The first face masks we made in production had ties. Labor intensive to sew, those ties. Berninas all over the planet became the Victory Gardens of face masks.

By the second round, YouTube was full of new designs, new patterns, substitutions for the ties. Having a small face for an adult, I appreciated the sized models. Tested by thousands of first responders, these were an improvement, both to sew and to wear.

In March and April, using the sewing machine for anything other than face masks felt wrong. Really? America couldn’t produce enough masks for our medical professionals, let alone the rest of us? It was humbling, and a wake-up call.