How to sew a handkerchief

Handkerchief is one of the essential items to carry with you. It is not only practical (you will find lots of time you need to wipe your hands or face, or tie your hair up and all you need is to pull your handkerchief out), but can also be a sign of your personality. Put a design on the corner of the handkerchief, and you have a unique item that belongs only to you!

Many people make handkerchiefs for themselves and also to give. Handkerchiefs with unique designs make great presents – imagine your beloved ones always keep your handkerchief with them. Quite a happy feeling, isn’t it? I do make a lot of handkerchiefs to use and give to my family and friends.

Sewing a handkerchief is also a simple project that does not take you much time or require much sewing skill. You only need to know how to sew a straight line, with sewing machine or just your hands, to make your own handkerchief. It is also a pleasant activity, when you are tired of making complex projects!

And the best thing is that it does not require you much fabric – a yard of 60 inch wide fabric can make 20 handkerchiefs!

Now let’s get started!

What you’ll need:

1. Materials

– A piece of cloth/fabric of your choice

– Thread of similar color to the main color of the fabric

2. Tools

– Scissors

– Ruler or tape measure

– Pencil/fabric marker

– Needle (for hand sewing) or sewing machine

How to make your own handkerchief in just 3 simple steps:

1. Iron and lay the fabric flat

2. Cut the fabric into your desired measurements

Measure the fabric using your ruler or tape measure and draw the lines to get a square. The handkerchief can be made in any size that you want. For example, the most common handkerchiefs often measure at 10 ½ x 10 ½ in.

Always remember to leave about ¼ in for seam allowance if you don’t want the handkerchief coming out smaller than you expect. Cut the fabric ¼ in from the lines, or if you are not confident with cutting parallel to the lines, draw before cutting.

3. Sew it

Fold all four sides of the fabric and make a narrow hem with a straight line. If you do not have a sewing machine, it’s fine, you can always hand sew it. Check my video for hand sewing instruction of how to make your own handkerchief. I can show you how to sew a hand rolled hem.

If you are using a sewing machine, it may get a bit tricky at the corners. You can get by it after practicing. But personally, I love hand sewn handkerchiefs, just because I love the softer hand rolled hem.

This is how you sew a narrow hem.

4. Decorate the handkerchief (optional)

There are many ways you can make your handkerchief unique. Doodle on it with permanent marker. Or embroider your name or something cute on it.

Just a small heart at the corner, and it makes the handkerchief special!

These are some embroidered handkerchiefs to inspire you with ideas. Do they look cute to you?

Simple DIY fabric face mask with filter pocket (no pattern or sewing machine needed!)

Hi there,

Staying at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic with nothing to do seems to make me more creative than ever! And after a few days of making mask non-stop, it seems like I have overthrown the claim of the easiest face mask ever, because I have found a totally new way of making a fabric face mask which is even easier than that. You can make it – even without a sewing machine. All you have to do is sewing straight lines and do some fold. An easy task for some extra protection against the highly infectious COVID-19 virus.

And here is a simple photo tutorial of this easy DIY fabric mask with filter pocket.

What you’ll need:

– Needle and thread

– 1 piece of fabric with measurements below

– 2 pieces of 12.5cm (5in) long elastic cord (or strips cut from old T-shirt, pantyhose, bias tape, etc., anything that you can get your hands on

If you are looking for materials to make face mask, visit our little store here:

https://fayrie.com/

We have plastic nose wire, elastic, non-woven fabric for filters, anti-microbial fabric masks, hand made fabric masks to meet your needs. All items are ready in stock and will be shipped from Toronto, Canada. Same day shipping for orders before 3:00 PM. Free standard shipping for orders from US$75.00.

Fabric measurements:

For men, 20cm * 40cm (8in * 16in)

For women and teens, 18cm * 36cm (7 1/8 in * 14 1/4 in)

For kids, 16cm * 32cm (6 1/4 in * 12 1/2 in)

Sewing instruction:

Step 1: Fold one short end of the fabric piece twice to the wrong side and sew a narrow hem. Repeat with the other end. Draw two lines according to the picture shown below.

Step 2: Fold the fabric (right side of fabric facing in).

Step 3: Sew along the sides, leaving the top (with hemmed end) open.

Step 4: Trim the corners, turn the fabric inside out. Press if necessary. You will get something similar to a small pillow cover.

