masked up! (february 2021 lockdown project)

Hey friends! 

This is another small post to record a memorable experience we've just gone through.

As most of you know, especially those in Western Australia, it's been a pretty worrying week!

A snap lockdown for a week with barely a day's notice is definitely not something I'm used to. But throw in a mandatory mask rule, and suddenly a creative pathway has opened. Thanks, Mr McGowan! I've been sewing masks for a while: they were recently introduced as a new product at Little Spools' market stalls. We found a free pattern on the Spotlight website and tried it out in three different sizes. It worked pretty well for the first round of samples so we made them an official product! 

On Sunday night we posted a reply to a Facebook post that was asking if anyone in the local community was selling handmade reusable masks. With a minimal-profit goal to support as many people in the area as we could, we decided to sell each mask for $6. Since so many people had replied to that post to say they had masks available we were sure that we wouldn't be overwhelmed by too many orders, and looked forward to a slow, easy-going week with maybe a bit of money coming in from whatever mask sales we managed to make. Little did we know what was just around the corner!

I woke up Monday morning to find out from my mum that there were already two or three people who had placed orders. Oh, okay, we thought. We'll be able to finish theirs by the afternoon.

As the morning passed by more texts kept coming in. And not just for one mask, but three or four in almost every order! I don't know how we kept going from there, but now looking back I can say that it was well worth the effort. I kept some photos to show you all! 

We found a common favourite fabric among most of our orders, and that was our special Marvel Comics print. I guess Thor, the Hulk, Captain America, and Spiderman have a good effect on lots of people! 

This massive workshop didn't come about just like that, it took the efforts of our whole family to make it happen and keep on going. Here's a sneaky shot I snapped of my sister cutting out the middle layers of the masks. Hard at work as usual!

And of course, the everlasting queue of stuff to finish before midnight. You can see the line of Marvel masks too :-)

Once an order was completed we packaged it up nicely and wrote a little name card for the customer, ready for them to collect. Here's a shot of a freshly off-the-machine batch.

Here's another set of my faves - cute cartoon characters dancing across a cheery background! I love the Pooh and Friends ones the most.

And of course, Mum!! The faithful fabric cutter behind the scenes, making the production line run like clockwork while managing the constant flow of incoming orders at the same time. Lots of hands make light work! Plus we shared some great moments while working side by side. 

I'll always remember lockdown week as a rather abrupt way to delay the start of the school year, but instead of musing over the inconveniences of it, I'll focus on the happy memories we made while helping out our local community too! #staysafestayhome #wearamask 

Altogether we have made 250+ masks (and counting!) and have earnt close to $1,000. It was a well rewarding experience not just because of the earnings but also because we can say that we've contributed a small share to lightening the burden COVID has put on everyone.

(As of 6 Feb, mask prices have increased to $9 normal price to help offset the increased cost of materials)

I hope you enjoyed reading this! 

~ Ash