I was trying to think of an easier way to make the face mask bands.
I looked over at my serger and wondered if I could use my serger to make a face mask band. The serger finishes the edge which would allow me to have a raw edge. That takes less preparation than sewing on my regular machine. See my previous post (See my post Fabric Mask Band Tutorial).
You will need two pieces of fabric and one batting piece for each band.
With all the smaller scraps from the masks and the many small batting scraps I have in a tote I came up with the idea of cutting these scraps to the size of 1 1/2 inches x 4 1/2 inches.
Make a sandwich like you would with a quilt; back fabric, batting and top fabric.
If you want to put a free motion practice square to a use, you could cut rectangles from it as well for these bands.
Now, I have to be honest here, I know just enough about my serger to make it run. But I do know that serging the edge of fabric helps keep it from raveling.
When I insert my fabric sandwich, I move it under the foot and over as much as I can to the right without getting in the way of the cutting knife. Most sergers have a way to remove the knife so it won’t cut but I haven’t taken the time to see how that’s done on my machine.
Run down one side until you see edge of your fabric at the top of the foot. You want to be at the edge almost ready to run off the fabric.
I put my foot up and turn my sandwich so I can go down the next unseen edge. This is a bit tricky as the sandwich doesn’t turn as straight as on a regular sewing machine. I put my foot up and turn my sandwich so I can go down the next unseen edge. This is a bit tricky as the sandwich doesn’t turn as straight as on a regular sewing machine.
Put the pressure foot down and run down that side. Repeat this until you’ve gone completely around all 4 sides. Now run the stitch off the fabric and make your thread tail.
Leave enough of a tail for your machine and some for your sandwich when you cut. I then take a black thread and a white thread put them so that the tail scrunches down to the fabric sewn edge. Tie a knot to secure and cut off hanging threads.
Hear’s a short youtube video showing this whole process.
When you’re all done, sew two buttons on each end and your band is complete.
If you are more familiar with your serger, I’m sure you can come up with some other ideas. If you make these bands for health care workers and essential workers they will be very grateful.
That’s it for today. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
Blessings,
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