вЂњIt frees up the surgical masks for the people who are the highest risk,вЂќ said Dr. Other masks are being handed out at health clinics and nursing homes. Some doctors are wearing the homemade fabrics over surgical or N95 masks, trying to prolong the coveted masksвЂ™ limited life spans. вЂњBetter than nothingвЂќ has become a popular phrase in the tight-knit sewing community. pieces - generally stitched together with a few layers of cotton, elastic straps and, on ambitious designs, a flexible bridge over the nose - offer at least some protection. TheyвЂ™re not even as tough as surgical masks that, until recently, were plentiful in any hospital or doctorвЂ™s office.Д«ut the D.I.Y. Homemade masks are no substitute for the high-grade N95 masks that are the most effective devices to filter out the coronavirus. And we all have stashes of fabric.вЂќ Her group, with about 130 members in Southern California, is making hundreds of face masks at the request of the Riverside University Health System Medical Center. вЂњSewers, weвЂ™ve always stepped up and done this thing,вЂќ said Denise Voss, the head of the Inland Empire chapter of the American Sewing Guild. They are making masks for America, much as a previous generation manufactured ammunition and tended вЂњvictory gardensвЂќ during World War II. They are working in living rooms, at kitchen tables and inside shuttered storefronts. In the meantime, some of the void is being filled by legions of sewers, called to duty in a matter of days via social media and word of mouth, their skills no longer taken for granted or dismissed as a mere hobby.

Army of two mask designs