Sewing for Safety: Protecting the Community one Mask at a Time

When the national need for cloth masks arose with the world-wide COVID-19 pandemic, NIC student Alyssa Rose started a Facebook page to help keep our community safe.

On March 20th, Rose started Sew Many Masks, a satellite community project page on Facebook with the hope to unite sewers in the community and provide them with hard-to-find elastic.

Elastic has been in short supply since the outbreak of COVID-19, but locals like Alyssa Rose and Kathryn Boss, owner of Bear Paw quilting, have been doing everything they can to safely distribute elastic among sewers in the community.

“I knew that on day one, I had elastic, and people needed elastic, and I wanted to get as many people sewing masks as possible.” Rose said.

Since then, Rose has donated nearly 200 yards of elastic to sewers in the community, which is enough elastic for nearly 600 masks.

Rose was also in contact with Kootenai health, who requested 1000 masks from the community. In a matter of days that need was filled by local sewers, some of whom were organized by Rose. Personally, Rose has sewn 110 masks which she donated to individuals as well as local healthcare organizations. Rose has spent many hours organizing drop-offs for sewers who do not have the right supplies.

Rose has even offered free sewing machine servicing to anyone who can commit to donating 50 or more masks to the local North Idaho community. Because of her efforts, many sewers who were unable to produce masks are now sewing up a storm.

Bear Paw Quilting and BERNINA, a local quilting business, has also helped with other parts of the process. They have donated fabric and elastic to Rose and others as well as distributed finished masks throughout the area.

Through the whole mask-making process, Rose has taken steps to ensure the safety of those helping with the project. She begins by asking sewers how many masks they can commit to making in a week, and then tells them where she will drop off the elastic so it can later be picked up by the sewers.

Rose and several other local sewers have stepped up to meet the growing need for masks. They have set a great example and have shown that if individuals work together it can make a huge difference to the community.

“I am making an effort to have everything be as contact-less, and changing the least amount of hands as possible so we can all be safe while helping increase safety in our community.” Rose said.

Rose also said she was glad to see the impact her efforts have had on the local community. Individuals and businesses that received masks expressed their gratitude, and individuals that Rose didn’t even know brought her sewing machines to fix so they could start sewing masks. 

“Watching people, the little guys, come together to house, feed, clothe and protect communities all over is warming my heart.” Rose said. “This project is a reminder to me of what people can do when they set their mind to something.” 

Sewing has always been a large part of Rose’s life; she has sewn costumes for NIC’s theater department and owns a small business called Heavy Metal Sew Shop that services sewing machines. In addition, Rose is a full-time accounting assistant major at NIC, a mother of four and, up until the stay-home order, she worked as a caregiver for special needs children. Now Rose is self-isolating with her family, but that has not stopped her from taking action against the world-wide virus.

Through the process of making masks, Rose has found comfort in helping the community. She had sound advice for everyone in these scary times.

Rose and her friends have made over 600 masks for the community, but are still in need of masculine or gender-neutral colored fabric. Rose would like to thank all the gentlemen in the community who are wearing floral-print masks in order to keep everyone in the area safe!

“Find a way to be a helper” Rose said, “Maybe you have small children, and the best way you can help is to stay home. Do that. Take care of your babies. But maybe you have a skill that can help your community in some way. Or maybe you can learn a skill. Most importantly, love your family and make good memories with them during this time”

Rose is still reaching out to those who need masks, if you are a sewer who wants to help make masks, or an individual or business in need of masks, please reach out to Rose and her friends via Facebook: @Sewmanymasks. 

If you would like to help with the mask-making process, but don’t know how to sew, mask-makers are in need of masculine or gender-neutral colored fabric. Bear Paw Quilting and BERNINA is taking fabric donations by phone https://www.bearpawquiltingandbernina.com/

*This story was edited on 4/16/20