by Jeanne Robin

I belong to two volunteer sewing groups. One sews garments for Jewish burial and one, called Days for Girls, sews bags for menstrual kits for girls in countries where they would not be able to leave the house without it. When I heard that people on the front lines against COVID-19 needed personal protective equipment (PPE) and that hospitals needed people to make masks, I thought, “That’s an army I can join!”

I have a gazillion sewing machines — actually more like nine, of which four work — and a degree in Fashion Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology.

I’ve had many hand-made craft jobs that required an assembly line mentality where you do one action at a time on many pieces. A lot of people in Portland, Oregon, where I live, started sewing maks immediately. But I wanted to do some research before I started so that I could make the most effective and comfortable masks.

The Fabric Patch, a quilt store in Ephrata, Washington, had two mask patterns on its website. They had consulted medical folks and tested different fabrics and closures. One is a rectangular pattern that saves fabric; it’s easier to make but less effective. I landed on the pattern with two layers of cotton fabric and an interior layer of a non-woven fabric. They are protective, washable, snug-fitting and comfortable, not to mention kind of trendy and cute.

You could make them with elastic strands that wrap around the ears, but those can hurt, especially if they’re worn for hours at a time. And the elastic is impossible to find these days. That made me try other options such as grosgrain ribbon, cotton laces and parachute cord. I have the ties loop around the back of the head and tie at the nape of the neck.

Then things got crazy!

My boyfriend Bob asked if I’d make masks for him and his son. I did.

And while I was doing it I made one for myself. I put mine on, snapped a selfie, and in a flight of fancy decided to post it as my Facebook pic with a nod to the J. Peterman Catalog from “Seinfield” that featured the weird and wonderful.

My post read:  Seamstress/model: N95 style mask. Cotton fabric exterior, 1 layer non-woven interfacing (breathable but small particles can’t pass), whatever works ties.

I clicked on “Post” with a sense of the absurd.  It was a gag!

My Facebook blew up!

“Are you making these?” “Can I get one?”  “Three?”  “Five?”  Twelve?”

I was shocked and thought people were kidding. Who knew?

In the next three days I had 134 mask orders from family and friends all across the country. Four went to Israel where people are mandated to wear them and masks are unavailable. I charged $10 per mask to cover material costs, shipping and to cover donated masks.

I inventoried the materials I had in my house. I only had enough to make thirty masks. I had to prioritize who got them first. People were anxious. A friend runs a preschool that serves medical families. Her staff decided they wanted to remain open for the families. They were opening on Monday. That order jumped ahead of the friends-and-family line. I made twelve masks with a pocket for a replaceable filter (coffee filter or paper towel) for her teachers.

Who was next? My nephew Zach, who works in a grocery store? My nieces, Arianna and Sofia, who are going to the store for their parents? My sister Laura, who is a doctor and lives with her son Ari in Ashland, Oregon?

My friends who are nurses, my friends with auto immune diseases, my elderly friends at the nursing homes where my mom lived, or my friend who just finished her chemo? Now I had to order more materials and figure out how to pack and send. I tried to order more but it seemed the whole world was making these. Everything was back-ordered.

So I ordered a few different secondary materials and hoped that something would arrive. The fabric I bought at the fabric store or craft store had to be ordered and picked up curbside a day or two later. There is presently a limit of two yards of interfacing per customer. I’ve done all my shopping trips in my slippers with the dog in the car.

Making the first batches took a while to figure out. People were texting and calling out of the woodwork: “Can I get a mask? I really need one!”

I can’t believe I had to say, “I have 120 orders in front of you. Can you tell me why you need one so badly?”

“I work for the Oregon Health Authority and I’m an epidemiologist.”

I felt like a drug dealer. “Okay… I’ll put it in the basket on the porch. Come by tonight. Just leave the money in the can.” I’ve never had so many people come to my house!

My friend who makes the gorgeous Jewish shawls called tallitot told me she was making masks and was looking for tips. I told her about my assembly line and she climbed on board. Now we’re both cranking out awesome masks.

I’ve finished all of the family and friend masks at this point. I am using Stamps.com so I do not need to go into a post office and can just drop them into the drive thru mailboxes. I left one for my mail carrier. I gave a few to my elderly friends via social distancing — I had to call the front desk of the retirement community and someone came to my car and collected them. I sent some to a nurse.

I could not have imagined how much getting a good mask means to the people who receive them. You would have thought I gave them a pot of gold. It gives them, and me, great comfort. People tell me that when wearing the mask, if they happen to brush within six feet of someone in a store they don’t feel panicky. When they told me the masks are comfortable but a little hard to tie, I discovered spring loaded closures. That way they don’t need to be tied or retied. I keep sewing faster and better and making modifications. 

I also belong to a group of crafters who are doing projects for good. The call went out for all the sewers to make masks for the retirement community where my mom lived. They asked for 900 masks. There are also calls for gowns and other PPE. Donated fabric is on the porch of the woman who leads both these groups. I have finished 150 masks. I created a site with limited merchandise on Etsy(KiBitz) to sell to friends of friends and anyone who comes across it. Right now I do not want a lot of Etsy orders.

Now that my friends and family feel a little more secure, I want to focus on making masks to give away. They’ll go to Cedar Sinai Park, the hospital, the delivery folks and other people who are doing the work in the world. They need all the thoughtfulness and comfort we have to offer. Seeing where this pandemic brings us, I may expand what I offer on Etsy, but the next few weeks will focus on donations until more commercial PPE is available to those who need it.