This Reader Had a Genius Idea to Upcycle Old Clothes

By Erika | Junior Content Manager

Jul 03, 2020 @ 7:45 AM MDT

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girl in striped dress wearing a black and white striped face mask

Make no-cost face masks at home with items you already have!

Who doesn’t have a selection of clothes in their closet that they no longer wear? Before you toss them, consider upcycling them into reusable face masks!

Hip2Save reader, Varsha, was looking for a way to make her own face masks at home and came up with an easy way to repurpose some items she already had!

Check out her solution…

black and white striped face mask with black elastic ear loops

“During this pandemic situation, I’ve been making homemade reusable masks. So far, I’ve made 3 masks using my old clothes. I just needed old clothing, elastic hairbands, and sewing thread. These were fun to try at home to save money.”

girl in striped dress wearing a black and white striped face mask

Thank you, Varsha, for sharing your idea with us! Your daughter sure looks cute in her mask! What a great DIY idea for something that is in high demand. We think it’s such a fun and frugal idea, plus, it’s great for the environment, too!

If you want to try this idea for yourself this weekend, gather up a few cotton shirts and elastic hair bands. Just cut out a section of shirt that onlinefortably fits over your mouth and nose, and reaches near your ears. Then take a needle and thread to sew one elastic on each side to create earloops. Such a great way to upcycle old clothing, and even make unique masks using old concert or sports team t-shirts!

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About the writer:

Erika has a Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology from Sonoma State University and 5+ years of writing experience from various deal sites including Hip2Save.

Join The Discussion

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Shelly July 3, 2020 at 7:50 am MST

My daughters & I have made almost 800 masks & donated them all. We have used a lot of dress shirts my hubby no longer wears. Make sure to use 100% cotton.

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JMonte509 July 3, 2020 at 10:07 am MST

We did this too!! A lot of my family members are front line workers and we made them for them and co-workers. I’m in Texas and it’s getting so bad. Bless everyone. Stay safe!!

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*Angela-Miles* July 3, 2020 at 2:51 pm MST

Same here, I made them for all my family members and friends that live in the area. Even sent them pictures beforehand of all the fabric I had available and let them choose the design. 💜

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EmilyMab July 3, 2020 at 8:30 am MST

That’s a great way to reuse. The mask looks great and your daughter is adorable!

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Varsha darekar July 3, 2020 at 4:48 pm MST

Thank you ☺️

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tracey July 3, 2020 at 8:33 am MST

Love this idea! Anyone have a good template to go off of?

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Nancy July 3, 2020 at 8:59 am MST

After trying 8 different templates, I found this one that is based on measuring – meaning the masks fit great! https://media.rainpos.online/220/personal_mask.pdf

This video provides a lot of good overall onlinements and at 21:40 are the instructions for measurement of the masks.
https://www.youtube.online/watch?v=N4r8nwFdUxY

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tracey July 3, 2020 at 9:22 am MST

Thank you!!

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Mj July 3, 2020 at 10:26 am MST

Thank you so much! Just what I’ve been looking for!!

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Melissa July 3, 2020 at 9:19 am MST

When at Dollywood Tuesday, the lady in front of me used a triangle bikini top as a mask. She took off one of the triangles and used the other to cover her face. She used the strings to tie it behind her head. I thought it was pretty ingenious … maybe not the best at protection but good in a pinch. 🤣

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ShellB July 3, 2020 at 11:59 am MST

Probably about the same protection🤣

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Lisalyn July 3, 2020 at 9:25 am MST

Clever mother & adorable daughter! Thanks for sharing

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Varsha darekar July 3, 2020 at 4:50 pm MST

Thank you so much!!!😍

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trueheart99 July 3, 2020 at 10:17 am MST

These homemade masks need to have a filtering system in the middle of it They need to have an opening left at the top of it so you can insert a coffee filter into it to do the filtering I insert 2 coffee filters in mine just to be on the safer side

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E July 3, 2020 at 11:13 am MST

Cute! I upcycled a bunch of old clothes into cloth dolls for Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. We always have a bag of clothes too junky to donate 😂 I had used flannel for the inside of my masks that I made in March. Too hot for that now! I need to make a few new ones of just plain cotton because our gov just mandated them in stores, but kids don’t have to, thank goodness.

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Stephanie July 3, 2020 at 11:29 am MST

I also used old crib sheets to make masks.

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Jill July 3, 2020 at 11:37 am MST

My mom made some out of cotton pillow cases.

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HBee July 3, 2020 at 12:55 pm MST

What a lovely model!

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Kat9919 July 3, 2020 at 2:13 pm MST

I used elastic from my toddlers leggings that didn’t fit anymore – worked great! Elastic has been hard to find!

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animity July 3, 2020 at 4:19 pm MST

Anyone else get headaches from wearing masks. My whole family does just have 20-30 minutes. This cannot be the solution……

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