Craftivism and the Coronavirus

Some of the masks made by Adrienne of refluff for donation. (See here)

How are you doing? We hope you are healthy, sheltering in place, and practising physical distancing if you have to go out. Many of you might have a lot on your plate right now with extra worries and perhaps extra childcare or new remote working or job loss to figure out. Doing your part to stay home to keep you and your families safe is enough. Some of you are able to keep handmaking during the lockdown and we're proud to see TEST folks putting their skills to work for the greater good.

Many of our community are sewists and who jumped at the chance to do something to help the community at large at this time of crisis. Michael Garron Hospital (formerly Toronto East General Hospital) has put out a call for hand-sewn masks:

"Calling all sewists! Do you sew or know someone who does? To keep our community healthy and safe, Michael Garron Hospital is issuing a challenge to all east end sewists to collectively make 1,000 masks a week. We want to see all east enders wearing a fabric mask when they need to be within six feet of other people, especially vulnerable populations and the elderly. Find out how you can help:
https://www.mghf.ca/mgh1000masks"

 If you're able to help you can download simple instructions here or here and you can find answers from MGH at this link.

Makers using their skills, precious time and fabric stashes to help out: we see you and thank you. A smattering of posts from our local handmakers:

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I'll be forever grateful to the midwives that looked after my pregnancies and births of my children. They were one of the first to come to mind when thinking about who I can extend a call to during this time. The midwives are still on call 24/7 and though the appointments have been reduced to lessen the risk of exposure, some patients still have to have their in-person checkups. Again, the handmade masks are only in place as a last resort measure and won't fully stop any viruses from spreading without proper use but it does help save the mandated surgical masks for frontline healthcare workers. These will be donated to my local midwifery clinic for the admin and staff so that the valuable resources can be saved for the midwives when they need to have direct contact with their clients. . . . . . #handmade #handmademasks #masks #facemasks #covid19 #healthcareworkers #midwives #torontomidwives #stayhome #makermovement #makesomething

A post shared by TANYA (@snap_and_tumble) on Apr 3, 2020 at 11:37am PDT

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8 masks for TTC workers in carbon colour. . 2 adult and 2 kid masks for my friends Claire and David. Who doesn’t love sloths and koalas!

A post shared by Lindsay Martin (@knittylittlesecret) on Apr 2, 2020 at 10:09am PDT

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These were the masks I delivered to Michael Garron hospital last week. 48 masks delivered, 2 dropped to an immuno deficient friend and 1 mailed to a nurse upon request for her commute. (I cheated and brought 5 home to family as well, whonknow what we will need?). Hopefully these will contribute to the MGH callout for 1000 masks a week for patients, visitors and others who need some protection. #washyourhands #flattenthecurve #covid19masks #maskmaker #sewingarmy #thesewingarmy💪💪💪#staysafe

A post shared by Blissful Sew (@blissful_sew) on Mar 31, 2020 at 8:45am PDT

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Hi all! Secret Planet is making cloth face masks to donate to Michael Garron Hospital! Since they are a Covid-19 testing centre, they have estimated that they will need the community to make and donate 1000 masks a week! And guess who has a sewing machine and two hands and kind of knows how to sew?! THIS GIRL. I have a lofty goal of making 50 masks this week, but I will run out of materials soon. If you have some extra/old CLEAN cotton pillow cases, Tshirts, dresses, bedsheets, thin curtains, etc, I am accepting drop off donations at the shop! Get in touch if you want to donate! Stay safe everyone! Also if you like Dragon's Den you should check out a show on Netflix called Million Pound Menu. It rules. Ok bye!

A post shared by Secret Planet Print Shop (@secretplanetprintshop) on Mar 30, 2020 at 12:54pm PDT

And making masks is not the only thing makers are doing to help the larger community! Are you offering free tutorials for those suddenly trying to homeschool their kids or grown-ups for cabin fever? Sharing recipes for those who are stress baking? Sharing your art to help people decompress a bit? Let us know below and we would be happy to share!

Take care everyone!