For many of us, the pandemic is the first time we have had to deal with a large-scale change to our daily lives. There have been challenges before, but they have been more isolated or the path to avoid the issue seemed clearer. The corona virus has affected everyone to some degree. Everyone has had to their part to make sure that we get through this and stay as safe as possible.
This led me to think, what can I do? I am not an essential worker and my daily activities do not typically involve keeping others safe. I decided that I could make fabric masks for others since the supply is hit or miss and delivery time frames are far off in the future. I began making a few masks for immediate family members and friends, while trying to decide the best design to use. I should mention that in the not too distant past, I had decided to follow Marie Kondo’s mantra of “Does it bring you joy?” I have known how to sew since I was young, but it really did not bring me joy. So, about 3 months ago, I decided to bag up all the extra fabric I had been hoarding for years, along with many packages of elastic and donated it all to charity. I felt free and thought this will bring someone else joy!
Fast forward to the pandemic, what had I been thinking by getting rid of all that fabric? Locating supplies has been interesting to say the least, but there was that one cabinet I had missed in my bagging frenzy. Fabric, elastic and a little binding tape got me started and then co-workers began bringing me their bags of extra goodies. Slowly, I have found enough supplies to begin making masks and now I have amassed enough fabric and ephemera to begin offering them to others. Of course, this meant that I had to off load my current knitting projects that need to be completed. Luckily, Cathy, President and majority owner of Signature and Laura offered to help me with my knitting projects, so that I can sew in my off hours.
Signature Needle Arts will be offering a limited number of my hand sewn masks; thereby, allowing me to do my part to help others for which I am very grateful. Ironically, knowing that I am able help someone else by sewing masks has brought me joy. So, it turns out something I did not really enjoy might just be more joyful than I had originally thought.
