Making a statement with fun reusable masks
If you’ve followed me on social media, you know I love fun masks. I love a really great mask, and I’ve built quite the collection! I’m now sharing my collection on Etsy.
In June, I finally tried sewing a mask. As of mid-December, I’ve made almost 300 – and more than 80 of those have been masks featuring the late RBG. It’s been a wild ride, and one I didn’t quite ask to get on, but here we are.
My goal this summer was to make enough for my family to have a week’s worth of masks. We were all going to be in schools at some point (my husband and I both work in different schools – me in a private office, but still around people at times.) I also wanted to be able to make a few masks for colleagues. Masks were still in high demand then. I had some fabric from a project I never followed through on back in 2011. (The fabric was supposed to be used for a laundry bag and something else for my son’s nursery.) Needless to say, I had a lot of fabric to start on this project.
Fast forward to September and a friend was going through the Spoonflower site with me. We picked out a couple of patterns we thought might be fun masks and I purchased RBG fabric. Ruth Bader Ginsburg had just passed away and I thought – again – this fabric would make a cool mask. It takes some time for delivery from Spoonflower, but by the first weekend in October I was sewing masks! I made 9 that weekend. It was kind of a big deal for me. I wasn’t quick on the sewing machine, and I wanted them to be great.
Let’s move along another two months and I’ve re-launched my Etsy store, sold several through the site and a couple hundred through my personal contacts and their friends.
That’s right. At last count, I have created more than 280 masks. The most I’ve made in one day is 17. Since October, I’ve only had a few night I didn’t sew anything and that felt weird.
My favorite pattern is one my mom tipped me off to from Craft Passion. Over the summer, the site was SLOW. Everyone was trying to download the pattern and I can only image the amount of sessions they had on their site at any given moment. Just amazing. I tried it recently (to send the pattern to a friend) and it was much more accessible.
If you’re interested in a fun, quirky or somewhat-political-statement in a mask, I have several! From Golden Girls to RBG (in a variety of colors) to Schitt’s Creek and now Disney – I have what most people need. I even have The Office and Friends. Soon I will have Star Wars.
It’s a fun hobby and I freaking love masks.
