With the recent government announcements surrounding Coronavirus it has been advised to wear a face mask in enclosed public spaces. Due to the shortage of PPE (personal protective equipment) in the UK it is important that people who want to use a mask resist the urge to buy PPE so that our NHS can use it instead. They can, however, make their own mask!

How do you make a fabric face mask and what pattern should I use?

Face coverings are really easy to make and Patrick Grant (from Great British Sewing Bee fame) has launched the Big Community Sew campaign to encourage everyone with a sewing machine to make face coverings, either for themselves or to help others. 

The website has two free patterns to choose from - a simple face covering design and a more advanced shaped face covering design - complete with sewing instructions and pattern templates. Both designs are just as effective so it doesn't matter which pattern you choose.

The purpose of wearing a face covering is to prevent you from potentially spreading Coronavirus to someone else. It's a misconception that face coverings are worn to prevent yourself from contracting the virus from someone else. There is a huge benefit if both people are wearing PPE though, as this helps both of them prevent the spread of infection. However it must be noted that fabric face masks are not a replacement for medical grade PPE, as they can still let small quantities of virus through the fabric. They can act as a barrier though - if you were to sneeze, for example - so it is better to wear one than wearing nothing at all. 

What fabric should I use to make a fabric face mask?

The best face coverings are:

• Comfortable
• Breathable
• Have a high thread count

High quality quilting cottons are an ideal fabric to use, the brand of fabric we would recommend is Art Gallery Fabrics as it is perfect for making face coverings. Art Gallery Fabrics are lightweight 100% premium cotton, they are soft to the touch and have a tight weave with a 205 thread count. Art Gallery Fabrics are also Oeko-Tex Certified, which means they are made using safe inks. 

You can find our full range of Art Gallery Fabrics here.

Another range we recommend is the Indah Batiks collection as batik fabrics also have a high thread count.

We hope you have found this information useful.