Sewing Together a Community
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Sharon Barrett has been teaching students to sew in her art classes for many years. She is now using these skills to provide masks to Crozet community.
Ms. Barrett is a master of many forms of art. She is a painter. She is a sketch artist. She is a potter. She is also a sewer. Every winter, she teaches the art of sewing to students during our Winter Week of Wisdom and Wonder. Her popular course, Sew Crazy, has inspired a number of students to consider fashion design as a career path.
This spring, Ms. Barrett put her skills to the service of the local community to provide needed masks at the local nursing home. Her forward thinking allowed her to have the needed supplies well before the coronavirus pandemic hit Virginia. We sat down (via Zoom) to learn more about Ms. Barrett’s sewing and community service.
You had masks ready almost right away for the community. How did you sew so fast?
I started making masks in early March after seeing what was happening in Italy. By starting early, I was also able to order supplies, such as elastic, that are now out of stock.
How many masks have you sewn and where are they going?
I enlisted the help of a few other local sewists (including Kristi Melis) to make a total of 225 for the Cedars nursing home. I also made 60 for a friend who's a chaplain at Sentara Martha Jefferson. These were distributed to other chaplains, social workers, palliative care staff, and the oncology department. 20 were made for a vet's office (so they could donate their more protective masks to healthcare workers and first responders), and the rest were made for individuals.
You have donated every mask, even to those who want to pay. Tell us about this.
I have donated--I have not sold--all the masks I've made. For individuals who've offered to pay, I've asked them to make a donation to their local food bank or some other organization that is helping people who have been hurt by the pandemic.
How have you balanced teaching full time and continuing to provide this needed community service?
I was able to make most of these masks (I've made over 300) before we started online teaching, but even though I now have less time to sew, I'm still making and distributing them. I've also created and shared a "tips and tricks" document for people who are interested in learning to make a mask for themselves or their family members.
