What I Learned from Making Masks in the Time of Covid

May 21, 2020

I learned that sitting staring out the window while listening to the radio can lead you down an interesting path.

Early into our social distancing, the CBC’s Matt Galloway was interviewing a woman who had dug out her mother’s sewing machine to sew masks for auxiliary support workers at a local hospital. A PDF with the sewing instructions had been posted online. I don’t know how to sew but my mother’s machine was buried deep in the back of a cupboard so I thought, hey, how hard could it be?

The idea of masks appealed to me. I didn’t want to wrest masks away from frontline workers but for me they seemed to be good idea both practically and symbolically, as an acknowledgment that we needed to be especially vigilant at this time. But really, I needed something to do; this was early on in the whole lockdown and I think we were all a lot more afraid and anxious then. It feels like the new normal has become, well, normal. But back then, I needed a break from the loop of anxious thoughts running through my mind.

I gathered up fabric I had used to get curtains made (don’t forget, I can’t sew) which didn’t exactly conform to the suggested fabric type but I am not good at following instructions and I am inclined to stretch the rules. And I was off!

Of course, the sewing machine turned out to be a huge challenge; it hadn’t been used in years, it wouldn’t do the simplest stitching without bunching up and it mostly refused to move forward on its own accord! It was a sewing machine in deep retirement and it was not particularly keen on jumping back onto the working treadmill. I sympathized but pressed on. After poking and prodding, cleaning it thoroughly, watching several YouTube videos all the way to the end (a Covid first) it seemed more willing to do what I asked of it.

I learned that reading the manual, SLOWLY AND CALMLY works better than throwing the sewing machine out the window. If this pandemic has done anything, it has provided time and space to cultivate patience.

The production process went on for several weeks (I was very slow) and by this time, I was part of a movement…everyone was making masks and everyone seemed to have an opinion about the efficacy of wearing them. But by this time, I was a convert – at least to making them and sure, why not? - wearing them too. The best part was being able to send them out and, getting the selfies back, seeing my curtains doing double duty offering some protection to family and friends in this time.

I learned that while doing things for others is clearly a GOOD THING, what motivates me is creativity and beauty. So much creative activity needs a tangible, VISUAL feedback loop and working with the fabric gave me that pure, untethered pleasure we all need right now.

Slowly, I’m making friends with the sewing machine. Nothing happens quickly around here and while the masks wouldn’t stand up to any type of quality control, they are made with love and yes, joy.

I have a whole new group of friends on Facebook who discuss the intricacies of mask sewing and, like so many other activities we are engaged in right now, even though we are socially isolated and physically distant, we are sharing this experience with so many people, the entire world, in fact. And that is profound.

So, while it can be difficult to be physically distant from loved ones, I learned it is very hard to be lonely when you are sharing this experience with the entire world.

May I carry these lessons forward in the post Covid world.

- Alex Anderson