Basement Completed

そういえば地下室の私の新しい部屋完成しました。小さな窓しかなかった前の部屋に比べて、裏庭に出るドアと新しいLED照明のおかげでひっじょうに明るくて、素晴らしく気に入っています。今度は私の以前の部屋のペンキ塗りと床張りをして、オットの部屋にする予定。

My new room in the basement was completed and I moved in here last month. Thanks to the french door to the back yard and the LED lights, the room is so bright and airy. We are now painting my old room and will be putting in the same floor and making it to be MOTH's new room.

This is where we started:

and this is the completed room:

Sewing Face Masks 4

日本でも今頃になって「ステイホーム」対策が強化されて、今年のゴールデンウィークは寂しい連休になりそうね。
私はまだまだマスク作っています。もう200個以上作ったわよ。無償で作ってるので、「もう１０個欲しいです」とか言われるとちょっとむっとするけど（爆）
マスクを受け取ったクリニックから、サンキューカードと花束が届いたよ。感謝されるとうれしいね。

I'm still making masks. I have made over 200 at this point. I finally ran out of elastic but I ordered a new spool and it should arrive on Monday.

I did not like the pleated rectangle surgical mask style so I'm back to the Olson Mask pattern. I'm using a surgical wrap material so omitting the filter pocket, which makes it so much easier and faster to make.

I know many people are selling home made masks on Etsy and I kind of feel jealous, but I'm sticking to giving the masks away for free. I do get a bit pissed when I get a request saying "can we have 10 more?" from a business. I mean, I understand the masks are hard to come by, but if you are a business, they should pay for the masks, unless you are hospitals battling with the pandemic. Do they know how long it takes to make 10 masks? I'm not a factory!

I'm really feeling the "saying no" and "fair compensation for your work" debate... Why am I spending my precious time sewing masks and spending my own pocket money for the mask material for a business that can easily buy 10 home made masks from Etsy? I'm more than happy to make 10 masks for a friend of a friend who needs the masks for his family and neighbors or something, but a request from a business really puts me on a fence.

But then, a clinic I made the masks for their staff sent me flowers and a thank you card and it boosted my volunteering spirit. So my solitary mask making volunteer goes on.

I gave Phantom a new quarantine hair style. Doesn't he look happy? Reminds me of the kid that plays the piano in School of Rock. 

Sewing Face Masks 3

昨日スーパーに食料品の買い出しに行ったんだけど、まだまだうちの近所ではマスクつけてない人のほうが多かったです。田舎だからあまり危機感ないのね。
誕生日のプレゼントは何が欲しいか聞かれたので、今年の誕生日は「週末オフ」をもらいました。（いつまでも終わらないペンキ塗りとか庭仕事とかなし、ということ）
そんなゆっくりできる週末を利用して、マスク作りに励みました。
全部で４３個できました。３Dバージョンとサージカルマスクバージョン。

I went to a grocery store yesterday for my weekly grocery shopping. Surprisingly, majority of the people are still not wearing masks. (But some were wearing both masks and gloves.)

The Man of the House asked me what I wanted for my birthday, so I requested a "weekend off" and I got it. We have been working on the house every weekend so it was nice to have a "weekend off." Utilizing my weekend off, I made more masks.

In addition to the three-dimensional type masks, I made the surgical mask style pleated version as well. I made 43 masks total this weekend. Not too shabby.

Sewing Face Masks 2

アメリカでも、疾病予防管理センターが人々のマスク着用を推奨し始めました。
日本と違ってアメリカでは普段の生活でマスクをつける文化がないので、どんなに花粉症がひどくても、どんなに風邪ひいて咳・くしゃみをしていても、だれもマスクを着けません。
薬局でも日本ほどいろんなバラエティーのマスクが売ってるわけでもないし、基本的に誰もマスクをもってないのよ。
だから最後の手段として手作りマスクになるわけです。ミシン持ってなかったらバンダナとかしかないしね。
そんなわけで家族、お友達のためにいくつかマスクを作りました。私はあまりマスクにするのにいいような木綿の布をもっていないので（服にする布ってマスクにはむいてないからね）あまり数はできないけど。

It's interesting to see how resistant Americans are to wearing a face mask. In Japan, it's pretty normal for people to wear masks in public when they are sick from cold or having seasonal allergy symptoms. (Japan has a really large population of people who suffer hay fever. Decades of neglect from clearing woods and forest has dramatically increased the amount of pollen flying around during spring) If you go to a drug store, you can find a variety of different types and shapes of masks (though of course not right now), and many people do have masks with some filtration capability at home. I mean, the Prime Minister of Japan is talking in a press conference with a mask on. So, naturally, everyone in Japan is now wearing masks and if you are not wearing a mask, I'm sure people will look at you with an evil eye.

Anyway, I made more masks for family and friends. Again, I use the Olson Mask pattern, and using the disposable mask as a filter. This pattern is definitely not suited for mass making, but I was making only 14 so it was not too bad.

Unfortunately, I didn't have many quilting cotton at hand. These are pretty much just scraps I had kept from other projects.

Below is how it looks inside the mask with the disposable mask inserted as a filter. This one is my 2nd pair so that I can wear this one while my other pair is in a wash.

I kept the chin dart from my customization but didn't do the pleat at the side and left the side length as is. I cut the ear elastic long enough for people to adjust the fit. I also shaved off just a bit of the curve of inside pocket piece to reduce the bagginess inside (in the picture below, see the "Mouth 2" piece at left bottom row, the far left curve).

I know so many sewers are volunteering to make masks right now and I am planning to take some time off work to join the sewing marathon as soon as I get my supplies!

Sewing a Face Mask

非常に忙しくて、１か月以上ミシンに触ってもいなかったんだけど、最悪の事態に備えてマスク作りました。
我が家にはなぜか医療用使い捨てマスクがいくつもあるので、使い捨てマスクをフィルターとして中に入れられるようなマスクをつくりました。
そしてそんな使い捨てマスクについていた針金を再利用して鼻のとこフィットするようにもなっています。眼鏡も曇らなくてとてもよし。
無料ダウンロードの型紙を使ったんだけど、一つ作ってみたら顎と耳のとこフカフカするので顎にはダーツをつけて、耳のとこはプリーツにしたので超フィットです。

I had not even touched my sewing machine for over a month but just in case I need it, I made a face mask.

I used the Olson Mask pattern. You can download the pattern here and watch the video here. The pattern features a 3D style face mask that has a sleeve inside to insert a filter.

We had some surgical disposable masks at home so I took the metal piece out of the disposable mask and insert it in my mask and use the disposable mask as a filter.

I made a mock-up. The pattern is pretty good, but wanted to make it fit better on my face so I shortened the side, added a chin dart, and added a pleat at the side.

Thanks to the metal piece I inserted in the upper edge of the mask, the mask fits around the nose pretty well. No foggy glasses.

The mask goes under my chin and covers the entire bottom half of my face. I'm actually wearing it right now as I type and it's pretty comfortable to wear. This may not protect me from getting the virus but it will sure work well against pollen or when I have to do a dusty house project.

I wish I could sew these up to donate but my work is a bit too busy right now and I kind of burned out so I took a half day off today and made this mask. Anyway, I'm very happy with this very well fitted mask.