How to make fancy face masks: Bow, Pouch & Beard Mask DIY
Published on 12 November 2020 By Sophie Brown 2 min readIf you have to wear a mask, make sure you look festive 'n' fancy when you do! Making your own face masks couldn't be easier, and we've got three great tutorials to inspire you... plus a little extra must-have make!
We asked home sewist and all-round craft whizz Katie Smith to come up with three Christmassy face masks to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year. Watch the tutorial to see how Katie makes a simple 3D face mask that's ideal for jazzing up with festive fabrics, a scarf mask design that's perfect for beardy people and a mask adorned with a beautiful big bow – the statement piece of the mask world!
Not only are these masks great to pop in your bag for when you're out and about, they also make fabulous presents. Gifting a handmade face mask might have seemed bizarre in 2019, but in 2020 this gift is sure to go down a treat. Best of all, Katie has designed a clever little pouch for the mask to slip into!
Materials
- A sewing machine
- Matching thread
- Fabric scissors or a rotary cutter
- Elastic
- 20cm zip
- Pins
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Optional fun extras: buttons, beads, trims or ribbons, contrasting threads, iron on vinyls, brightly coloured elastic
Festive fabric for face masks
How to make a 3D face mask and bow face mask
You can make this mask for both adults and children. The material for the adult mask should measure 30cm wide by 17.5cm high with 5cm corners. The children's mask should measure 25.5cm wide by 15.5cms high with 5cm corners.
3D face mask step by step
1
To create your pattern, draw a rectangle based on the sizes above, mark 5cm from each corner and draw a line to join the marks to chop off each corner.
2
Cut out two pieces of fabric, these will be the outside and inside of your mask. Pin these right sides together.
3
With a seam allowance of 1cm stitch all around the edge of the masks, leaving one of the far, short edges open as you’ll use this to turn your mask right way around.
4
Trim your seam allowanced down and clip the corners. Turn your mask right side out and use something to poke your corners out. Give it a good press.
5
With the inside of your mask facing up, fold the longer edges lengthways at the corners into the middle, and press them down.
6
Place your finger in the middle of each diagonal edge and fold the top edge back up to the fold and pin in place – do this for all of the diagonal edges. Then fold the short edges over to encase the edges of the pieces you’ve just folded over – stitch this down to form the channel for your elastic to feed through.
7
If you're adding a bow, now's the time to stitch this on.
8
Feed the elastic through the channels and get ready to model your fancy festive mask – strike a pose!
How to make a scarf or beard face mask
The material for this mask should be triangular, measuring 55cm high by 42cm.
DIY beard mask step by step
1
Cut out your scarf pieces at this stage as well as well as either another piece of elastic or fabric for a rouleau loop.
2
Right sides together, stitch the scarf piece to the mask piece for both sides (inside and outside) of the mask. Then press you seam up.
3
Place your two pieces right sides together, sandwiching your elastic and button loop between the pieces. Make sure the elastic and loop are facing into the mask (so you shouldn’t be able to see the elastic when your sandwich is ready), you may also find it easier to tack the elastic down first.
4
Trim your seam allowanced down and clip the corners. Turn your mask right side out and use something to poke your corners out. Give it a good press.
5
With the inside of your mask facing up, fold the longer edges lengthways at the corners into the middle, and press them down.
6
Place your finger in the middle of each diagonal edge, and fold the top edge back up to the fold and pin in place – do this for all of the diagonal edges. This time, you won’t then fold the edges in to create the channel, you’ll instead stitch the folds down with a few stitches parallel to the top and bottom of the mask.
7
Stitch your button on and slip stitch the opening where turned your mask right-side out. Your scarf mask is now complete! May you be safe, your neck warm and your beard un-disturbed!
How to make zip-up pouch for your face mask
The material for this mask should measure 23cm wide by 17.5cm high, with an additional piece of 5cm by 2.5cm.
Face mask pouch step by step
1
Draw your pattern pieces, you’ll need a bigger rectangle and a smaller one based on the sizes above.
2
Cut 4 of the bigger piece from your cotton (that’s 2 for the inside and two for the outside of your back) and 2 of the smaller pieces.
3
Press your smaller pieces in half, wrong sides together. Then open these up and stitch to the ends of your zip, with the fold facing into the zip.
4
Take one of your inside pieces and one of your outside pieces. Place the outside piece right-side down along the edge of your zip, the fabric should be covering your zip so you can’t see it. Do the same with your inside piece on the back of the zip. You should end up with a sandwich of inside fabric, zip, outside fabric. Stitch down along the zip. Repeat for your other pieces and the other side of your zip.
5
Lay the bag flat with the outside facing up, give it a good press along the zip seams (be careful not to melt your zip if it’s plastic!).
6
Place the front pieces right sides together, do the same with the inside pieces. Then stitch along each side, leaving a gap at the bottom of your inside pieces to turn your bag right-side out.
7
Trim your seam allowances down and clip your corners. Turn your bag right-side out, using something to poke your corners out.
8
Slip stitch the opening you used to turn your bag right-side out. And there you have it, a brilliant bag your bag to keep your fancy face masks safe!
