Making a Difference From the Luxury of Your Home
High school senior Clair Jenks from Richmond, Virginia, picked up the retro hobby of sewing after learning that many communities in the U.S. are facing PPE shortages, which include a lack of surgical masks. Because of her cousin Brent, who is an emergency room doctor in Charleston, Clair decided sewing cloth masks was a good way to offer her support to the doctors and healthcare workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, even while obeying Virginia’s stay-at-home orders.
Clair Jenks on her front porch, or her ‘outdoor workspace.’ (Photo provided by Abigail Phillips)
The remainder of Clair’s senior spring was an exciting one with the anticipation of prom, her final show choir performance and graduation—that is, before her high school shifted to online instruction. Clair went from a life full of places to be and people to see to being confined to her house and, like others, with more free time than ever.
It was her mom, an avid knitter, who encouraged her to start sewing cloth masks for Brent. A local fabric store was giving away sewing kits to make cloth masks at home; each kit could make about 10 masks depending on mask size. The masks are easy to make, Clair said.
Essentially, the kits provide everything except a sewing machine and hand to sew with. In each free mask kit, there are pre-cut pieces of fabric, elastic to go around the ears, a sewing pattern for the mask and an extra ribbon piece to make masks adjustable with ties in the back.
Clair teaches her friends how to sew the masks from her front porch, where her sewing machine and supplies are set up. (Photo provided by Clair Jenks)
At first, she was frustrated because none of her homemade masks looked uniform or perfect, “but you are still helping the community,” she said, “and this need is immediate.”
In a study looking at the efficacy of homemade masks by the US National Library of Medicine, although a surgical mask is “3 times more effective” in blocking germs, the study said that “both masks significantly reduced the number of microorganisms expelled by volunteers.”
After making the first pair of masks, Clair said she felt more confident and even began setting up her workspace with music or Netflix playing while she worked. She said once she figured out what she was doing, sewing the masks became a calming activity.
Clair even created her own sewing design for the masks. The design included a tie for behind the ears rather than elastic “because of its thickness and appearance in the pleats,” she said. The elastic was difficult to work with, she said. “You have to sew them a certain way to be tight enough to prevent any gaps or gaping that would allow air close to the face.”
Clair said sending the masks to her cousin Brent, who cannot see his family while he treats patients, has brought her a sense of fulfillment in quarantine. Previously, she said she felt anxious and restless being in one spot for an extended period of time, but now she feels differently. “Now I have a purpose in my position,” she said.
In one day, she can make about 12 masks, and for this reason, Clair’s mom began ordering cheaper panels of cloth fabric and elastic to cut at home.
“As long as the fabric is cotton, it is the best,” Clair said. “It can’t be porous, but [it] can be breathable.”
Now, Clair can make a variety of sizes for doctors and essential workers who could use homemade masks amidst the equipment shortage.
Clair intends to continue to make masks until her supplies run out, “and there are a lot of supplies,” she said. In addition to masks, Clair likes to needle point pillows but said those can be done whenever. “The need for masks is serious.”
She encourages others to donate to their local hospitals or other facilities where employees need protection. So, pick up or order some cloth, fabric, elastic and a pattern and be an essential worker from the safety of your home.