Masks are the 'new spring fashion,' seamstress says

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u don’t have to be a medical professional or certified volunteer to help out during the coronavirus pandemic. A few local seamstresses are simply staying home and dusting off their sewing machines to make a difference. 

In Valley Springs, Brenda Murtha is sewing homemade face masks 12 hours a day – sometimes more.

“I’ve been making them for three weeks now, going on four,” she said. “I’m promoting that masks are the new spring fashion, guys,” she said with a laugh. “So just get over it.”

Murtha, who is retired, began making face masks after noticing a Facebook group called Seamstresses in Service.

“I thought, ‘This is for me. This is a way that I can help out in the current situation, because I love to sew,’” she said.

For the first few weeks, her homemade face masks went to hospitals, nursing homes and clinics across the country – wherever there was a need. Places like San Diego, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina.

Last week, a local hospital reached out to Murtha with its own request, which she was happy to fulfill. 

“Now I’m just getting overwhelmed with requests from everyone,” she said. “My big thing is not necessarily selling masks but donating them to places with nursing staff.”

So far, Murtha has made more than 300 face masks, and she’s hoping to persuade other seamstresses to pick up the needle and thread and take up the cause, too. 

Murtha happened to have a goodly stash of fabric when the coronavirus pandemic broke, since she was planning to start a sewing school. Elastic, though, has been another story. There’s been a national run on it, with people having to find creative workarounds like ribbon and hair ties.  

“I am so grateful for the medical staff out there – the EMTS, first responders, people who work in nursing homes – and in the grocery stores, in the post office, in the restaurants – all these places where people still have to work and face the public,” she said. 

There are also plenty of face masks for sale on Etsy at modest prices, and she’s directed some people there. 

Murtha isn’t alone in her new pursuit. 

Marlys Byre and Cheryl Kucker are members of Brandon Lutheran’s quilting circle. The group isn’t meeting these days, but the ladies are still putting their needles to good use, sewing masks for healthcare workers who can’t quarantine.

“I think it’s good to be helping, because we all feel so helpless,” Byre said. “We’re kind of the ‘Rosie the Riveters’ from World War II. I was making some and thought, ‘Gosh. I wonder if this is what the women felt like during the world wars when they were making stuff and the guys were all off fighting.’”

Byre got the idea to sew some masks from her daughter-in-law, who works at a Twin Cities area hospital that needed masks. She sewed around 75 masks in three or four days.

“The pattern was actually fairly easy, so I made a bunch,” Byre said. “And I had a ton of elastic, so I thought, ‘What the heck?’”

Kucker has made around 35 masks for Avera in Sioux Falls.

“They had the kits all made,” she said. “I just had to drive up.”

Kucker’s masks were N95, meaning they create a tight seal between the respirator and face.

“There’s a pocket in front of these that the N95 masks will fit inside,” she explained. “There are, like, six pieces to the whole thing.”

Avera supplied all the materials, subbing ponytail holders for elastic to hook the masks behind the ears.

Making the face masks was a no-brainer for Kucker.

“I know they need them, and what else are we going to do while we’re sitting at home?” she said. “I like to sew. And it’s something simple we can do to help out … something to keep busy while we’re at home.”