal his name.

He offered to pay for materials, but I declined. Sewers and crafters keep a “stash.” Sometimes it’s left over from previous projects or we buy items not knowing what we’re going to do with them but assume they’ll come in handy at some time or another. 😊 I just wanted to help in some way possible and was honored to do so.

I asked if he wanted the tie masks or elastic behind the ear? I was told, the elastic behind the ear.

I viewed several videos on YouTube and decided on  Leah Day. 

You see purple, flowered and off white. All were a cotton blend with a good weave. Sometimes after having things for so long you forget what or why you bought them. The purple I’d planned to use as a lining in a lace dress that remains half finished and probably will never be finished. The flowered I’d planned to make a bed pillow. After keeping it two years I don’t think it’s going to happen.  I couldn’t remember why I had the off white but, finally I remembered. I’d used it at the bottom of a shower curtain (the cloth one) to make it longer.

The black and white rolled elastic I had for whatever reason. 😶 The pipe cleaners were left over from a 2017 Christmas project.  They'll be used in the mask near the nose allowing the person to bend it to fit and to keep glasses from fogging up. The marking pens I bought on Amazon after watching a sewing program and getting all fired up to sew. They're needed to mark where I'll make the pleats in the mask.

The marking pens worked great on the off-white fabric, but when it came to the flowered, I had to rely on a black marker because the pen colors were blending in with the flowers.  

There’s a lot of debate on what’s being used as filters. I’ve seen suggestions for paper towels, feminine products with the plastic taken out, disposable diaper material, AC filters.  I’d  say to research carefully whatever you decide to use.

I didn’t stop with the six masks; I made more giving some to my relative and his wife and some elsewhere. By the time I’d finished I’d made 21 masks. (Not shown).  Someone else asked me to make three for her and I said I would.  I had to renege. I’d masked out.

I was glad I was able to help out .

That's it😷

Upcycling a favored, too tight dress into something else

5 photos for those who just want to see the pictures

There’s recycling, repurposing, upcycling (rru). Each has a little bit to do with the other. Without being so technical and precise, my own definition is;

    “To take something that was one thing and do something else with it.” 

 That definition will cover it all.

I’m not new to  rru. I’ve tried it before. (Take a look at the 7th picture in that post) If you’ve read any of my other posts, you know that I’m into the recycling thing and not being wasteful.

I’m also a fan of the boho   style. I had a purple dress that had always been a favorite of mine. I purchased it from a street vendor during a Juneteenth celebration held outside of the Civil Rights Institute here in Birmingham, Alabama.  I tried it on right over my street clothes and it fit.  I altered the yoke of the dress since I claim 5’4 as my height. Otherwise, it would drag the ground.

Being my definition of a shapeshifter*, the dress became a little snug in the bosom area and I had to put it to the side. 

 Visiting Pinterest, I came upon various pictures of clothing that had been upcycled.  My plan was to cut off the top, keep the bottom, sew the bottom to a purple tee shirt, thereby making a new dress, then DYE the whole garment purple. 

First off, the tee shirt was too big. But it was only 99 cents. $1.09 with tax. I bought it big because I wanted to make sure I had enough fabric to work with. I didn't overlook that there were stains on the sleeves when I bought it. I'd cut that part off and rework it.

 I sewed the top and bottom together, had a gap, SOOOO then I chose to put elastic in the waist. Fit just fine. BUT…

The tee shirt sleeves and side were fuller than I wanted them.

 I put numerous darts in the front and back of the tee shirt. THEN

The sleeves were too full. I adjusted them and didn’t like the outcome.

Finally, I cut off the tee shirt, removed the ¼ inch elastic from the waist, and saved it. (The elastic was brand new) , made a casing in the skirt and fitted it with ½ elastic.

Now I have a perfectly good skirt that fits comfortably. The dye job will have to wait.

You want to know what happened to the tee shirt?

