MSU Extension 4-H Community Service & Service Learning

Cloth face coverings are among the strategies to protect against the spread of novel coronavirus, the virus that causes the infectious disease COVID-19. Using basic sewing skills and a few simple supplies, Michigan 4-H'ers can create cloth face coverings to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

Youth may want to begin by making cloth face coverings for their family. Once they are confident in making cloth face coverings, consider donating them to our statewide effort.

Goal

Using basic sewing skills to sew reusable cloth face coverings to help prevent the spread of disease.

Life Skills

Head: resiliency, keeping records, wise use of resources, planning/organizing, goal setting, service learning, critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, learning to learn

Heart: sharing, empathy, concern for others, social skills, cooperation, communication

Hands: community service, volunteering, leadership, responsible citizenship, contributions to group effort, marketable skills teamwork, self-motivation

Health: self-responsibility, healthy lifestyle choices, disease prevention, personal safety

Grade Level

Third grade and up.

Length of Experience

30-60 minutes

Supplies Needed

• Tight-woven cotton and/or cotton flannel fabric
  • Tip: use two different types of materials, one for the inside and one for the outside of the face covering.
  • Tip: Flannel is hot for the wearer. If you use it, only make one side of the face covering out of flannel and the other tight-woven cotton.
• Half-inch wide elastic, bias tape, or make fabric ties
• Thread
• Scissors
• Pins
• Sewing machine (optional for CDC no-sew pattern for personal use)

Do Ahead

Pick a pattern to follow for your cloth face covering. The following is a list of possible patterns that can be used. 

• Michigan Health Improvement Alliance Face Mask Guide
• Bronson Face Mask Template
• Phoebe Face Mask Pattern
• Turban Project Face Mask
• JOANN’s Face Mask Video Tutorial
• Craft Passion Face Mask with Cloth Ties Pattern 
• Make Victory Masks Pattern
• Easy to Sew Pattern and Tutorial
• DIY Cloth Face Mask

• CDC cloth face coverings: sewn cloth face covering, quick cut t-shirt face covering (no sew), bandana face covering  (no sew)

4-H clubs may have donations such as material, elastic, thread, bias tape, etc. for youth to utilize for this project. However, in the interest of social distancing, please consider mailing all such donations to individual youth using pre-printed postage and labels.

Youth and adult recipients of the materials should take proper precaution; donations such as fabric should be laundered prior to sewing. Donations such as sewing machines, elastic, scissors and needles should be wiped down with alcohol wipes (greater than 70 percent) in accordance with CDC guidance for cleaning surfaces.