Shout out to fellow mask makers

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From this view I’d say there are a lot of us.

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Creating fun compositions for family and friends has given me a chance to indulge my creativity.

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I’ve given them to neighbors up and down my street, and across the back yard.  When a neighborhood diner gave out free drive-through breakfasts, I reciprocated by giving them some masks.  Initially, I expected most people to say ‘no thank you’ when I offered masks.  Turns out no one has declined.  Everyone wants a mask.  Everyone.

I’ve made a few batches of masks for care home and hospital staff.  It bewilders me that it is individual nurses and aids who are desperately seeking these simple protections to keep their patients, coworkers and themselves and families safe.  Where are their employers in all of this?

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This mask, that can cover an N95 mask, is what I started out making.  But it turns out N95 masks are like unicorns.  No one I’m giving masks to has one, or knows where to find one.  (Awesome tutorial here: https://www.instructables.com/id/AB-Mask-for-a-Nurse-by-a-Nurse)

So, I’ve switched to the simple flat pleated design based on two 9″x6″ rectangles.  It’s much faster to construct and requires less fabric.  Another huge bonus is that it fits in a regular #10 envelope, and costs only a 1st class postage stamp to mail.  This has enabled me to get them to out-of-town friends and family quickly and economically.  Mine are substantially based on the pattern from the Turban Project. https://turbanproject.com/face-masks-pdfs

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One of my biggest frustrations is about the friends and family who want to learn, or relearn to sew, to help fulfill the huge need for masks right now.  I want badly to invite them over and have them sew with me, but I can’t because of the need for social distancing.

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Carry on, mask warriors. You are doing important work.

A heartfelt virtual hug to those in isolation or quarantine, or who have loved ones out of reach.  My wheelchair-bound mom is in a locked down care home.  The most I’ve been able to do for her is send her a mask, and send masks to the staff, and text her ‘Happy Easter’.

12 thoughts on “Shout out to fellow mask makers”

  1. I’m having problems viewing some of the pictures with a browser…I tried another browser with the same result….on my phone it loads fine though.
    Although it doesn’t matter what they look like…I love the plaid look.

    Thank you for the post…my wife loved it. She has some material and she is calling our local small hospital to see if they need any masks…

    This is real-time lol…Well she called and they said yes they need them really bad so Jennifer is starting to make them and dropping them off when she gets done…She is recruiting Bailey and me now to help.

    So far our small county has had only 17 confirmed and 9 recovered…no deaths thank goodness.

    Thanks again…we are off and running. Jen doesn’t procrastinate lol.

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    1. Oh my gosh, get busy then! 🙂 That is great you are going to help out. What a team you all are! I suspect Martha too will try her best to er, help.

      Thanks for the heads-up about the pictures loading slowly. They may be too large. I’ll check them and reduce the size.

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      1. I’ll let you know the rest after this is done. My wife is all about spur of the moment…lets do it now. She was looking for a way to help safely and she never thought of this.

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      4. She has her pen in hand writing everything down and the measurements. That is what the tutorial is saying…the first one takes a while but the rest will go quickly.
        She is all into this…I sent her the pdf also of what you have listed.

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      6. No you are fine…the more the better. Thank you.
        She is on a mission…when she gets it rolling that is when Bailey and I will be called in duty lol.

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  2. This is wonderful, thank you. I am just finishing up my work at home work and am ready to get to work sewing. I know there is a need. That song by Natalie Merchant and Michael Stipe made me cry. I had never heard it. Hugs to you and your mommy. ❤

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    1. Thank you, and my pleasure. It’s great you are going to start making some masks, too. The songwriter of that song was John Prine, who died of COVID-19 this past week. We are losing so many lovely people.

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  3. Pingback: Mask making continues, and gets more creative. – run | sew | read

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