Face masks

More thoughts about how the corona virus changes things.

In Japan, or at least in my part of the country, we are doing fairly well.  The cases are still countable in our prefecture and as I don't have to use public transportation, I don't have to worry about catching something in transit.  The supermarkets are still stocked with the normal amount of food and I even saw some rolls of toilet paper yesterday when I was out shopping.  No hand sanitizer or face masks...

The lack of face masks has sent me questioning my health care beliefs.  I have never liked face masks (as old time blog readers may remember my peeves in posts past) and I still don't think they do a bit of good at protecting the wearer from germs and viruses.  They have always seemed like a psychological barrier that people like to put up.

But Japanese have always loved face masks and swear by them during the hay fever season as well as the flu season (and I don't have hay fever either so I wouldn't know).  I can understand wearing a face mask if you are already sick and want to protect other people from catching your germs and of course I obey the rules when visiting someone in a hospital by bringing along my own mask or getting one from the nurses station.

However since the Corona virus pandemic, EVERYONE wears masks all the time!  And again, this may be just the Japanese being very considerate and thoughtful, not a protection measure for themselves.

"I'm not sick but I don't want you to worry that I might have something and so I will wear this mask for YOUR peace of mind."

It is a form of social etiquette.

At church I've noticed that during the service everyone but the foreigners are wearing masks.  Of course in the supermarkets everyone wears masks.  Even yesterday when the English ladies came, I noticed that they wore their masks throughout the lesson (except when drinking their coffee) and they've NEVER done that before!  K-san even gave me 5 masks that she keeps in her bag because I admitted that I only had one or two and at this late date they can no longer be purchased...  Yes, I feel like I really should have bought a supply of face masks!  I feel like I am being inconsiderate when I go into a store and am not wearing a mask!  (So for yesterday's grocery shopping I pulled on one that I had put in my handbag the last time I went with Tetsu to the hospital for his cataract surgery.)

I mentioned this mask dilemma to Tetsu this morning and he said that he has felt the same glares and frowns when he goes somewhere without a mask.  He said that when he went to the local clinic to pick up some medicine he was the only person in the waiting room without a mask and when he sat down, the man in the next seat immediately got up and moved to another chair in a more crowded area...  maybe because he was worried about catching something from Tetsu who wasn't wearing a mask?

"We are going to have to rethink this mask policy of ours...  At the Home Owners' Association meeting one of the members was sermonizing about the importance of hand washing AND WEARING MASKS to keep everyone healthy and I sort of shrank in my seat...  I think I'm going to need to wear a mask at the next meeting.  But where are we going to get masks now?  They are sold out in the stores."

Aha!  Don't I have all that fabric upstairs in the sewing room?  Granted, a home made face mask isn't going to save us from a serious virus but it WILL give the people around us peace of mind and at least show that we are trying to be considerate...  I will make a mask!

Cut a piece of fabric 15 inches by 7.5 inches.  Zig-zag the two narrow ends.

Fold the fabric in half lengthwise, right sides together, and mark 1 1/2 inches from the edge on both sides of the unfolded end.  Sew to the marks on both sides.

Press the seam open.

Turn right side out, and top stitch one side of the seam from edge to edge (I'm not sure why not top stitch both sides of this seam but I didn't.)   Mark 1/2 inch up from this seam and iron the piece on the marked line.  (This brings that opening 1/2 inch down rather being at the top.)

Stitch close to the edges on all sides.

Insert a twisty tie into that 1/2 area above the opening and then stitch over the bottom stitch line, enclosing the twisty tie into the narrow area.

(Like this...  Insert.... and when it is tucked away, sew it in.)

From the opening/seam line, mark lightly at one inch intervals on both sides.  These will be the pleat lines...  If you want more pleats mark the number of places accordingly.  I put in three pleats so pleated at the inch 1 mark bringing it to the 2 inch mark, then the 3 inch mark to the 4 inch mark, etc...

Yeah.  Pleats made and pressed.  That's good enough for me.  Maybe you like your pleats more even....  I can't figure out where the marks should be then...  The pleated piece measured 3 3/4 inches deep for this mask.  Sew along both sides at the ends.

I didn't bother with bias.  I cut two rectangles a bit longer than the mask width and 2 1/2 inches wide.  (I didn't have enough of the floral fabric so made do.)

Sew on the side strips, fold over to hide the mask edges and top stitch the ends.

Add 10 inches of thin elastic, feed through the sides of the mask and tie the ends hiding them inside the mask ends.

That twisty tie inserted and sewn in makes for a bendable edge that fits along the nose tightly.

And the open pocket inside can be used for extra protection if you want to add a disposable gauze insert.

OOooh!  Scary!  Well, it works if that's all one has!

I made three masks today.  The gray one is for Tetsu and he was delighted!  He is going to see if the 100 yen store has a package of twisty ties (for staking up vegetable vines of all things!) and then he wants me to make a few more masks!