Category: Oakland Community PPE

mask and sewing machine

Learn to Sew While Making Masks

Make masks for under-resourced folks in Oakland while learning to sew!
This is part sewing workshop and part mask-making party. Ace Makerspace provides masks to the community via our program Oakland Community PPE. We focus on distributing masks by partnering with existing social good organizations in Oakland. Learn more about where masks go on the Oakland Community PPE page.
You will learn or improve your sewing skills guided by experienced instructors. We split this offering into one virtual event and one live event at Ace Makerspace. We highly recommend that folks who have never sewn attend the virtual class before coming to the mask-making workshop.

Learn to sew while Making Masks Virtual Prep Class

During this 1-hour virtual class you will learn:

  • A sewing machine overview
  • How sewing machines work
  • Common sewing tools and what they are for
  • What goes into to making a mask

Demonstrations will include:

  • Straight stitching
  • Changing the needle
  • Seam ripping
  • Troubles shooting

There will be the time in this workshop to ask questions!

Learn to sew mask-making workshop

This event at Ace Makerspace is a combination of Class and Mask Making party. You will learn or improve your sewing skills guided by experienced instructors. Folks will work in rotation at stations giving everyone a chance to work on all aspects of mask-making. Lessons will be projected as the come up in real working situations.

Prerequisites

  • COVID-19 Safety
  • Are you brand new to sewing? Take the Virtual Prep class.
  • Experienced sewists looking to gain practice or just help make masks can skip the prep class that goes over the basics.

What you will learn

  • Sewing basics
  • Machine control
  • Chain stitching
  • Basic machine upkeep for volume stewing
  • Volume Sewing
  • Factory methods
  • Mask assembly
  • Reading assembly markings

Tools we will use

  • Sewing machines
  • Threaders
  • Clips

More about COVID Safety

In Order to stay COVID safety, we do much of the teaching using a “jumbotron” to project lessons on the wall. We also ask that all students take the COVID-19 safety course and masks are required.