Not spending a lot of time writing this as I'm furiously making masks for family, friends and to donate to medical personnel. Here is what I'm doing.  I make NO claims that this stops the coronavirus / COVID-19, but the leadership / government is recommending that people wear them every time they leave their home.  Be safe and STAY HOME if at all possible!

I used this link https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Cloth-Face-Mask/ for the 'heavy duty' masks that I first made. The instructions are the greatest so I rewrote them. LMK if you want them and I will email to you. These masks also aren't the fastest, but I think they are the best I can make. There are other sites with patterns for kid-size.

On the first round, I used cotton or cotton/poly for the outside and heavy t-shirt for the inner layer then they can add whatever filter material. I found this kind of hard to breathe through.

On the second, I just used two layers of cotton or cotton/poly and am adding 2 layers of Zep industrial shop towels as the filter. Here's a link to the related article: Using blue shop towels in homemade face masks can filter particles 2x to 3x better than cotton, 3 clothing designers discover after testing dozens of fabrics

Using blue shop towels in homemade face masks can filter particles 2x to... Julie Bort Three clothing makers built their own particle-testing lab to design a better homemade surgical mask.

        

For 'wire', I'm using a 6" pipe cleaner. There are two ways to add the pipe cleaner. I've found that pinning it into place and sewing around it with a piping foot MUCH easier than trying to make a casing and inserting it. For the latter, pushing a 1/4" dowel through the nose casing helps get the wire through easier. 

Rather than elastic that is now hard to come by for the sides, I am cutting a piece of fabric 2" x 50" long then folding both sides to the center and folding again to make bias tape / iron and sew. I like the tie better because you can tie it closer to your face and less seepage on the sides. My nurse-friend said the nurses prefer the elastic, but I think they are wearing over their N95s.

The attachment titled How to Sew a Face mask is a more simplified mask. I am making these for people who are just wanting to extend the life of an N95 mask.

I'm going to try these next because there's not as many layers to sew through on the sides. HOW TO MAKE FACE MASK WITH FILTER POCKET AND ADJUSTABLE WIRE | SEWING TUTORIAL but again, will use the ties

HOW TO MAKE FACE MASK WITH FILTER POCKET AND ADJUSTABLE WIRE | SEWING TU... HOW TO MAKE FACE MASK WITH FILTER POCKET AND ADJUSTABLE WIRE | SEWING TUTORIAL SUBSCRIBE FOR LATEST UPDATE VIDEO...

LMK if you have questions via phone, Facebook or Messenger. Stay safe out there!