It’s certainly been a strange and scary few months for us all! During Lockdown the Newton Fabrics workshop was closed and I was back at home with the husband and kids – juggling homeschooling and everything else like so many of you. I missed my business and the workshop so much that I decided to start making face masks from home with my domestic machine – as much to preserve my sanity as to help pay the rent and the bills!

My masks were made with 100% cotton quilting fabric and were fully lined, with a pocket for a filter. They came with an optional co-ordinating drawstring bag for storage. The customer chose their own fabric from my stocks and I was taken aback by the number of orders I received. The project certainly kept me busy for a few months and gave me some much needed focus, as well as covering the rent on my workshop.

I am still making a few for customers that approach me but as work picks back up and I am able to get back into the workshop I am making far fewer. I will always be grateful to the lovely customers that purchased my face masks, the chats I had with them from driveways as I delivered to their doorsteps and the sweet, kind comments I received – and I am sure that it helped my mental health so much during these past strange few months.