Masks

Hiding our smiles makes me sad, but stopping the spread makes me glad. So I’ve put some other projects around the house on hold and begun sewing face masks, following a pattern that showed up in my news feed, using some fabric squares left over from a napkin-making project, digging to the bottom of my sewing box for a package of 1/4″ elastic. The dining room table/office was converted temporarily into a sewing station.

A little stack of napkins and mask making supplies

One mask done and the second begun

The word came out that we should all wear face masks to the grocery store. As our milk jug empties, we’ve been planning the next food gathering trip. Dave and Kyle will handle that because they’re quicker and stronger and well-practiced from shopping last year when I couldn’t. So last evening, I made their masks. Kyle gave me permission to share his Stop the Spread photo.

We have all been well and don’t suspect any exposure to the coronavirus. We’ve been staying at home where we feel safe. This feels really weird, but necessary. During a Facetime call with son Eric and his wife Amanda last night, we told them about the masks, Kyle modeled his for them, and I offered to sew and mail one for each of them.

This morning, I was wanting to get my sewing started while Dave worked at the table. So we cleared off the kitchen desk and plugged in the sewing machine. By lunch time I had a mask for myself and the two ready to mail to them. Dave donned his new fashion accessory and headed to the post office, finding it to be well equipped for social distancing, noticing that the lady in front of him was also wearing a homemade mask.

I will feel better about the people I love being out in public if they are wearing masks. There is some debate about how effective they are in protecting and/or not spreading the virus. I  found this article from The Conversation to be helpful: Why Wear Face Masks in Public. If you want to make your own mask, but don’t have a sewing machine, you can find no-sew patterns and instructional videos by searching the web.

The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
 the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
 the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26