How to Make Face Masks Cute

When the pandemic first hit, my husband was the designated “go to the store” person. I went on walks around my neighborhood, but never left my house other than that. As time went on, I hand sewed a mask for an occasional grocery store visit. Now that it seems like masks in public are going to continue for the foreseeable future, I thought I’d find some ways for how to make face masks cute.

I’m approaching masks the say way I approach my whole life. If something has to be around, might as well make it functional AND my style. Need a fridge? Paint it with rainbow stripes! Have to do laundry? Make it a pretty space! Have to wear a mask? Add some ruffles!

how to make face masks cute

While I was thinking about fun ways to jazz up masks, I had a bunch of ideas! I bought enough items to make 5 masks (I just stopped by my local Joann Fabric). I also added trim to a store bought mask. It would have been fun to buy fabric from the thrift shop (or used clothing). There’s so many options! Really, if you have to wear one, it might as well reflect your style.

P.s. if you’re not in the mood to make your own mask, scroll to the bottom for lots of cute options to buy one!

SUPPLIES

• 6″ or 0.167 fabric is all you need for 2-3 face masks from one fabric
• 1/2 yard fabric of the gingham fabric for the bow mask (the ties take a lot of fabric)
• 16″ Trim or iron on patches
• 1.5 yard elastic for 5 face masks (for ear lopes- each one needs 5.5-6″ of elastic)

Idea 1- tie dye

For all of the masks I sewed, I started with the free face mask pattern from Sweet Red Poppy and followed her directions to make it. With this one, I selected an eyelet fabric to match my rainbow tie dye dress. If you’re wanting the SVG for this pattern so you can cut it out on a Cricut, you can get the SVG face mask file for free here.

Since the eyelet fabric has holes in it, I have two layers of a white normal mask under it. So the eyelet is on top and purely decorative.

For most of the masks, I opted to do elastic to go over my ears. I prefer that (it doesn’t mat down my hair and is easier to put on and take off), but any of these could be modified with ties or elastic behind the head.

Once the mask was sewn, I took it in my kitchen and dyed it with Rit dye. I exactly followed the directions I have in the blog post with how I dyed the rainbow dress so it’d match exactly. 

after- tie dye mask

This mask turned out to be one of my favorites! I was originally going to dye the whole thing just pink, but am glad I went rainbow. It’s so much more fun now! I can’t wait to wear this duo out. 

While I was trying all of these on and pretending to be a fashion blogger (😂 I am NOT a fashion blogger, but I love clothes, so what can you do?), I imagined the perfect scenario for each of these outfits. This one is my “meet my friends for thrifting”- you want to look cute, but it’s super comfy and functional.

idea 2- go fancy with lace fabric

The second idea I had, revolved around finding the perfect lace fabric. I found a really good one with flowers added on front! It’s really cute, but again, see through, so I sewed a full mask with two pieces of white cotton fabric and added the lace on top.  This one would be super cute for a “fancy” event. Do those exist now? 

after- lace mask

This mask my husband says is “ridiculous”- lol- maybe he’s right. It’d be perfect for an event- a fancy dinner out or a small wedding. The flowers coming off the mask are SO pretty! This lace fabric was the most expensive of the bunch- I paid $3.34 for it (most of the rest of the fabric was less than $1.50).

Idea 3

And now, for the third idea- ruffles! For this one, I had two options- put the ruffles on the edges or on the top and bottom. For functionality, I went with the sides, but it would be cute either way. I cut and sewed the mask, then made some ruffle for the sides.

Last, I sewed the ruffle to the edges. The fabric store also has tons of ruffle trim you can buy so if you don’t want to make a ruffle, but like the look, it’d be easy to add. 

after- ruffle face mask

I love this one! Because it’s white (with subtle dots) and the ruffle, it matches most of my outfits. It’s plain, with a fancy twist that’s not too much. I see myself wearing this one a lot. The downside is since it’s all white, it’ll get dirty quickly.

In my mind, I’m thinking this outfit/mask would be perfect for wearing out for that rare date night- dinner at a park while my mother-in-law babysits. Awww! One can dream! 

idea 4- add trim to a store bought mask

Target has face masks that are 2 for $4– so cheap! These make for the perfect blank slate to DIY on! I grabbed a pack a week or so ago, but didn’t love how plain and boring it was. So I bought 16″ of trim from the fabric store and sewed it on. It took less than 5 minutes, but looks amazing! 

Like I mentioned above, there’s SO many cute trim options at the fabric store, you can 100% do MANY different takes on this idea! There’s lots of ways to make this look your own!

after- flower trim face mask

This one would ideal for a run to the grocery store. Or popping into the hardware store. It’s practical and just a little fancy.  

idea 5- put a bow on it

My last DIY face mask was the slowest to make. First of all, I used all of the fabric I had and realized the ties wouldn’t make a cute bow behind my head like I wanted. So I ran to the store for more fabric. I ended up needing 1/2 of a yard of fabric for the mask and ties. 

I sewed the mask like normal (again, following Sweet Red Poppy’s tutorial and pattern) Then I made little pieces of fabric to go behind the ears and sewed those to the mask. They are 12″ long.

After that, I used the full width of the fabric to make two 8″ long ties. I sewed those around three of the edges inside out. Then, I turned the tails right side out and closed off the 4th side. Then I sewed that to the two ties attached to the mask. If I was to make this again, I’d sew in an extra piece of fabric or interfacing to make the bow more stiff when tied.

To finish everything off, I ironed on a patch of a butterfly. Check out the iron on patches in the craft store- there’s lots of options and make for a cute and easy no sew option.

Yes- this mask might just be the most over the top mask I made! In the best way possible 😉  

after- bow gingham mask

I’ll be honest, this mask takes time to tie on, but it’s SO adorable once it’s on! The back is especially cute. I imagine wearing this to the farmer’s market to pick up food for a lunch and then heading to our little town’s Center Street to have a picnic on the outdoor tables and umbrellas there. Adorable!

cute face masks you can buy

1 floral 3 pack / 2 wild tropics / 3 linen with floral embroidery / 4 peach with eyelets / 5 jungle / 6 pink and white dots / 7 cream lace / 8 pink with hearts / 9 rainbows / 10 bowie / 11 floral embroidery / 12 red floral with ruffles / 13 pink tie dye / 13 / 14 black and white hearts / 15 oaxacan style / 16 boho lace / 17 grey ruffle / 18 mauve with lace / 19 black with white ruffles

I wanted to close this blog post with a bunch of masks you can buy. If you don’t want to make one, there are SO many cute ones available! And you support a small shop.

I hope you use one of the ideas I shared- even if it’s to make a store bought mask more your style. Might as well rock that mask ;). I have more ideas that I want to try out- embroidering one or hand painting the front. The sky is the limit!

Which mask if your favorite? I love that I have lots of cute options to match all my outfits now! My favorite is either the rainbow tie dye or the gingham one with the bow. It’s a bit much, but I’m a bit much too- lol!

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