After her neighbor asked her to on March 21, Megan Von Dreau has been making masks for her neighbor’s facility to help amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of Thursday, Texas has over 4,000 cases of the coronavirus and the United States has over 200,000.
“I have always loved to sew and create. I think anyone that knows me is not at all surprised that I am helping to make these,” Megan says. “Creating is my happy place.”
Megan, a music teacher at Eubanks Intermediate School, found a pattern online that would make masks with two layers and a pocket for a filter. Using this pattern, Megan makes the masks — which is created with three pieces of fabric, eight seams, a little wire, some ribbon and lots of ironing.
“I have never made just one, but I think it would take about 20 minutes start to finish if I had everything ready to go,” Megan says. “We make them in batches.”
Making the masks in batches, Megan sends them to her neighbor’s rehabilitation facility and has sent a few to friends in health care and members of her family.
“The hardest part is to keep making them,” Megan says. “Whenever I am tired of sewing I remind myself that there are far more difficult jobs right now and then it’s easy to take a deep breath and “just keep sewing.”
To break up her time between making masks, Megan does things like practice music, knitting and hanging out with her family. Sometimes her 12-year-old daughter Lilly helps her make masks.
“Everyone is excited and grateful and then, ‘Could we have more….’ is always the next thought,” Megan says. “I wish there wasn’t such a need for this.”
Megan posted the video she used to make masks and the tweaks she made to the pattern on her social media accounts.
“I am just going to make as many as I can,” Megan says. “Friends have been donating supplies and I have plenty of material for at least another week of making right now.”
Do you know of someone working to make a difference during the pandemic? Let us know at editor@southlakestyle.com!