Fabric Cut Templates for Cloth Face Masks

thingiverse

Our household has been working on making extra face masks for personal use as the availability of standard N95 consumables are in short supply. We have been focusing on fabric-based masks as they are fairly quick to make and are pretty comfortable as well. Based on [this design](http://www.fabricpatch.net/face-masks-for-covid-19-relief.htm) from [The Fabric Patch](http://www.fabricpatch.net/index.htm), we have been able to supply masks for the community at large. We like the flexibility of the pattern as well as the ease of sewing and the four sizes. From our experience with working from the Fabric Patch design, cutting the fabric for the masks is one of the bottlenecks on production. One fast way to cut fabric is to use a rotary cutter. Typically, you would use a paper template placed on the fabric, but a paper template will be damaged if you cut through it, does not provide a physical guide for tracing/cutting, and does not provide a safe place for your fingers. These templates allow you to place them on multiple layers of fabric, and provide an edge for a rotary cutter to cut against. They are thick enough to be rigid, but not too thick to interfere with our rotary cutters. The only slightly tricky part is using the rotary cutter on the concave portion of the pattern. Larger diameter rotary cutters will have troubles here - a 45mm cutter will barely clear the "large" pattern. We use a [28mm cutter](https://olfa.com/craft/product/2521/) successfully for all four sizes. The pattern includes 6.4mm (1/4 inch) seam allowance from the pattern, resulting in a ready-to-sew blank.