Short of masks? Sew your own: Malaysian YouTube lesson shows the world how to make a fabric mask – and goes viral
- With the shortage of medical face masks, Ching Ng is encouraging at-home hobbyists to sew their masks
- Her online instruction video racked up more than a million YouTube views in three weeks
Kuala Lumpur-based creative Ching Ng is the founder of cosy sewing studio Maker’s Habitat, which offers sewing classes and courses to adults and children. At Maker’s Habitat, you can sign up to sew anything from a simple tote or take an advanced course in dressmaking.
But recent global events have caused Ng to turn her sewing machine to a different cause – sewing fabric masks, and showing others how to do it, too.
“At that time, we were already wearing surgical masks while teaching our classes, and we did feel it was a bit wasteful to throw the masks away. Dr Chen’s solution of having a filter pocket where a non-woven fabric is inserted in would reduce our usage of surgical masks, and we wanted to show people how easy it can be to sew such a fabric mask on your own – all you need is a sewing machine, and some basic sewing skills.”