Hi Daters!
So, as I’m sure EVERYONE is experiencing, life has been crazy weird this month which is why the last two posts didn’t get up. I know we usually post food or great lifestyle things here at THD, but unfortunately, part of living our best life in the current state of things, is keeping safe and healthy.
To help myself (and my family) do that, I’ve been (like so many others) making COVID-19 masks.
Funny story… I USED to be a costume designer–we’re talking like… a THOUSAND years ago. So I did have a Singer Sewing Machine that I have kept in my closet and pulled out at random Halloweens here and there in the last 15 years. So I figured a few simple straight stitches would be fairly easy for me to manage. Well, pulling out that machine, I realized it had been 15 loooooooong years since the thing had been serviced. Long story short, after some incredibly overly frustrating hours of what should have been completely simple straight line stitching, it DIED. I just knew all the machines would be gone in every store in the country, but I looked online anyway.
After realizing I was right, I called my local repair place and THEY. WERE. OPEN!!! So cool. Beyond that, I went down there and, while they thought they MIGHT be able to fix my ancient machine, due to the COVID scare, they were running a 50% off special on new machines which would have cost me less than having my old one fixed and I could walk out of the store with it!
But wait! My crazy story doesn’t stop there. I didn’t have a credit card with me. No cash, no card… I was lucky I had a phone I had left my home so quickly to get to the repair shop before they closed! Thank goodness for living in a small town in a time where people are trying so wonderfully to come together and help. The women knew what I wanted the machine for, and while she had “never done anything like it before,” she let me come home with my brand new machine and call her with my credit card number.
Faith in humanity: RESTORED. (Hopefully for her too since I did, in fact, come home and call with the payment. Lol.)
Whew. Crazy. But I digress.
Now, I know there are hospitals and such which are releasing specific patterns for these masks, but even my family who has been making masks has said that these masks fit better and feel more covered than the others. Below is the link to the video originally posted by Homemade on our Homestead. She has since posted other patterns but this one has served me and mine very well.
*** One note: I actually pulled the pleats in a bit on the sides to curve the outside frame of the mask a bit more. As the pattern is, it’s a bit square and has a tendency to open on the sides if your face isn’t JUST the right shape. I’m also doing a couple of alterations to the pattern to put hairties on as ear hooks rather than the ties. Many of my family members really like the mobility of the ties, but honestly, I don’t like what they do to my hair (I alREADY don’t do my hair… The last thing I need is for it to end up looking EVEN worse than it already does in this isolation life. Lol. Behold the vanity (EYEROLL).)
Anyway, Daters, stay safe, stay healthy, stay hungry, and HAPPY COOKING!
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