Face Masks During Coronavirus: How To Make Your Own

Gina Jeanty has been increasingly dismayed with reports of a shortage of protective face masks in America, especially for health care workers.

“I am a little bit frustrated with the lack of masks,” Jeanty said in an email to Patch. “I wish that our medical professionals that are on the front lines during this pandemic disaster didn’t have to worry about something like masks while they are doing their best to save lives.”

The sense of frustration has inspired the Jeanty family to act.

Now, as it seemingly becomes more clear that most people should be wearing some sort of face covering while out, instructions on how people can make their own masks are even more valuable.

One company, JOANN Fabric and Craft, offers a video designed specifically to show people how to make a face mask themselves. In addition to a sewing machine, you'll need a few of the key materials to make it happen:

• Cotton Fabric - at least 12"X 9"
• Lightweight Fusible Interfacing 12"X 9"
• 1/4" Elastic
• Basic Sewing Supplies

The full instructional video on how to make a face mask is available on JOANN’s YouTube channel.

Unlike the N95 face masks that are recommended to use by the CDC, JOANN masks are not approved by the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory.

More stories are emerging every day of ordinary people stepping up to help counteract the spread of the new coronavirus in the United States. Here is a collection of those stories of people and companies trying their best to help make face masks more available across America.

Here are more people and companies working to help:

Fashion Designer Christian Siriano To Make Coronavirus Masks

Celebrity New York City fashion designer Christian Siriano is mobilizing his sewing teams to help ease New York's shortage of masks and other medical supplies in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

"If [Gov. Andrew Cuomo] says we need masks my team will help make some," he tweeted Friday.

Dress-Designer To Mask-Maker: LI Businesswoman Adapts To Virus

Long Island business owners are feeling more financially and emotionally squeezed each day as the cases of the new coronavirus continue to increase. Some, however, are finding creative ways to stay open. That includes Nancy Sinoway, the owner of Nancy Sinoway Tailoring and Alterations Studio in Port Washington.

"Most people are depressed and freaked out," she told Patch on Monday. "I just said to myself, I'm not going to sit at home and feel sorry for myself."

Honeywell To Increase Production Of N95 Masks In RI: Coronavirus

A Rhode Island manufacturing facility is working to help meet the high demand for personal protective equipment for health care workers amid the coronavirus pandemic. Honeywell's Smithfield facility will create N95 masks for the nation's stockpile, the company said in a release.

With Coronavirus Making Medical Safety Gear Scare, The Public Is Stepping Up

By Barbara Feder Ostrov/Kaiser Health News

Increasingly desperate pleas from health care workers and public authorities for donations of face masks and other protective gear are an unsettling sign of just how unprepared American hospitals are for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maryland Business Owners Donate Masks During Coronavirus Pandemic

Hospitals across the country are running low on face masks and other personal protective gear needed to keep health care workers safe from the new coronavirus. Rick Levin, co-owner of Pasadena Boatworks, recently surprised the Maryland Health Department with a donation of more than 14,000 masks.

NJ Woman Sewing Masks To Help In Coronavirus Shortage

Glenda Dunlap just wanted to do something to help. Like many people, the Crestwood Village resident is staying home to protect herself from the spread of the new coronavirus.

Philly Drape Company Now Making Masks Amid Coronavirus

A Philadelphia-based drapery is shifting its operations to support those working on the front lines of the local outbreak of the new coronavirus, known as COVID-19.