This Reader Had a Genius Idea to Upcycle Old Clothes
Make no-cost face masks at home with items you already have!
Who doesn’t have a selection of clothes in their closet that they no longer wear? Before you toss them, consider upcycling them into reusable face masks!
Hip2Save reader, Varsha, was looking for a way to make her own face masks at home and came up with an easy way to repurpose some items she already had!
Check out her solution…
“During this pandemic situation, I’ve been making homemade reusable masks. So far, I’ve made 3 masks using my old clothes. I just needed old clothing, elastic hairbands, and sewing thread. These were fun to try at home to save money.”
Thank you, Varsha, for sharing your idea with us! Your daughter sure looks cute in her mask! What a great DIY idea for something that is in high demand. We think it’s such a fun and frugal idea, plus, it’s great for the environment, too!
If you want to try this idea for yourself this weekend, gather up a few cotton shirts and elastic hair bands. Just cut out a section of shirt that comfortably fits over your mouth and nose, and reaches near your ears. Then take a needle and thread to sew one elastic on each side to create earloops. Such a great way to upcycle old clothing, and even make unique masks using old concert or sports team t-shirts!
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My daughters & I have made almost 800 masks & donated them all. We have used a lot of dress shirts my hubby no longer wears. Make sure to use 100% cotton.
We did this too!! A lot of my family members are front line workers and we made them for them and co-workers. I’m in Texas and it’s getting so bad. Bless everyone. Stay safe!!
Same here, I made them for all my family members and friends that live in the area. Even sent them pictures beforehand of all the fabric I had available and let them choose the design. 💜
That’s a great way to reuse. The mask looks great and your daughter is adorable!
Thank you ☺️
Love this idea! Anyone have a good template to go off of?
After trying 8 different templates, I found this one that is based on measuring – meaning the masks fit great! https://media.rainpos.com/220/personal_mask.pdf
This video provides a lot of good overall comments and at 21:40 are the instructions for measurement of the masks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4r8nwFdUxY
Thank you!!
Thank you so much! Just what I’ve been looking for!!
When at Dollywood Tuesday, the lady in front of me used a triangle bikini top as a mask. She took off one of the triangles and used the other to cover her face. She used the strings to tie it behind her head. I thought it was pretty ingenious … maybe not the best at protection but good in a pinch. 🤣
Probably about the same protection🤣
Clever mother & adorable daughter! Thanks for sharing
Thank you so much!!!😍
These homemade masks need to have a filtering system in the middle of it They need to have an opening left at the top of it so you can insert a coffee filter into it to do the filtering I insert 2 coffee filters in mine just to be on the safer side
Cute! I upcycled a bunch of old clothes into cloth dolls for Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. We always have a bag of clothes too junky to donate 😂 I had used flannel for the inside of my masks that I made in March. Too hot for that now! I need to make a few new ones of just plain cotton because our gov just mandated them in stores, but kids don’t have to, thank goodness.
I also used old crib sheets to make masks.
My mom made some out of cotton pillow cases.
What a lovely model!
I used elastic from my toddlers leggings that didn’t fit anymore – worked great! Elastic has been hard to find!
Anyone else get headaches from wearing masks. My whole family does just have 20-30 minutes. This cannot be the solution……
*in just about 20-30 minutes of use
Yes!
Great idea. Thanks for sharing. Your daughter is so cute. I love her “fashion pose”!
Thank you 😊