It was just about a month ago that I dragged out my sewing machine and started making cloth face masks—an activity which has consumed me 10-12 hours a day for the last few weeks.
The motivation for sewing masks came from my son and daughter-in-law, who complained that the Los Angeles mayor had mandated the wearing of masks. However, when they tried to order them online, it would mean a delivery delay until June!
The very next day after the phone call with my family, I stood in line for three hours at Fabric Mart to buy fabric, which I wrote about in the post, “Three hours!”
Not long afterwards, though, my friend Sue Haas asked me to make masks for her daughter’s family in New Jersey.
Then I offered to sew masks for my neighbors, and the requests started coming in from all over the world!
All my masks are sent completely free of charge—all I ask is that you send me a photo of yourself wearing the mask. I have two masks that have gone international … Joan Ishibashi in London, U.K. and Joyce W. in Japan, but I am still waiting for pictures.
I can brag that my masks have been worn by people ages 2 to 92.
Today I have just finished sewing my 108th mask and had no idea that I would still be sewing all these weeks later. Here are masks worn by organist friends:
I want to give a shout-out to Nola Nahulu of the Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus and Bete Mu‘u for donating fabric remnants to me, out of which I made these masks.
Anyone need a mask? Just let me know and I’ll send you one!
I hadn’t seen any masks before with a border like yours. Makes them very handsome and also looks like better contact with the face! I would ask you for one, but I already got two from a friend in another part of the UK. Hers are pleated and have a pocket for a filter such as tissue paper or paper towel.
That said, I’ve figured out how to eat pretty well using foods that keep, so I won’t have to go out much. Oat milk instead of dairy, nuts and nut butters, eggs, and a wide variety of dried, canned, and especially frozen foods. Frozen fruit is even better than fresh because it gets frozen very soon after picking, and I can put it in smoothies. Same for frozen vegetables, but I’ll cook those. I’ve given up bread but have crackers and pasta. Instead of salad I’ll have gazpacho and sprout some seeds. We’ll see how it works. Hang in there and keep up the good mask-making!
You are a true blessing to all these people! God will bless you!
I always knew you were a Guardian Angel. We are good and well. Retirement is an easy “stay home”. Please stay well, stay strong and I wish you Love and Happiness.
Sincerely, your friend Gary