A community cover-up

Local sewers swing into action as demand for cloth face masks skyrockets

Face masks are now a fact of life for many Victorians and keen sewers have taken to their machines to help with the cover-up. Last week, it became mandatory for anyone in the lockdown zones in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire to wear a mask outside their house.

And while the directive didn’t apply to regional areas, many residents of Bass Coast heeded the call from the Premier to wear a face mask when they leave the house and cannot physically distance.

Here’s a range of options for anyone wanting to buy a locally made mask.

Somewhere over the Rainbow

Kate Prattley normally concentrates on beautiful homemade baby products at her online store but is currently swamped with orders for masks.

After a customer asked if she was making masks, Kate thought she’d give it a try and word quickly got out.

“I’ve been inundated. My phone goes every 10 minutes with an order."
Initially, Kate struggled to keep up with the demand but she says she’s now on top of the orders. So far her biggest single order was for 10 masks and although it's all local customers, she said some are buying masks to send to family in Melbourne.

Masks are three-layers (two cotton with middle breathable layer), available in a variety of fabrics. One size. $24. Order via the Somewhere over the Rainbow Facebook or Instagram page. Pick up only.

Hooliegan Designs

Twenty-three-year-old Holly Egan has been glued to her machine ever since her father suggested making face masks last week. The Bachelor of Fashion Design graduate was laid off earlier this year with the fashion industry hard hit by the Coronavirus.

She returned home at the start of the initial lockdown. Her online store used to specialise in jewellery, but it’s been hijacked by face masks, with customers now able to order masks in a range of materials. She’s sold over 150 and says she’s been working from 9am to midnight, sewing, packing and shipping the masks.

“I’ve turned our living room into a sweatshop,” she joked.

“Mum has been coming home from work and cutting out the fabrics and Dad’s been threading the elastic through while he’s watching TV.”

The family team is turning out around 50 masks per day and the orders keep streaming in with one company ordering 80 masks for their workforce.

Masks are three layers of cotton and are unsealed, so an extra filter can be inserted if needed. Available in a variety of fabrics. One size. $15. Order online at www.hooliegandesigns.com. Free delivery local orders.

Cotton Onto Craft

Sisters Heather Coupe and Wendy Sedgwick from Cotton Onto Craft in Cowes are making masks to order for local customers.

“When the government said masks were going to be mandatory for metropolitan Melbourne, people started coming in getting elastic and fabric,” said Heather.

“Some asked if we were making masks, so we started to make them for the islanders.”

Heather has already made almost 200. For anyone keen to make their own, she said the masks are not difficult, but they are time-consuming.

“There are plenty of free patterns on the internet, but the biggest problem is getting hold of elastic. There’s no elastic in the shop at the moment, we sold out completely. We sold 600m in four days!”

And she has a salient message for all mask-wearers.

“Masks are like underwear. Only wear it once and when you get home wash it in hot soapy water.”

Masks are three layers: cotton, interfacing and poly-cotton. Available in plain or patterned. One size. $15. Order at the Cotton Onto Craft Facebook page or call 5952 5202. Collect instore. Postage organised at additional cost.

San Remo Hotel Bottle Shop

The first batch of homemade masks Elyse Pratt put into the San Remo drive-through bottle shop sold out within an hour.

The second batch was gone in 15 minutes.

Elyse and her mum originally started to make masks for family and friends.

“We had a few extra so we put them in the bottle shop and they were gone in an instant,” said Elyse.

With orders coming in, including from local businesses, the family sewing circle has already produced about 100 masks and expect to have new stock available at the bottle shop this week. Elyse has also ordered Thirsty Camel face masks, which are due in store this week as well.

Homemade masks are two layers of cotton (one plain, one patterned) with a middle layer of breathable interface. Available in small, medium and large. Homemade and Thirsty Camel masks are $13.