Need 7x9 rectangle, three folds . check out group face mask friends on FB. Lots of patterns in the files and help.

Why not ask him how much larger he wants it? He can measure his face.

Mine are 7X9, with three folds. But, yes, get his measurement.

I would have him put it on (at home) and his wife can measure about how much larger to make it. It might need only an inch more of fabric for both pieces. Most masks have three pleats but they don't have to have if the fit is good. I had to adjust the elastic length for me as the length specified was too long...but of course I didn't realize it until AFter I made it.

I would try the 7x9 with the 3 pleats as Okla suggested. With the 2 pleats it doesn't have enough room to expand. I would also use ties instead of elastic. The elastic might be to tight also preventing the pleats from expanding.

I've found out these masks aren't always one size fits all. I made the sculptured ones for family. My husband's I had to redo the elastic to go around the head because the ear loop elastic interferes with his hearing aids. I had to go up to the man size on me so it sits further up on my nose so it doesn't fog my glasses as much.

Google "mask for a nurse by a nurse". It is a similar mask to the one you have made, but has a dart at the top and another at the bottom. In my opinion, it fits better. It has ample room for nose and chin. That is the one I am making. And I don't use elastic for a couple of reasons. Once elastic is sewn in, it's harder to adjust. Some say elastic is uncomfortable behind the ears. And apparently the hoarding mentality has hit the crafting community and it's harder come by at a reasonable price.

Mask By A Nurse

The video that Raven posted earlier shows a mask made by a nurse, and it is very easy and straightforward.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5894421/mask-pattern-designed-by-a-nurse-super-easy#n=4

Your son might prefer the type of mask that is more form fitting with a piece of light metal at the nose. Here is a link for how to make them, and it includes a pattern you can print out. The patterns are sized for men, women, and children.

Form fitting masks from craftpassion.com

Here is the link to the man's size:
Pattern

Alisande - I tried making several different sizes before finding that cutting the fabric larger to end up with a finished size of 8" X 3" with three pleats works best for the people I made them for.

Gray wing that is the mask I made for my family. I made 10. I like the fit, it is more face forming than the pleated masks, less gaps, but they do run small. I had to make one size larger. I had to use the man size for the women and enlarge the mans pattern to fit a man. Same with the kids. I used the 2 inch bias tape so you can remove the nose wire before washing. I first used craft felt as the filter, but then switched to hepa vacuum bags. I was surprised that the vacuum bags made it easier to breath.

I added the Face mask - by a nurse to the Sewing section of Let's Get Crafty

Thanks, function, good to know that info about sizing. I haven't started sewing yet.

Alisande try the mask I posted by the nurse. It is super easy and it covers much more than the one you have.

My mask pieces are 9" wide by 8" high, 1/4" seams, 3 pleats each 1/2" deep. Am doing 6" of elastic on each side but my sil needed one with longer elastic so I did 7.5" for him

If you have them finish at 4" long and 7" wide, it'll cover the nose, chin and sides. Cut it 8 1/2" long and sew two fabrics together, top and bottom with a 1/4" seam allowance, turn right sides out and top stitch 1/4" down from the top. Make three 1/2" pleats, the first starting 2" down. Pleats go downward. Just eyeball them and pin, making sure it ends up being 4". That 1/4" pocket at the top is for inserting a 6" piece of 16 gauge wire if you want. That shapes to the nose.

Elastic pieces are cut 7" for men and 5 1/2 to 6" for women. You could use ties, too. There's different ways to finish the sides, so any way will work.

Wow--thank you, everyone, for all the good suggestions! I think I'll start with Raven's "by a nurse" mask. It looks easy. The video says 5 minutes per mask, and I had a good chuckle over that. Not 5 minutes by my clock, at least not for the first one.

It calls for "synthetic clothesline," 3/16" thick. I have 6mm Bonnie Craft Cord, which is closer to 3/8" thick. I tried tying it in a bow, and I think it might work well. Worth a try, anyway. If that doesn't work out, I suppose I could try bias tape. I haven't sewn in so long, I'm surprised I'm as well equipped for this project as I am.

Thanks again! I really appreciate your help.

This is the one I want to try. It has measurements for large and medium sizes.

5-Minute Mask with Nose Bridge and Filter Pocket

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K4dH3-LHLQ&feature=share

Woodrose, that looks really easy, too. I'm a long time novice sewer (meaning I know the basics but never have increased my skills for ever and ever) and was interested to see her putting that little scrap of fabric through the pressure foot at the end of each run. I've never seen that and I couldn't imagine what it was for. Then I thought it's to prevent the machine from coming unthreaded? Does anyone else do this? Is my theory correct?

