And even more face masks (contoured!)

 What can I say? This is definitely the season of face mask sewing.  I found a "hack tutorial" for improving this pattern - and the ironic thing is that if you go back to the original pattern, they have updated it to add another size and most of the improvements from the "hack tutorial." So now there are sizes 3-6y, 7-12y, teen-adult woman, adult man. And there are instructions for adding a filter pocket (though their pattern still has only two layer) and a nose wire.

Here we have my latest sewing.....all of these are for friends/family. In this particular photo, the beer print is adult male, the Star Wars Halloween is child 7-12y, and the other three are all teen-adult woman. None have a nose wire, because I hadn't figured out a sleeve for it yet or gotten wire that can go through the wash. Not pictured is my son's all white (by request) mask, in which I did put a sleeve for the pipecleaner nose wire.

Another batch for friends/family - these are all teen-adult woman.

Last but not least, another adult man. This time I did put a sleeve in (3/4" twill tape) and pipecleaners for a nose wire. But I completely forgot to get a pic of the inside. Oops!

Still more to come! I've already got another 16 cut out......

Lots More Face Masks! (Pleated ones)

 I've been kind of on a roll here, making masks for friends and family who need/want them. I wish I could find where I got this tutorial, but I have no idea. However, there are plenty out there. This is a two-layer pattern with a pocket to insert a filter of choice. The original pattern called for elastic loops, but I am low on elastic and changed it to ties. In some of these, I use grosgrain ribbon. In others, twill tape. Just depended on what I had and what went with it.

The top (banana) mask is a size large. The others are small. All are for friends/colleagues.

Both of these two are for me, to wear during surgery and extend the life of my surgical paper mask. I found that with the size small, it was difficult to carefully insert the surgery mask into the pocket - just not *quite* big enough. So I wore the fabric mask over the paper one, in case of any....mishaps.

These are both size small, for colleagues.

This is a size large, for a family member. The size large is the same height as the small, but it adds about an inch of width for more coverage.

And here you can see the pocket.

There's also a spot to sew in a nosewire. I used pipe cleaners folded on themselves and twisted together while I wait for my wire to come in. And after the first few, I decided to sew the channel open-ended, to allow for removal for washing or to replace it as needed. I think that might be a better idea, especially when using pipe cleaners.

Another pair of ruffly little girl PJs!

Well, it took awhile, but I'm granting my niece's wish for new ruffly PJs. This is again KS 213, but in a bug flannel this time. And the contrasting sleeves and ruffle are because this is deep stash, and I didn't have enough. But I think it looks super cute! This is cut in a M.

And I'm not done yet!

Ruffly girl PJs

So way back probably almost 2 years ago, I decided that my niece would like some new PJs, and I cut out KS 213. Since this was the first try, I used a flannel from deep stash. But I bought ribbon to go with it and dress the front up a bit. I cut out size S and started in, and then my serger was misbehaving, and the ruffles were a bit daunting, and life happened. So it was about a year ago that I finally decided to take the bull by the horns and finish. And they're super cute!

You can see the colors better here.

And the pattern comes with doll sizes!

My niece was very happy with the new PJs, but the pants were snug and short, largely because I'd taken so long to sew them after cutting them out. I had enough of the flannel left that I simply cut a new pair of pants one size up, and I gave her the bigger pants when she came to visit last fall. And then, of course, she told me how much she loved them and wanted more. :)

TARDIS scraps

I have a fair bit of TARDIS fabric left over from my friend's Cocoon Cardigan (last year's birthday gift). So I had to add a few items. She has a PICC line in for medical treatments, and I had heard that a cover would be really helpful. So I started with that (left), and I'll be tweaking it a bit based on her feedback to make more.

Then we get to the head coverings. Patterns for Pirates was a great help here, as I got both free patterns from their Christmas freebies. The slouchy headwarmer (top right) was a freebie from 2017, and the slouchy beanie (bottom right) was a freebie from 2016. Both were super quick to stitch up, and I'm sure there will be many more. This was just a test to see how they fit and whether she liked them.

More face masks

Back in February, I made some fabric face masks for my buddy. She really liked them, and she told me she preferred the shaped ones, that they fit her face better. So I included two new ones in her birthday box.

These are also made from scraps. This time, I took a hint from another mask maker and made the layers separate at the short sides, so that she can insert a filter of her choice, if desired. I'm going to make some modifications to the next ones - possibly use more layers, as the other person did - hers were two layers for "outer" and two for "pocket" so that both sets were lined and had no raw edges to cover.

Also, I think that my next ones will use ties instead of elastic. We'll see...but if I start making them for others, the ties are more adjustable.

Finally able to sew again!

I had wrist surgery in February and haven't been able to sew until now. My wrist isn't where I'd like it to be, but I keep reminding myself that it will get better and stronger. In the meantime, at least I'm finally able to sew again!

And just in time. One of my besties had a birthday, and I needed to stitch some gifts!  First up, new fuzzy warm PJ pants! I cut these before surgery but didn't have time to sew them. This is B6887 as sized for my sister-in-law. I compared my usual PJ pants pattern that I use for her to this one, and it looked pretty spot on. I wanted to use a one-piece PJ pants pattern for this fabric, to minimize seams. It turned out great, and she loves it!

It's a fuzzy microfleece from JAF. I bought it eons ago, during a sale. And I added a ninja tag to the center back! She practices martial arts, so I thought that would be super fun.