Not quite masked
I had wanted to print off the templates I'd found, so I could try my hand at making some masks. My printer was not cooperating yesterday. That made me frustrated, and I was already tired, so I gave up. Today, with the computer having been turned off and restarted, and I had an idea of how to try to print the templates, I gave it another shot. Sometimes I think the computer doesn't like printing from certain files--I'd tried printing a .PDF and a .JPEG--so I had the idea to try and copy a .JPEG into a text document to see if that would work. It did, with the NY Times mask template, the rectangular one with pleats. Okay, phew. The file I'd saved was a .JPEG to begin with. And I thought to try the other pattern straight from the .PDF, which also worked. Thank goodness. It's such a hassle to print in the first place for whatever reason, and to now have to convert the .PDF to a .JPEG, which made the file look not as clean, did not make me happy.
Okay. I have the templates; now to cut out a template I can use. I decided to keep the printed pages as they were and I traced them onto a sheet of tissue paper. It wasn't until I went to trace the tissue paper template onto a piece of construction paper that I realized, hey, the NYT one is really straightforward--a 9.5" x 6.5" rectangle, plus a strip (18" x 0.75") for the ties--that I could've just done that directly on construction paper. Which I ended up doing. Yeah, I don't work off a pattern, like, ever. The ruler I use is actually 1.5" wide, so I ended up making a strip 18" x 1.5" (which involved taping paper together) with a mark in the middle to show where to cut it in half. You need four strips total for the ties.
I have started on the NYT one first as that seemed to be easier. Or, well, the instructions printed out on one sheet of paper, better than the 17-page PDF for the Craft Passion one. I am not going to try to print it out at this time, meaning I'd have to do all my work in the computer room. I'm not looking to do that right now. I just want to see how doable these are for me, especially since I'm doing them by hand. Heck, if I could turn a pullover hoodie into a zip-front, this shouldn't be that bad, right?
The fabric I'm using is from an old pair of work pants. It has kind of a funky texture to it, in part because it's multiple colors woven together. I am finding out that this was not the best choice of fabric, heh. Oh well. I had an a-ha moment when I realized that, hey, there's already a seam in this pants leg; if I make one of the edges along this seam, that's one less seam I have to sew. At this point I'm on the strips for the ties. Cutting the long strip of fabric in half wasn't too bad, but there are also sorts of little threads hanging out from the different colors, and the ends curl in for whatever reason. I now have to fold the edges toward the center, then fold that whole thing in half, so that I can sew the strip closed and not have any of the cut edges out. I've only finished one of those strips so far, because I have to tack the rough edges down, then pin them together, and then sew. This also might be easier with a different fabric.
I ended up raiding the linen closet looking for straight pins. We have a bunch of sewing stuff in there, and my personal sewing stash only has safety pins; straight pins are faster. In doing so, I found my grandfather's sewing stuff, which included a dressmaker's tracing pencil, which is VERY exciting (I used Sharpie on this, on the inside of the fabric, because black is one of the thread colors and it's pretty dark). I also found a piece of fabric in our stuff that came from some sort of Marie Osmond set, and it looks like it'll be another good candidate for mask material. So, I still have a ways to go until I have a finished mask, but I'm making progress. I can't get any further until I have all four tie strips ready to go.
Okay. I have the templates; now to cut out a template I can use. I decided to keep the printed pages as they were and I traced them onto a sheet of tissue paper. It wasn't until I went to trace the tissue paper template onto a piece of construction paper that I realized, hey, the NYT one is really straightforward--a 9.5" x 6.5" rectangle, plus a strip (18" x 0.75") for the ties--that I could've just done that directly on construction paper. Which I ended up doing. Yeah, I don't work off a pattern, like, ever. The ruler I use is actually 1.5" wide, so I ended up making a strip 18" x 1.5" (which involved taping paper together) with a mark in the middle to show where to cut it in half. You need four strips total for the ties.
I have started on the NYT one first as that seemed to be easier. Or, well, the instructions printed out on one sheet of paper, better than the 17-page PDF for the Craft Passion one. I am not going to try to print it out at this time, meaning I'd have to do all my work in the computer room. I'm not looking to do that right now. I just want to see how doable these are for me, especially since I'm doing them by hand. Heck, if I could turn a pullover hoodie into a zip-front, this shouldn't be that bad, right?
The fabric I'm using is from an old pair of work pants. It has kind of a funky texture to it, in part because it's multiple colors woven together. I am finding out that this was not the best choice of fabric, heh. Oh well. I had an a-ha moment when I realized that, hey, there's already a seam in this pants leg; if I make one of the edges along this seam, that's one less seam I have to sew. At this point I'm on the strips for the ties. Cutting the long strip of fabric in half wasn't too bad, but there are also sorts of little threads hanging out from the different colors, and the ends curl in for whatever reason. I now have to fold the edges toward the center, then fold that whole thing in half, so that I can sew the strip closed and not have any of the cut edges out. I've only finished one of those strips so far, because I have to tack the rough edges down, then pin them together, and then sew. This also might be easier with a different fabric.
I ended up raiding the linen closet looking for straight pins. We have a bunch of sewing stuff in there, and my personal sewing stash only has safety pins; straight pins are faster. In doing so, I found my grandfather's sewing stuff, which included a dressmaker's tracing pencil, which is VERY exciting (I used Sharpie on this, on the inside of the fabric, because black is one of the thread colors and it's pretty dark). I also found a piece of fabric in our stuff that came from some sort of Marie Osmond set, and it looks like it'll be another good candidate for mask material. So, I still have a ways to go until I have a finished mask, but I'm making progress. I can't get any further until I have all four tie strips ready to go.