Step 5: Draw the center line of the mask. Draw two parallel lines 5cm (2in) from the center line (the red lines).

Step 6: Make a box pleat from the lines and pin to secure.

Step 7: Top stitch around the side of the mask, securing the pleat, leaving an opening at the top of the mask (with the flap). This is where you insert your filter in.

Step 8: Attach elastic to the sides of the mask. Actually you can do this from step 2, but because this tutorial is intended for inexperienced sewers, I think adding the elastic at this last step is easier.

And here is the view for two sides of the mask. You can see the flap at the inside side of the mask.

You can put the filter in from the top of the mask:

And this is the mask on the very reluctant model (aka my hubby):

I definitely think that this DIY mask is better than any other masks, because it is quick to make and still has the ‘pocket’ to put the filter in for extra protection. It only requires a small piece of fabric (and as I have tried, a pillow cover can make up to 8 masks of this type). It is so simple that anyone can make it, even without a sewing machine.

The mask fits nicely on the face, even without nose wire. However, if you want to add one, just put it inside the top of the mask.

Now let’s try to make more masks. I am making and donate a dozen of them to the hospitals.

See my other posts in the DIY masks series here:

Classic fitted face mask

Folded face mask style 1

Folded face mask style 2

How to use your face mask the right way

Face mask filter materials – what can we use for DIY face masks?

Stay home, sew masks, save lives!

Love,

Tiana

The Easiest DIY Face Mask Ever (No Pattern Needed) – With Photo Tutorial

As the COCID-19 pandemic continues to worsen day by day, I have been staying at home and making as many masks as possible to donate to hospitals. It is also a good chance for me to make new friends who are also sewers, and they are cutting all the fabric they have in hand – bed sheets, old shirts, pants – to make masks. I believe that although we are not frontline workers who directly fight against the coronavirus, we can help.

Not long ago, I came across a video on Facebook (and I forgot to save the link) of a group of scientist in Czech. They explained why Czech seemed to be quite peaceful in this COVID-19 crisis. They did everything similar to what Canada, the U.S and other governments do: telling people to stay at home, practice social distancing, cough/sneeze etiquette. But one thing that they did differently: requiring everyone, yes, everyone, not only the ones who were already sick, to wear mask when they are out. They proved that 95% of the droplets emitted when someone cough or sneeze are caught inside the mask (no matter if it is a medical grade mask, or a simple homemade mask). And when everyone wears mask, people are protecting each other from the pandemic. Thousands of people in Czech have started sewing masks at the early stage of the pandemic, and everyone in the country was provided with masks.

I also believe that this is a great way to prevent the spread of the COVID-19. After all, if we all wear masks, I protect you, you protect me, and we can all win. That’s why I have been making masks an give them away. I hope that we can all have at least a few masks to wear, not only to protect ourselves, but also protect others.

I also give out materials to local sewers in Toronto to make face masks. I do not have much, but some elastic, non-woven fabric, nose wire can help people, and I am happy about that. I also sell them in my small shop for just a small amount of money to cover the cost of me buying them and giving out.

I am so touched when I receive little gifts from other sewers who came and take the elastic or nose wire hung in front of my door. And I am happy to make new friends in this difficult time (although we never really meet because of social distancing). This really helps me to overcome the boring days inside the four walls.

By the way, I discovered a totally new way to sew a mask. It is so simple that it does not require a pattern, and the only sewing skill that you need is sewing straight lines. I am making masks in this way and think that it is so much faster than the previous ones (the classic fitted mask and the folded mask).

The fit of this style is similar to the folded mask, and it is easy to add a pocket for filter.

Let’s start making this new style of mask – I name it The Easiest DIY Face Mask Ever!

If you are looking for materials to make face mask, visit our little store here:

https://fayrie.com/

We have plastic nose wire, elastic, non-woven fabric for filters, anti-microbial fabric masks, hand made fabric masks to meet your needs. All items are ready in stock and will be shipped from Toronto, Canada. Same day shipping for orders before 3:00 PM. Free standard shipping for orders from US$75.00.

