Yes, that was me standing in front of Fabric Mart this morning, waiting outside for almost THREE HOURS to buy fabric to make face masks. It was because Mayor Kirk Caldwell had mandated that Honolulu residents wear face masks when going outside. I also had talked to my daughter-in-law the night before and heard that they had ordered masks online, only to be informed that they wouldn’t be delivered until the middle of April. So being that I have a sewing machine, I decided I needed to buy some fabric and make masks for my family and grandson.

I had actually gone to the downtown Walmart yesterday to buy sewing materials and came home with only thread and bias tape, so I checked the hours of Fabric Mart online. According to their website, they were supposed to be open until 7:00 pm. So I walked home to get the car only to drive over to Fabric Mart to find it closed.

I read up on making fabric masks last night and watched a couple of videos. So this morning when I got up, I looked around and found an old dish towel and some leftover fabric. I sewed one of the simpler designs and drove to the store, taking the very last stall in the parking lot.

I was reminded of standing in “The Queue” at King’s College, Cambridge in 1992 and 1997 when we waited in line for 5-1/2 hours to get into the Lessons and Carols service on Christmas Eve. I was hoping that it wasn’t going to be that long to get into the store. However, then as now, people struck up conversations with each other, even though we were 6 feet apart. The guy in front of me had never sewn before but promised to learn from his girlfriend. The lady in back of me was standing in line only to get elastic, which apparently is in short supply.

While I was waiting in line, two different television crews (Hawaii News Now and KHON2) came to film the line outside the fabric store, and I was interviewed and filmed by both crews. I just now saw myself on the 5:00 pm Channel 2 News (!) and they got the last name “Crosier” correct, but then misnamed me as “Kelly” instead of “Kathy”!

(I was amazed that they got “Crosier” spelled correctly, and as you probably know, the Navy fired the captain of the Theodore Roosevelt, Capt. Brett E. Crozier, (with a “Z”) because he reported the presence of COVID-19 on his ship.)

Anyway, I fired off an email to the station, and they did get my name corrected for the 6:00 pm news. Thank you, KHON!

Here’s what HawaiiNewsNow wrote in their article, “Stuck at home they’re sewing masks fast”:

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) – A long line of people waited patiently outside a shop on Kalakaua Avenue Friday morning, but they weren’t waiting for toilet paper.

Instead, they stood in line — at least six feet apart, of course — to get into Fabric Mart to get to the bolts of fabric and spools of elastic they’d need to make facemasks.

“My daughter-in-law and son live in California and they said it takes them about three months to get them by mail. So I’m going to make them for them,” said Kathy Crosier as she waited the line.

“There’s a shortage of masks right now, so you know, just trying to get some masks out there for people who don’t have them,” said Mark Fredette, six feet ahead of Crosier.

When I finally came home, I washed all the material I had bought, and here’s the second mask I made, with a streamlined design. It has a pocket on the inside so that you can insert a filter.

Since I bought five yards of material, I figure I will have enough to make at least 80 masks!

Happy sewing to me!