I didn't see the photo/video, but if the machine does not automatically stop with the needle in position, then when stopping stitching it is up to the machine operator to ensure the needle stops in the correct position -- stop sewing, turn the gear/thingy in the correct direction until the needle is at the highest point (and I have no idea what its called) AND the thing above it that moves up and down with each stitch, that also must be in the highest position. If it is not, then that's the first thing that will happen with the next stitch -- the thingy will rise, and pull your thread out of the needle. So having a tiny bit of fabric also helps prevent that. Hope that made sense.

It's a thread saver, so you don't have to pull thread out at the end and the beginning, which just gets cut away.

I was just going to ask the same question. I found this which shows how to do it. Begin at 3:30 minutes Thread saver I have never heard of this before today. Thank you

I'm making these - just as an alternative to what your trying to do. the difference is I cut them a little bigger and line them.

Moni, I have been sewing for 52 years and just never thought of that. Thank you! I'm starting today. No more turning my rolling chair upside down to dig out the threads around the casters.

Olychick, I had never seen that either. I think she said it was a piece of velcro she was sewing into. I don't see why a scrap of fabric wouldn't work as well. That pattern seems fairly easy, once you figure it out and make a template for the folds. I still haven't tried making one yet. My DH has had a flare up of his health problems, so I've been busy taking care of him.

I made 20 of the masks that Donna-loomis referred to and donated them to my local hospital. I had very little elastic in my stashand made shaped masks with elastic ear flaps for family and friends, but I had several larger pieces of quilting cotton and found the masks with ties pretty quick to make too.

I made shaped masks for my family this weekend and to eliminate the small gap on the sides by the ear I simply sewed a small pin tuck on each side.

I made the craftpassion masks and I find them to run a bit small, too. I would step up a size in all of the sizes and use the patterns with SA drawn in as finished lines and add an additional SA to it.

I like the one for the nurse, too. There is a longer dart at the nose and a shorter dart at the chin.

What I have settled on that seems to work best for me as far as the ties goes, is to create a casing on each side of the mask, either of these two masks. Then run your tie in one continuous strip up through the casing from the bottom, across the top , down the casing on the other side and have it tie around the back of your neck.

Put the mask on, sit the upper ties on your ears, and then pull down on each side of the ties to cinch it up and then tie it around the back of your neck. It makes more sense when you actually do it. I have actually made the ties longer so that they can be crossed over in the back and brought around to the front of the neck and tied because my husband cannot tie behind his head very well.

I have found that you can make ties from a good solid interlock knit fabric or a rib knit. The rib knit will have more stretch. This method works well with fabric ties too. I have found that you can make pretty ties if you make them as you would an old fashioned sash on a an old fashioned little girls dress. We used to make them for little girls dresses. They were a couple of inches wide and either sewn and turned or they were narrow hemmed. If you make a sash type of tie, you will also want to make your casings a bit wider than you would if you were going to use something more narrow.

But, I have found that, to avoid elastic, you can make ties out of different materials and they work well when threaded in this manner. Just remember to keep in mind how thick or wide your material for the ties is. It needs room within the casing to be able to draw easily.

I have found that this arrangement of ties gives the ability to cinch it up nicely with many different things that are used for ties.

It has been my experience that the continuous tie should be about a yard long for most cases. If you are making a sash type of tie, I would use a full width of 45" wide fabric.

I found that this method works for both the pleated and the non pleated masks.

Ali.....I woudl suggest that you make your mask a bit deeper and make each of the pleats a little deeper. I have added two inches to the depth on some. I notice that a lot of people get that little gap on the sides of their masks. It is my opinion that adding the ties as I have suggested does take care of that gap most times. I also sew any interlining to the facing piece and not the front piece, and I cut out the bulk in the seams.

I just can't help myself but to apply old fashioned old school sewing of understitiching, top stitching, grading seams, basting to the seam line, easing, hemming, etc. It is the way I learned to construct and to sew.

Dallasannie seems as though you had a great teacher. Rosie

I adapted the one posted by Raven. I made a front and back, not 3 pieces, and no filter pocket. I used scraps, so it wasn't quite as large as the pattern called for, yet it was plenty big. MY DIL took my sewing machine home with her a year ago, so I stitched mine by hand. But I do feel like my source of oxygen is limited in a mask.

Hi - I'm back to report that I ended up making two different masks for my son, both of which fit beautifully. One is similar to the picture posted of my own, except I used a 7x9" rectangle with three pleats, as suggested above. The other is in the style Raven recommended (click here for the video), with three layers and a pocket for a filter. I mentioned above that I was going to try 6mm craft cord, but that didn't work. Neither did the double-fold bias tap I tried. Finally I received the 3/16" clothesline I ordered, and that was perfect.

He tried them on today, which inspired his two older sons (ages 6 and 8) to say, "You made two of them for Dad and none for us??" So now I'm off to read up on face masks for kids. :-)

Thanks again, all!