Sew glad to help

When residents of Green Mountain Estates told Tracy Wilson they were concerned about exposure to COVID-19, she got to work immediately. Wilson has now sewn protective masks for every resident – and she’s not planning to stop there.

“I didn’t even know how to make any of these masks, but then I had friends sending me patterns and so I decided it was time to start helping out a little bit,” says Wilson, owner of Impressions Embroidery in Sundance.

“At Green Mountain Estates, none of them had any masks and some of them were concerned, so I made all the residents masks – I made them each two. I’m just going to keep making them.”

Wilson plans to keep making as many masks as she can for the hospital and any other elderly or immune-compromised person who expresses a need. So far, she’s completed around 24.

“They take a little while – it took me a few days to get those whipped out,” she says. “I’ve been doing a lot of research and people have been giving me a lot of ideas.”

Making masks wasn’t something Wilson had done before, but she did have some colored fabric on hand.

“I also went and bought a couple of yards of plain white material so people can differentiate which side goes against the face and which side is the outside. They need to be two different colors,” she says.

This wasn’t the only consideration she needed to address. “I’m putting a medium weight, non-woven interface in the middle as well,” she says.

Wilson even factored in the possibility that some wearers may have allergies. Elastics don’t specify if latex is an ingredient so, for the cords to fix the masks in place, “I ordered some polyester spandex cording,” she says.

“I’m waiting for that to get in and in the meantime I’m working on a new type of mask that has a pocket in it if people want to order the micron filters. You can order them in sheets and then cut them and slide it into the pocket.”

Wilson has already heard from a couple of volunteers who may be joining her mask-making efforts, but she’s happy to hear from anyone else who may be interested.

“I’d be more than happy to print out any patterns for them,” she said. “If anyone wants to make masks, it needs to be made with a tight woven cotton, kind of like a quilting cotton, and the interface if they use one has to be non-woven,” she says, explaining that this will allow the wearer to breathe through the material.

Wilson will also happily accept any material you may have on hand, particularly elastic.

“You cannot find any more elastic – everyone has bought it up,” she says.

She can even make use of solid half-inch elastic, she says, as she has found she can cut it down the middle and singe the cut edge to keep it from fraying.

Wilson’s vendors are willing to assist non-account holders with material to sew masks. If you would be interested to join her effort or would like to donate materials you have on hand, give her a call at 290-0467.