CoVid19

This post is a little sensitive but with all that has been happening for this year - everything seems to be a sensitive and unexpected topic. Here's to hoping that most of you are in great spirits and in good health. 

Two months ago, Martijn was tested positive for CoVid19. Just when I thought this year couldn't get any worst - me - being a cancer thriver suddenly became irrelevant. To be honest, I didn't know how to react to the news when he shared it to me. I remember, he complained about getting tired after his usually Sunday walks and in the days that followed, he continued to feel that. 

The next few days, Martijn sent me a message saying his co-worker got tested and was positive and that he would also be tested due to his close exposure with the other baker (in my head I wanted to keep a positive vibe - my husband is a tough cookie - he's not getting the sh*t) but the day came and he was positive of the virus. I didn't know how to deal with it, knowing that I was far and Martijn was alone at home, made it all more difficult for me to comprehend why such thing happened. 

My husband had most of the symptoms. It started with tiredness, a little pain in the chest, runny nose, no sense of smell and taste and thank God, these were just the symptoms that he had. This basically lasted for almost 2 weeks under home self-quarantine. I felt helpless not being able to do things for him. Hearing him say that it takes all his energy just to walk to the toilet from our bedroom was a nightmare. In most countries, CoVid19 positives are asked to do a home quarantine. For Martijn, it was just a 10 day quarantine but he decided to do longer just to make sure. 

There is no vaccine nor prescribed medication. My in-laws bought my husband vitamins and Martijn had to cook healthy meals to fight off the virus. He was asked by his doctor to call in, if he feels worst than he already had. Fast-forward to now, he is doing much better and had just started doing regular work hours at work. During his quarantine period, he was also given letters to send out to those whom he had close contact with to inform them about the situation. I, somehow wish our government does the same, to avoid the further spread of this virus. 

CoVid19 is not a joke. It is real and I just hope most people will understand the rate of its havoc. Some people are blessed to have good immune systems to fight this illness. My husband and I video-called every day during his quarantine time and I can see the look of tiredness wearing him off and it's a painful sight. Prayers and loads of meticulous cautious should be practiced. Wear your face masks, face shield, wash your hands ever so often and eat healthy foods. Most of all, avoid crowded places.

None of us know when this pandemic will end but I know that if we do our share to help each other, we will be able to get by just fine. Thank you to all the front liners who are giving their best every day and to every one who was able to fight off this virus - you did well. My - our hearts go out to those who have loss their loved ones during this difficult time due to CoVid19. God Bless us all.

Sharing a recent photo of us. Apart but never far. Stay safe everyone!

Easy Washable Face Masks

Hi everyone! It's been a while since I last posted anything. Things has kind of gotten hectic and crazy for most of us in the last couple of days - weeks - months. I've been doing a lot of rest aside from the national home quarantine that is being ruled in my country (well that, aside from I am still under treatment but will reserve that blog entry in the coming months - fingers crossed this pandemic is cleared by then). Here's to praying that you are all safe and sound and staying away from crowded places and following the regulations your country is implementing (it's for our own good).

Anyway, the purpose of this entry to help out anyone who wants to create their own surgical washable face masks - given that the non washable is on scarcity due to the impending spread of the CoVid19. I saw this tutorial on youtube with no sew masks but since I own a sewing machine, I decided to recreate mine with the aid of the machine. Will post photos, so it's easier to understand. Hope, this helps those who needs to own one. Goodluck!

Materials: Cotton Fabric, Bird's Eye Fabric, Garter Bands, Pins, Scissors, Threads, Surgical Masks, Pen and Paper. Sewing Machine (optional)

Step 1: Fold the surgical mask in half as seen on above photos, making sure that it's on full stretch to ensure the perfect fit. Trace the edges on paper as what I did and cut. The pattern should look like on the second photo when opened.

Step 2: Using the pattern you cut, place it on your cotton fabric and bird's eye fabric and trace the edges, making sure you give a half an inch allowance for folding and sewing - later on. Cut traced fabrics and prepare for sewing.

Step 3:  since this is a customised masks, the garter bands depends on how loose or tight you want it to be or for whom you're making it. The sizes of my garter bands are 9.5inches for me and my father and 8.5inches for me mother (since she has a smaller face)

Step 4: now that you've traced and cut the fabrics, it's time to sew. What you do is group them into two. A pair of the cotton fabric and bird's eye fabric will be sewn together and the remaining cotton fabric. You will have to sew on the inside of the fabric, making sure the bird's eye is on the outer layer as seen on the photo above. Sew straight on the edge keeping in mind the half an inch allowance (sorry I forgot to trace it on the fabrics but follow red arrows). After sewing the center of each fabrics, sew them together as seen on below photo.

This is how it's going to look like on both center of the grouped fabrics. Sew the edges as you have traced the pattern.

Step 5: Turn sewn fabric inside out and using a pin, fold and pin each sides as seen on photo and adjust your garter band to your desire size. Sew together.

Finish Product

For this project. I used 2 meters of Bird's eye fabric. 1 1/2 meters Cotton Fabric. These materials made a total of 18 facial masks.

There are a few glitches on how I wrote the instructions but I hope that I was able to give justice to how I made these washable face masks. Should you have any questions, I wouldn't mind answering them, just hit me a message on here. Happy weekend all!