Prior to this, my sewing experience was limited to home economics class in 7th grade. However, I had accumulated most of the equipment needed (from wanting to try different crafts in the past) and just had to take things out of storage. I did need to buy more fabric, some dedicated fabric scissors, and elastic though.
I decided to follow a video tutorial and pattern by Lorrie Nunemaker because I found it easiest to understand as a beginner. I adjusted the pattern a little (slimmed down ear edges) so I could incorporate elastic instead of fabric ties. These masks have a filter pocket, and you can even incorporate a nose wire if you carefully push it through the upper seam of the filter pocket. Here is a batch of masks I made for myself:
Here are some more masks that I made for family members and others who need them:
Although most of my craft time has been taken up by sewing, I have still been working on my mini flake project in tatting. I've now written and tested 20 of the 40 patterns. More updates on that in the coming months.