Ear Saver Strap for a Face Mask
Make an ear-saver strap for a face mask.
I read online that a lot of healthcare workers who have to wear professional face masks or surgical masks find the elastics behind their ears uncomfortable. The ear loops are causing strain behind the ears.
To help, you can make them this reusable ear-saver strap with two snap buttons. The strap can easily be attached and removed from the two ear-loops of your mask. The mask will be held up behind your head so the friction caused by wearing the mask is reduced.
If you are a nurse, you hopefully have a good quality mask, but it might not fit you that well. If that is the case, this little solution might help out a lot. A quick and easy solution to help someone makes a big difference these days.
Also, check out our free tutorial and pattern for a face mask by clicking here.
1. Cut a strip of stretch fabric 10 inch long, 3 inch wide. You might need to adjust the length of the strap a little, depending on how stretchy your fabric is.
2. Double fold the fabric with long ends together, right sides facing each other.
3. Sew the 3 edges together at ¼ inch and leave a 1 inch opening.
4. Cut the threads and trim the corners.
It's advisable to add a little piece of interfacing where you will add the snaps to help reinforce and protect the fabric surrounding the fasteners.
I forgot to do that so you can't see it in the pictures.
5. Turn inside out.
6. Close the opening with a hand stitch.
7. Attach 2 snap buttons – plastic or metal snaps – at the ends of the strap.
If you want to make straps faster and without sewing, you can also cut a 10 inch strip of fabric 1 ½ inch wide. You don’t need to finish the edges because a knit doesn’t fray. Attach the snap buttons and that’s it. Or consider using a wide elastic and finish the 2 short edges with pinking shears, then simply attach the snaps on the elastic.
And here is the result!
I don’t have a professional mask at home, so I’m showing you with a DIY mask that I made with thin elastic ear loops.
An
Blogger for MadamSew.com
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18 comments
Karen Poole your idea is brilliantly simple! Thanks An for your inspiring ideas that triggered the thought for Karen! 🙂
I wear eyeglasses and the handles of the glasses are on my ears so it is an inconvenient thing to wrap the elastic around my ears, thanks for the strap around the back of head.
I don’t have the snap tools so I use what buttons I have in my stash. I used the buttons with shanks first. When I ran out I started using my larger buttons with a smaller button underneath to form a shank. I attached the smaller button with a few stitches then set the larger button on top and was able to run the stitches through the holes of both buttons. It was a good way to use up the doll size buttons I was sure I would never use under the larger buttons.
Would I want to increase the length of the elastic from say 7 to 9 inches to stretch back to the strap?
Instead of snaps or buttons, can attach Velcro to make it adjustable…?