It has been a while, hasn't it? In anycase here is a surgeon's mask. Hot off the press. Just for you.
There are loose tails because I am on the fence about this project. I am not sure if I want to classify it as a failure or finish it and be happy. I am not too pleased with the workmanship on it, the only thing I am happy about is the hand turned edges along the top and bottom (I always derive pleasure from turning edges for some reason). I am terrible with drawn shapes, the pattern I drew was off from the start, so the embroidery is just not geometrically accurate. The circle part of the symbol is more like a fat triangle; I didn't even follow my own drawn lines in some places so there are a couple stumpy branches on the biohazard symbol. To make matters worse the functionality of the object has been compromised, in making room for the embroidery I changed the pleats. There needs to be more pleats, they need to be more shallow and they should span from top to bottom; the result is a squished nose when this mask is worn! The sides where the straps are attatched are too stiff leading to strange puckering. It is shoddy, even so, I love the appeal of the mask, so this is why I am torn.
This is the third surgeon's mask I have made, all told. The first was a prototype that I was generally pleased with, the second was a test to improve some concerns, this time was an attempt to address aesthetics. It is a project I pick up from time to time, the others were done some time ago, and I contemplate the topic every now and again. I am developing the "pattern" for it as I go along. I think that I am doing well enough, never having seen the real thing. I think I may just chalk this one up as a learning experience and when I get the itch to make surgeon's masks again, probably in a season or two, I will have fuel for improvement.
Why? Well I am not sure.
