DIY How to Make a Mask from a cotton T-shirt

Should we wear a mask or not? Well, I believe it should be more a question of common sense rather than an obligation. If you have a stroll on a deserted beach or in a woods when there's no one around at all, it makes no sense to wear a protection mask. Even if you come across a virus, it wouldn't be enough for you to get sick since the viral load is fairly low and you still have your immune system fighting off it. However if you use public transportation or shop in a crowded place, where sometimes you can feel the air is stuffy with all sorts of odors and particles, of course wearing a mask can protect you from getting infected by various things because it's a barrier. Then the degree of that protection depends on how effective the particular mask you are wearing. With the N59 (FFP2 French name) mask, of both the infected and the healthy are wearing them, it actually can reduce the virus from circulating to less than 3%.  And if you wear gloves, etc, it reduces more the chances of contamination. 

The quickest way for everyone to have a mask is to make one by yourself and for the people around you who don't know how to sow, etc! As imple cotton mask if you double the layer to 2 or even 3, I believe it's more protective than the standard surgical mask. 

You can make a mask from a lots of things that you find at home, bedsheets, scarves, dish rags, T-shirts, I think the best materials are silk or cotton, but jersey cotton T-shirts are extensible, it'd make it fit better to your face. I would use a fairly new one since otherwise residues of washing detergents might not be optimal for your lungs when you breathe through it!    

I made the white one by cutting off the sleeves of a white cotton T-shirt,  the gray one from a sport hair band, the orange one in the making is a cotton T-shirt from my old university. Please see below how to choose the size, cut out, sow the cord together, etc. 

You'll need a needle, thread and 1, 2 or 3 pieces of cotton the size of a sheet of A4 paper. I find it easy to measure it this way. Then you cut off the upper part of the tissue for the cord. Then according to the size of your face, you can fold it more or less to sew the cord and the rest of the tissue together to make the mask.