Intermedia

Materials

• mask pattern
• multiple shades of fabric
• needles
• thread

My idea was initially inspired by my mom who is a preschool teacher. She’s been interacting with her class via Zoom and says the kids are having a hard time grasping what’s going on (why they can’t see friends, why they have class online). It’s a confusing situation on all fronts. That likely includes wearing PPE in public.

While it’s likely hard to make a fussy or fidgety child wear a face mask, it’s also quite important that this happens since children can be asymptomatic carriers of the coronavirus. I haven’t seen much about masks created especially for children, but this concept could be beneficial to our collective health.

For this, I also pulled vague inspiration from elementary school when we would preform Eric Carle’s From Head to Toe wearing paper plate masks of each of the different animals. I figured making cloth masks animal-themed could make them more enticing and fun. From here my goals became child-friendly aesthetics and comfort of design.

When researching cloth mask designs, the two predominant types were the classic pleated style and the slightly more involved, cup-like shape. While the pleated design was simpler to craft, it also seemed like it would detract from the aesthetic additions. I settled on the more complex but convient-for-design’s-sake second option. I added a back-tie instead of the typical ear-loops to enhance the comfort and lessen the chance of children trying to take it off.

After stitching a few models, I found the design was slightly more forgiving than I had thought, although time consuming since I didn’t have a sewing machine. Instead of making multiple stitched prototypes, I began to test different animal options with paper. I collaged different colors together to create my options. Once I had the fundamentals, I transferred it all to illustrator to polish up. The final design involves following the preset base pattern, and then cutting additional shapes to create noses/snouts/beaks/tongues/etc.

This design may seem a little banal at first, but it could be a market worth cornering in this climate. By making PPE more accessible in this way, children can be more comfortable during a confusing time and, in turn, we all benefit.

• Chloe Hight