As soon as the coronavirus became big news here on our shores, Angel Couture decided to put our machining skills into action to help the hundreds of people in our community. Local shop workers, Veterinarians, NHS staff workers and locals contacted us to provide masks when supplies elsewhere were short, in high demand and over expensive.
As a Dressmakers I felt that the perfect fabric for these masks could possibly be breathable fabric used in the production of preservation garment bags. We had around 30 spare breathable dress covers at the studios in Thurlstone, which were cut up into around 410 individual masks.
These masks consisted of 2/3 layers of the fabric which was then secured with pleats across the nose and at the sides to fit the face. A lot of surgical masks fit loosely around the nose and have elastic fitting around the ears. We decided to add elastic all the way round the nose and the chin, as well as pleats in the sides allowing a big enough pouch to breath easily. This also making the mask ‘one size fits all.’
An elastic strap around the head allowed the mask to fit securely and stay in place and an added bonus was these masks could be washed in a 40-degree machine wash, enabling people to re-use, time and time again.
One client purchasing over 70 masks for the local vet surgery in Barnsley and York branches offered feedback on this new elasticated mask, being more secure preventing repetitive touching of the face to re-adjust.
Cannon Hall Farm Shop contacted us and ordered 70 masks for their farm shop staff who were staying open to supply fresh food to the community.
The masks made here at Angel Couture are not medically graded and are simply there to offer some barrier if people do have to go outside during the lockdown, and offering a little piece of mind during these uncertain times.
With the uncertainty of delivery/postal services at this moment in time, and also the availability of the breathable fabric, we are unsure how many more masks we can provide now the lockdown has been introduced. We were just glad to be able to produce over 400 at the time when we could.
We here at Angel Couture want to say a huge thank you to all the shop workers, key workers, delivery services, NHS staff and other medical staff for everything they are doing to keep us all safe and well at this time.
Love Kay xx
