MIRIN SCASSELLATI
Designer, Maker, Student
Cloth Masks (COVID-19 Protection)
(Spring 2020)
This project began in March of 2020, when I wanted to find a way to support the delivery workers and other essential personnel who made it possible for my family to stay home during the beginning of the pandemic. I began making cloth masks, which we put in bags and left on the mailbox for essential workers to take.
My mom got involved in the sewing, and we started making masks for Masks4Medicine. After sharing the project on social media, several family friends (working in healthcare/food delivery/etc) reached out and asked if we could make them masks, too. All of the masks were made from leftover pieces of quilting fabric from other projects.
.jpg)
When it become clear the pandemic was not going away quickly, we started making masks for the general community. Repurposing an old sandwich board sign, we created a display for the masks, which we put out by the road for anyone who drove by to see. We also made 100 masks to deliver in low-income communities. In total, I think we ended up making over 350 masks.
_JPG.jpg)
This is the pattern I used, compiled from several other patterns on the internet in order to generate a pattern that was both effective and easy to create in large quantities.
Note: By adjusting the sizes of the fabric and elastic, it is possible to create larger/smaller masks (including kids' masks). Some trial and error may be helpful to find the best size mask for you/your family!
(originally created for social media and for my school's newspaper)