I have been working on my vegetable plants and herbs outside and the pollen count is high. There is yellow pollen on my porch and on my car that I parked outside of the garage.
When I went to the doctor’s office and I had a cough and had been on a plane, they gave me a surgical mask to use to go get tested for Covid-19.
The masks are disposable and you are supposed to throw them away after you use them. I put mine on because my friend was bringing me some groceries and I wanted to talk to her outside. We stayed 6 feet apart, but I still had the mask over my nose and mouth.
When she went back to her car to get more groceries, I lowered the mask and happened to sneeze. My friend told me that I was sneezing because of the pollen and not because of the virus. She does not believe that I have covert-19 and neither do I, but I am still following my doctors orders since I was not tested.
I decided to make myself a mask to use while working in my garden to limit my exposure to the pollen.
I watched a couple of videos on YouTube and found that it was very simple to make. I disassembled the elastic from my surgical mask and the metal strip that keeps the mask from slipping down your nose.
I just used fabric that I had available so that I could wash it and reuse it. I chose fabric that I could breathe through because it was hard to breathe with the surgical mask on for a long period of time.
I cut out a piece of paper that was 8 in. X 8 in to use as a pattern. Then I made the folds using the disposable surgical mask as a guide.
I chose to sew around the mask with a needle and thread as opposed to using my sewing machine.
The only reason that I sewed by hand is because my leather needle was still in my sewing machine and I just didn’t feel like changing out the needles.
The mask turned out very well and it fits me like a glove.
Enjoy your day.
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Hoping you really have hay fewer and no evil virus!!! I also pondered to sew such a mask, because I am allergic to the standard masks. I had to wear them constantly last year when I visited my father in hospital, and over time i developed an intense allergy. But I am still unsure how good the protection of these handmade masks is...
The mask that I made is primarily for pollen outside. It is not a substitute for a hospital mask or a surgical mask which has a specific porosity. You may be able to use a cloth mask with a standard coffee filter inside. The surgical masks have 3 layers. If I used my mask with the general public around, then I definitely would add another layer. Good luck.
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