Step 1: Cut a rectangular piece of fabric on fold. If you have smaller pieces of fabric or want different color at each side, you can cut 2 pieces. The dimension:

– Female face: 17.5cm x 20.5cm (6.89in x 8.07in)

– Male face: 21.5cm x 23.5cm (8.47in x 9.25in)

– Kid’s face: 15cm x 18cm (5.9in x 7.1in)

Step 2: Place the pieces right side facing and sew around, leave a small opening.

Step 3: Clip the corner and turn the mask inside out.

Step 4: Insert the nose wire through the opening (you can skip this if you don’t have one). Fold the opening in, hold the nose wire closely to the edge and topstitch all around.

Here’s how it looks after topstitching.

Step 5: Fold the mask and draw 4 lines as shown in the picture.

Step 6: Sew the 4 lines that you drew, backstitch to secure.

And this is the front.

Step 7: Attach a 12.5cm/5in long elastic cord to each side of the mask. You can replace elastic with long fabric strings and tie at the back of your head. The length of the elastic may vary depending on the elasticity of your material, so feel free to try before actually sewing it in.

And voilà! You got it – the Easiest DIY Face Mask Ever. Do you believe me now? I bet you can never find any other easier one with this nice fit.

And here is a summary of the steps in case you want to save it to your device:

I also have a version of this mask with pocket. I will update the post soon, with a video tutorial.

Now, grab your scissors and start cutting fabric. Masks for all!

Also, if you wonder what materials can be used to make face mask filter, read this post: DIY face mask filter materials

Happy sewing, and stay safe!

Tiana

Easy homemade face mask with photo tutorial

The world is now falling apart with this hateful coronavirus. I read the news every day and find my heart heavy with more and more confirmed cases and deaths. And I feel even sadder with the attitude of many people. They stock up on all neccessity just like they are seeing doomsday. Many elderly cannot get the things they need because younger and stronger people collected them all.

My mother says this is the worst thing ever happens in her 70-year long life – not the pandemic, but the panic that causes shortage of face masks, toilet paper, instant noodles and other neccessities.

I feel that we need to share more. Don’t rush to the supermarkets and grab all the toilet paper and hand sanitizers, leave some for people behind you. Don’t act like there will be nothing left if you don’t take some stuffs home. The stores will restock next day. You cannot use up a whole pack of toilet paper in just one day, right?

Now back to the main topic today.

The post that has most views on my blog recently is the one about face mask pattern. I know that it reaches people all around the world and feel so happy to see that I can help.

Many people sent me messages about not being able to follow my instruction to sew the mask because they have never sewn before. And I think I should look for a simpler pattern, one that requires less skill, and can still be protective against the (probably airborne) COVID-19 virus.

And there it is, the simplest pattern that I share with you today. It takes only a few minutes from start to finish.

The best thing about this mask is that you don’t need a pattern to sew it. Just draw a rectangle with a few additional lines, and you are ready to sew. Please see the picture below for specific measurements.

If you are looking for materials to make face mask, visit our little store here:

https://fayrie.com/

We have plastic nose wire, elastic, non-woven fabric for filters, anti-microbial fabric masks, hand made fabric masks to meet your needs. All items are ready in stock and will be shipped from Toronto, Canada. Same day shipping for orders before 3:00 PM. Free standard shipping for orders from US$75.00.

Folded face mask pattern

Sewing instruction:

Step 1: Cut 2 layers (you can add more layers for more protective masks).

Step 2: Put the fabric right sides together, sew along the black dashed lines and leave small openings to turn the fabric inside out.

Step 3: Turn the fabric inside out, press to flatten it (if necessary).

Step 4: Fold the fabric and sew along the two dashed lines.

Step 5: Fold one short end twice to hide the raw edge, sew it to make a tube to insert elastic. Repeat with the other side.

Step 6: Thread a 25cm/10in elastic through each tube and tie it. Hide the knot inside the tube. You can adjust the length of the elastic if needed.

Tada! You’ve made it – a really simple and useful mask!

My friend made a bunch of them and really liked this design because it’s easier and faster to make than the previous one.

This is how it looks on the face. Well-fitted and quite comfortable.

Hope you guys will love it. Don’t forget that masks cannot 100% protect you from the virus. What you need to do is to refrain from going to crowded places, keep a safe distance from others, and most importantly, WASH YOUR HANDS REGULARLY and DON’T TOUCH YOUR MOUTH, EYES OR NOSE!!!

Stay safe, my friends.

Love,

Tiana