No, you are not behind (if being “behind” in reading my posts is even a thing). There have not yet been Sewing 1 and 2 posts. They are in my head. I was thinking about the first one and realized there needed to be two. And then… Covid19 happened. Pandemic. And the whole world changed. And so did my sewing.
Pretty soon after the talk about coronavirus turned to concern and then the need for action, I decided to start making face masks. I learned about a group called Project Mask WS (Winston-Salem) and joined. So I brought my sewing machine upstairs, hunted up the sewing basket my mother made me decades ago and dug out thread, bobbins elastic. And I commenced making face masks.
My first batch of masks, these for ProjectMask WS.
If you know me, you know I love Christmas, so I really enjoyed making these masks for PMWS with this holiday fabric! Notice that these are made with ties instead elastic. I am branching out!
There is a brand new sewing machine in my basement; more about that in Sewing Part 2. But I decided I didn’t have time to learn a new machine before the face mask project began. Funny thing. This old machine had not been working well for quite awhile (hence the new one). The tension wasn’t right and I couldn’t figure it out. But suddenly, it works! I have been making masks for more than six weeks now and the only problem I have had is when I have to rethread the needle. And that’s a vision problem, not a machine problem. (And for the record- before someone points out my age!- the vision thing has been going on for a long time!) It’s as if my good old machine knows that what we are doing is a good thing and it needs to cooperate!
So I am part of this amazing group with over 3000 members (sewists- a new term, for sewing artists, cutters, runners, and so on) who have made more than 50,000 masks to date. These masks are approved and requested by major hospitals. They are going to the two large hospitals and many local health care providers in the Triad. Free. Totally free. People are giving time, talent, fabric, elastic (a commodity as valuable these days as toilet paper!), and money. And these gifts are supporting folks who are going to work every day to save the lives of those affected by Covid19.
I have also made dozens of masks for friends and family. I am not charging for my masks, Â although many have donated whatever they choose to help pay for my materials. In the last six weeks, I have not gone anywhere except to the grocery store every 7-10 days, to a local fabric store to pick up mask supplies (ordered and paid for online), and to the post office to mail masks to family and friends.
My masks (besides the one for PMWS) have gone to Wilson (to Ocracoke friends), Boone, Raleigh/Triangle area, and here in the Triad. They are being worn by friends and family who have compromising conditions like lung disease, cancer, and diabetes. By children whose daddies are doctors or other essential workers. By people who just need one when they go out in public to buy groceries. By people who are being respectful of fellow citizens and wearing masks to protect all of us.
My daughter-in-law Ashlee and my brother Bill and sister-in-law Christal.
The best part of this little segment is my great-niece and -nephew Addie and Finley. Their daddy is a doctor and their mommy is, besides working in public health, pregnant with a little brother due next month. They were thrilled with their masks. Addie didn’t want to take hers off!
I have not spent nearly as much time making masks as have some amazing people. A group of Burmese refugees have made literally hundreds of masks in a single day. I took a break from PMWS to make masks for friends and family who also needed them, before the current market. I also had to slow my pace because of pain in my shoulder which I am still in the process of rehabbing from replacement surgery. But I am pretty good at multitasking, so several mornings I have combined sewing and tutoring. Another way to support the Covid19 effort, helping out the teachers and students and parents who are valiantly completely the school year.
Does everyone agree that masks are important? No. But I do. I know I cannot prevent the spread. But I can slow it. And as some have said, so what if it doesn’t help? At least it doesn’t hurt anything. Wearing a mask- and making masks for people to wear- shows respect for others. A (I would-like-to think … but I don’t really!.. well-meaning) Facebook friend commended me for my efforts but chastised me for thinking it would be helpful. Interestingly, the link he sent me to back up his opinion did caution that masks were not perfect protection but also gave directions for two different patterns! I rest my case on that one!
Wearing a face mask when out in public provides more protection for those I encounter in case I am carrying the virus and don’t yet know it than it does for me. But if I wear a mask and everyone I meet, on the rare occasions when I am out in public, does as well, both of our chances of contacting Covid19 are greatly reduced. I am in good health. But I am by almost everyone’s definition at greater risk because of my age. (As a slightly younger friend said recently, “I went from ’60 is the new 50′ to being ‘elderly’ overnight!”) So why wouldn’t I wear a mask? And why wouldn’t I make masks for those who need them? 
bethdlayton 