India is putting its best fight forward to prevent the COVID-19 spread from entering the third stage. The government officials across all the states are now recommending citizens to wear face masks to avoid coming in contact or spreading the coronavirus. “Wearing of facial masks can reduce the spread of coronavirus substantially. Therefore, it is decided that facial masks will be compulsory for anyone stepping out of their house. Cloth masks will be eligible too,” Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal commented.

As demand for masks has increased along with its price in India, Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani decided to teach us how to make a DIY cloth face mask. Smriti started a tutorial with a series of pictures on her Instagram story showing how to stitch a cloth face mask at home, with a piece of white fabric, needle, and thread.

Smriti Irani’s story started with a picture of her cutting a white piece of fabric, with a caption that says, “Machine nahihaitoh sui dhaage se kaamchalao (If you don’t have a sewing machine, use a needle and thread).”

Her Instagram story ended with a picture of the Union Minister showing the final result of her stitching, a reusable home-made cloth mask. Her story added, “Gharbaither mask banao (Stitch a mask while sitting at home).”

The Union Health Ministry advised all Indians at the beginning of this month to use a DIY cloth face mask while stepping out of the houses to buy essential items. “These face covers could be made out of clean cloth available at home, which needs to be thoroughly cleaned and washed before a face cover is stitched/made. The face cover should be prepared in such a manner that it can cover the mouth and nose completely and can be tied over the face easily,” the Union Health Ministry had stated.

Face masks in India have been made mandatory for all the citizens after a recent scientific finding from the United States suggests that the widespread of coronavirus can be substantially contained with the use of face masks.