Who is that Masked Bandit?

COVID-19 precautions are urging all those who go outside to wear masks or face coverings of some kind, particularly when running necessary errands. Ever since the recommendation came out, DH has been asking me when I'm going to make some.  I knew there were many, many video tutorials on the interwebs but dreaded slogging through them to find one I liked and worked well. 

Since someone needs to keep the ice cream supply stocked in this house, I used a double over bandana on Thursday for the shopping run and that is NOT a good solution, fit wise. Nor did I like looking like a bandit, a bad bandit at that. 

The time had come for me to stop procrastinating and get busy. You all know I have enough fabric in this house! And I knew I didn't want to deal with elastic loops over my ears, especially since I wear glasses. 

Actually, the procrastinating worked in my favor for once! I was reading thru my favorite blogs and it turns out Bonnie Hunter combined the best of two masks into one, created a quick video, solved my 'No Elastic' restriction (and very creatively, I might add) and BAM! I had my plan! 

I am not going into the how-to here, just click the link above to see her post, complete with YouTube video.

I will mention the cool hack for the ties. Use an old T-shirt, one that has no side seams and cut 1 inch wide strips across the body, creating a loop. 

Then s-t-r-e-t-c-h the loop. the fabric lengthens, curls inward and forms a soft tie string. It's flipping brilliant!!

I made two in about a half hour but I wasn't rushing. If I decide to crank out more of them, I would set up a production line to be as efficient as possible. So far, 2 for me and 2 for DH and 1 for backup or someone else.  DH loves his masks, especially since they are large enough to fit his goatee! Making these masks only requires fabric, thread, t-shirt ties and time. 

And time I had yesterday.  Normally, my April is chock-a-block full of events, road trips, doings and more. Not this year. But just because all of those things were put on hold, and I'm working from home for the foreseeable future, didn't mean I couldn't use a break. Really? A staycation in the middle of a quarantine? 

YEP!

I took yesterday off! And while I though I'd spend a relaxing day at the sewing machine, responsibilities reared their ugly little heads. I pulled on my big girl panties and tackled filing our income tax returns, paid bills & did laundry before rewarding myself with machine time.  Would you believe it take twice as long to file the state return as it does the federal return? I only needed to print out 4 pages for the federal vs. 11 pages for the state! Yeah - that's crazy! But now the whole weekend is free to spend as I wish, with no big chores hanging over my head. Studio time for sure!