No-Sew Face Mask with Pocket for Removable Filter

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All you need to make this No-Sew Face Mask with Filter Pocket is a t-shirt, scissors, and a stapler. It’s true… You do NOT need to sew to create a reusable, washable, cloth face mask with a filter pocket. Within minutes, you will have a reusable t-shirt face mask that is super comfortable and easy to wash and wear, again and again.

Covering your face is about helping others. By covering your face when you go out for essential reasons, you are being a good neighbor and community member.
SF.gov

In many places, wearing a face covering is now required. For instance, LAX airport has started requiring face coverings along with many grocery stores. While face mask requirements vary across different states and countries, the trend is moving toward people wearing face coverings more often.

But what do you do if you don’t sew and you want a good cloth face mask that is comfortable to wear and you can wash and reuse?

You simply grab a good quality t-shirt, a pair of scissors, a stapler, and some disposable coffee filters…

 

For the last two months, I have been spending all my spare hours at my sewing machine sewing face masks.

In March, after reading and testing different patterns, methods, and measurements, I made my own DIY Face Mask Pattern.

I based my face mask pattern on the surgical mask style which uses pleats to provide the ease and space to breathe around the mouth and nose. I also used a layer of non-woven interfacing as a filter and used wire and pipe cleaners along the top and bottom of the mask to create a tight fit.

I am thrilled with this cloth face mask design and I have had great feedback from the people who are wearing the masks I have made. It is a comfortable mask that is snug and fits well.

But if you don’t have a sewing machine and you want a mask that fits well and is washable, reusable, and even has a pocket for a filter, I have designed a NO-SEW version of my popular face mask pattern.

The No-Sew Version of our Popular Cloth Face Mask Pattern

All you need to make this cloth face mask is a t-shirt, scissors, and a stapler. Yes – a stapler!

For the side “seams” of this no-sew cloth face mask, I have used a stapler to secure the pleats.

If after multiple washes your staples begin to rust, you can simply remove the staples and replace them with new staples.

Alternatively, you can hand-sew the pleats in place. If you do have a needle and thread and you don’t mind taking a bit of extra time sewing your pleats in place, you can pin the pleats and then stitch to secure.

Because t-shirts are made from knit fabric, the fabric doesn’t unravel and fray like woven fabrics do. So using t-shirt fabric to make these masks allows us to not have to finish/sew the cut edges.

Of course, you are not limited to just using t-shirts to make these masks. You can use any cotton knit fabric.

I made some children sized masks out of this knit dress my niece has outgrown.

To make stretchy, comfortable ties for your face mask that will securely hold your mask in place, all you need to do is cut 3/4″ wide strips of your t-shirt fabric.

Once again, the stretchy knit fabric allows us to make no-sew ties. We don’t have to worry about the edges of our straps fraying, so we don’t need to sew them or create enclosed folds as we do when we make bias tape from woven fabric.

With the knit fabric, when we stretch and pull the cut strips, the knit fabric rolls and creates perfect soft and stretchy straps for our face masks.

For more details and a tutorial video on creating knit straps for face masks, click over to our post, How to Make Ties for Face Masks using Knit Fabric – Easiest Face Mask Straps.

 

 

How To Add Another Layer of Protection

You can add even more protection to your homemade face mask by adding a nylon overlay around the face mask.

Simply cut a section of nylon about 10″ long from the leg of from a pair of pantyhose. Then pull that ring of nylon over your head and place it over the face mask.

As has been previously observed by Cooper et al. (1983), adding a layer of nylon stocking over the masks minimized the flow of air around the edges of the masks and improved particle filtration efficiency for all masks, including all commercial products tested.

medRxiv.org

Loretta Fernandez from Northeastern University explains in this NPR article that the tighter seal is key in improving the function of the masks. She said, “It really improved the performance of all of the masks, and it brought several of them up and over the baseline mask we were using, which was a 3M surgical-type mask.”

Since cloth face masks do not offer the level of protection that medical masks provide, we normally wear homemade face masks to help protect other people from any potential germs we may have. But, when you want your homemade mask to help protect yourself, it is encouraging to know that adding a nylon overlay could help improve the protection your mask provides.

While you may not want to add a nylon overlay on top of your no-sew face mask every time you go out… I think it is a smart tip for when you are going to have increased risk of exposure.

For instance, if your family member is sick and you have to care for them at home, it could be helpful to add an extra layer of safety by pulling a piece of nylon over your homemade mask.