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Best Fit Face Mask

Over the weekend I completed something I’m really proud of! Honestly, I worked like a dog because I felt the urgency to share this tutorial with the world. If you happen to follow me on social media, you already know that I created the Best Fit Face Mask. After struggling with several different patterns online I bemoaned the fit on all of them. Not one of the face mask were any I could wear for any length of time. You could say, I consider myself a face mask connoisseur especially because I searched for years to find my more form-fitting and comfortable masks used for carpentry or demolition.


Best Fit Face Mask

As a general contractor and woodworker, I had searched for form-fitting and comfortable masks to protect my lungs from dust and debris and had my favorites. Several didn’t have a good tight fit around the nose, which inevitably meant I was blowing sawdust out my nose at night. A good fitting mask doesn’t allow air to come in next to your nose. For that reason, I knew there were better options than most of the sewing mask patterns I found. After a weekend, I designed this easy sew Best Fit Facemask Tutorial for use by the public and medical professionals trying to protect N95 and surgical masks while also staying safe during the COVID crisis. (These are not a replacement for N95 or surgical masks. These masks are designed to add an additional layer of protection.) Looking for a simple, stylish, and better fitting face mask? Well, I have you covered. Get it? Covered? ;-D

Truth be told, my Mom reminded me I’ve been sewing and perfecting this design for almost forty years! This is me sewing a quilted rainbow vest (remember Punky Brewster?!)

And this was my costume for Future Day in elementary school. It’s a bit crazy that I thought the future was a place where we’d have so much smog we couldn’t breathe clean air. My costume was a mask with an oxygen tank on my back made from an egg carton. Kind of scary how our current day is a place where we fear the air we are breathing.

Thank goodness, we don’t have to wear tin foil covered milk jugs on our heads. I much prefer wearing the Best Fit Face Mask, a more form-fitted cloth mask with adjustable ties around the ears to fit a wider variety of faces (and keep from irritating the ears after wearing for long periods of time). The mask pattern also has an optional filter pocket, should you need the extra protection (although, frankly it gets harder to breathe the more layers you add.)

Here are a few details about the mask:

  • Two Sizes (Medium and Large)
  • Easy to Sew
  • Filter Pocket
  • Adjustable Nose Clip
  • Fitted around nose, chin and cheeks
  • Less Fabric Waste

Are you ready to make your own Best Fit Face Mask?
Click here to be taken to the full instructions with video and downloadable instruction sheet with templates!

One more thing, I share several options for materials, especially because there seems to be a shortage of elastic.

 

Prefer to purchase a Best Fit Face Mask? This is the link to the database of sellers.

166 replies
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    • Brittany Bailey
      Brittany Bailey says:

      Yes, but I don’t have any kids to test on. Because children are a wide variety of sizes, you will need to downsize the template by printing the medium mask smaller. From limited testing, we found reducing the medium mask by 12% when printing yielded a mask that fit a four year old, but was still too big for a two year old.

      Reply
  1. sue weston
    sue weston says:

    thank you for your wonderful tutorial. so glad you included a pattern to use and if i have a problem i can com back to your tutorial. i will be making some today for hubby and me. i need to make him several as i’m sure he will loose them and get them dirty where they will be needing washed. i love the pattern for the inside liner so i can use a different color for hubs to know what is inside and outside. i never thought of a coffee flat bag tie. i just threw out and empty coffee bag this morning. i’m going to get it out of the garbage and wash it up and use it. i can’t thank you enough for this. thank you many times over.

    Reply
  2. Amy Smith Dundon
    Amy Smith Dundon says:

    Hi! Thanks for a great pattern. I made an alteration to the assembly process that really helped me. Before doing the foldover / hems on the top and bottom, I stacked the liner and the outside on top of each other and sewed them together along the nose / chin seams I had previously sewn and then snipped.

    It made it way easier to work from there and finish the mask.

    Hope you are safe and healthy!

    Reply
  3. psmanna
    psmanna says:

    I wanted to make myself a mask, my daughter, her husband and my grandsons. Plus, a few friends. I went out to get some elastic and material. You can guess what happened. I came home empty handed.
    Desperate measures.. I started cutting the elastic out of my underwear.
    Then, I went online and your best fitting mask was the first thing that my eyes.
    I used your t-shirt and bead idea to replace the elastic.

    THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO SHARE!!!
    I believe you will love it.

    To make my nose pieces I used my kitchen shares to cut a disposable aluminum backing pan into strips. Then, I carefully folded the pieces four times about 1/4 wide and cut them to desired length. I covered some of them with electrical tape but stopped because I was concerned about what would happen to the tape in the washer.

    I wish there were some way I could send you a picture.
    To make the liners. I took the filling out of a pillow, washed the outside cover and cut it to the pattern.
    Finally, I used pillow cases for the outer cover.
    Grand total 99cent for the beads

    Bonus. . When it’s all over I have a reason to get new pillows and a set of cases.

    Thank you for the pattern. It was easy to make and comfortable to wear.

    Reply
  4. Melinda Sue
    Melinda Sue says:

    Will you ever make + sell any of your masks? I used to sew, & do many crafts, really, but with my adverse health, which generates severe neuropathies, I’m unable to do much of anything with my poor hands now. I have to wear masks most of the time as my immune system is compromised, & it’s next to impossible to find surgical masks, or good-fitting cloth masks. I’m very interested in your design + style. Please help.. 🙏 Thank you & God bless. 😊

    Reply
  5. Cherie in Pacifica
    Cherie in Pacifica says:

    Hello there, just wanted to thank you for the amazing, clear, instructions. I hadn’t sewn in years, and tried four other patterns, but loved yours best. Thank you! Have any of your readers sent feedback as to what scaling works best for small children? My kids are 4 and 6, and I’d like to make some for them and their friends. I’m thinking something like 70% would do the trick, but figured you may have received feedback from others.
    Thank you again for helping us protect and entertain our communities through these fun masks!

    Reply
    • Brittany Bailey
      Brittany Bailey says:

      Because children are a wide variety of sizes, you will need to downsize the template by printing the medium mask smaller. From limited testing, we found reducing the medium mask by 12% when printing yielded a mask that fit a four year old, but was still too big for a two year old.

      Reply
  6. Merrily
    Merrily says:

    I just finished making one! Thank you for the pattern and video instructions. I made it from materials I had in my home. I used half a pipe cleaner folded over and encased it in double fold bias tape before inserting it in my cotton fabric. Since I only needed one for my personal use, I just made a loop of 1/4″ baby elastic instead of making it adjustable (used about 8″ on each side). I used the large pattern and it fit fine over the nose and out to the ears but was a bit long in the chin, so I just folded it under after it was done and tacked it. I will now be comfortable and stylish when I need to shop for essentials!

    Reply
  7. Sheryl Swayze
    Sheryl Swayze says:

    I love this pattern, thank you for sharing it! Will it work to use cloth ties that can be tied behind the head?

    Reply
  8. Elizabeth
    Elizabeth says:

    Your pattern is fantastic! I made one for myself, then printed out the medium at 90% scale to make a slightly smaller one for my wife, to fit her better. I love the tip to use t-shirt material for the elastic bands. I have some fabric left over from making leggings, and the spandex content makes it comfortable and super stretchy. Definitely a challenge to thread through the bead, but very secure once it’s in there. Well done, and thank you for publishing this!

    Reply
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