*My definition of shapeshifter - gain weight, lose weight. Gain weight, lose weight…

HOWEVER! To be fair, the original dress DID shrink even more after I washed it and put it in the dryer. (Not wise)

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Another Novel Idea: Tablet Keeper

TABLET KEEPER from an old book

While I still enjoy the printed paper pages of a good book, technology has made it possible to have a great number of books all in one place at the same time.  Enter, the tablet, also known by other names, e-reader, Kindle, Nook, Kobo. The list goes on.

I recently purchased Amazon’s Fire. It arrived packed in a white box and within the

white box was an orange box which contained the tablet. It was without directions inside, outside or on the box. I was able to download an e-book after much trial and error.

I thought about how I wanted to store my new gadget. I decided I’d make a tablet cover from an old book. After all I was planning to use it mostly for that purpose. That is until I learned how to work all of the other bells and whistles it came with.

I had an old book that I’d bought for 50 cents at a library book sale.

I’d recently put it in the “Give Away” bag . The fit was perfect. I plucked it from the bag of doom  and began resuscitating it to take on a new life. 

Here are the items I used:

Old book

Felt

Iron on fusion tape (I used Wonder Under)

Scissors

Hot glue

ruler

Cardboard

Mod podge

Foam brush

1/8 inch elastic approximately ½ yard (depending on the size of your device. I used elastic head bands because black 
elastic wasn't available)
OPTIONAL: Items to make a book charm and clear heavy vinyl for a screen guard

1.   I started the cut of the pages out of the book using a blade of the scissors.

Do this very carefully. You don’t want to sever the front and back covers.

If you’re feeling lucky, use an exacto knife. The gutted pages went into the recycle box.

2.     I measured the cardboard and felt  in accordance with the dimensions of my      tablet. Cardboard –one inch smaller than the tablet all the way around

           Felt- one inch larger than the cardboard all the way around

3.  Eight, one inch wide fusion tape strips were measured and cut . They were ironed around the outside edges of the felt. After cooling the paper was slowly pulled away leaving the filmy iron on glue.  Using fusion tape instead of hot glue would allow a smoother presentation.

                                                                           4. Allow the tape to cool completely then gently pull it away from the felt.
5. left- after fusion tape was removed and pressed onto the cardboard. right-milky residue left from iron on tape.

6.The white edges would show so I  painted them with a gold metallic acrylic paint. A charm hanging from my book would also be novel (pun intended) hence the length of jewelry chain inside the spine.

After hot gluing the chain  in place, I covered it with a strip of black felt. ( I didn't reinforce the spine with cardboard.I didn't feel it needed it.)

Using a medium and fine tip black marker I made decorative squiggly lines where the edges would show.



7.The elastic I had was too wide. I went to Walmart hoping I'd be able to find a package of 1/8 inch black elastic   but they only had white.  I live too far away from a fabric store so, I stopped in the hair accessories
department of Walmart and bought a set of black elastic headbands. 88 cents for three.

 After measuring the elastic, I hot glued it front to back on one of the covered felted panels making sure it was diagonal in the front so that it could hold the tablet.

About that time I realized I didn't have a closure. That's when I hot glued one of the bands front to back on the opposite cover as you can see on the left below. NOTE: It's better to glue the band ends of the closure tip to tip instead of overlapped. Otherwise, you'll have a hump where you overlapped the ends.                                        

After hot gluing the panels in place inside the gutted book,  here is the result.

I had some heavy clear vinyl left  from a project, which I cut out to make a screen cover. That way I don't scratch it or have to look at the fingerprints when I swipe.

Here is the outside. If you look closely you'll see the book charm is a miniature of the book jacket.

This part was mostly trial and error.

By copying and pasting a picture of the book jacket (found online)on to a piece of card stock in a minute size, I was able to cut it out , stuff it with other minute pieces of card stock resembling pages, glue it together and seal it with mod podge. I drilled a small hole near the top, inserted two jump rings and attached them to the chain.

 I'm very pleased with the outcome. It made it's debut yesterday during our book club gathering.

I'd like to connect online with other crafters and see what you've created.

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