Pin the pattern to your doubled cotton

Late Sunday Afternoon’s cofounder Matthew Schildkret (far right) has pivoted his team from making scarves to face masks for medical worker and consumer use

By Shanee Edwards From desperate pleas on social media by doctors and nurses to widespread news reports on shortages, it’s no secret that medical workers are in dire need of PPE, or personal protective equipment, like N95 masks and face shields. As Los Angeles heads into another critical week for the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for face masks for all — not just health care professionals — has become even more acute. On Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti issued an order requiring all nonmedical essential workers to wear face masks on the job to slow the spread of COVID-19. And starting Friday, all LA residents will be expected to wear face masks when going out to do business, too, according to the measure. (Though public health officials have urged people to leave the medical-grade face masks for the pros.) While the state of California just stepped in to purchase more than 200 million medical-grade masks, some clever Westsiders — in cluding costume designers, quilters, a dentist, community college professors and an altruistic city worker — are using the resources they have at hand to fill demand now for those on the front lines of the pandemic and help protect the most vulnerable among us.

‘Sew’ You Think You Can Dance

Nancy Drake is the Wardrobe Director for the Westside School of Ballet in Santa Monica. She was supposed to be overseeing costume production for their spring show, a gala to celebrate iconic ballerina Patricia Neary, when all performances were canceled. Drake learned of the face mask shortage when she saw videos of people making masks out of random office supplies. “They were using the most absurd materials,” she says. “I thought, ‘I’ve got 20 or 30 skilled seamstresses and at least 10 sewing machines that are currently sitting idle.’ The whole reason we are here is to give to the community. So we decided to make face masks instead of ballet costumes.” For the first time, instead of making elaborately frilled and feathered costumes and tutus, like the ones featured in Westside Ballet’s annual production of “The Nutcracker,” the costume team is making personal protec tive equipment in the form of face masks. Drake’s team includes 12 wardrobe department parent volunteers plus their dancer helpers. Over 200 colorful masks have been donated to Meals on Wheels and the Pacific Clinic so far. Westside Ballet’s masks are made with layers of vibrant cotton fabric and HEPA filters that you find in air conditioners. They’ve also repurposed dental bib material, which behaves like fabric while not allowing penetration by droplets. One perk of having face masks made by costumers is that they look great. “We delight in making things beautiful,” says Drake.

Many Hands Make Light Work

“Sometimes it’s homeless shelters, churches, foster kids or fire victims,” says Playa Vista resident Patti Londre, who’s been with the group for over two years. Unable to meet due to the Safer at Home order, the group decided to use their skills at home to make face masks. Londre describes quilters as “obsessive” people who have stacks of unused fabric in their studios or garages. After one member of the group sourced plenty of elastic, the next mission was to wash and iron large quantities of fabric. Help came from Amin Amersi, owner of Hollyway Cleaners in Playa Vista, who agreed to wash and press the fabric for free. Londre then prepared bags of material, leaving them on her porch for members of the group to pick up and cut out the masks at home using a pattern found on the internet. The third task was sewing them. In just four days, hundreds of cloth masks were delivered to St. Jude Hospital, assisted living facilities in Mar Vista, and the LAPD. “The pattern we are using is recommended by the CDC and has an opening on the side that allows medical facilities to insert a disposable filter,” says Londre. The mask can also be worn over N95 masks to extend their use. Quilt from the Heart is currently producing 75 to 100 masks per day. While these masks are being made for people on the front lines of this epidemic, people at home can make their own without a filter. Simply cut out the Quilt from the Heart pattern printed with this story, follow the pattern instructions, and sew your own mask to wear. (See page 8.) “You can cut up a shirt or sheets,” says Londre. She recommends using cotton fabric.

One-for-One Masks by Late Sunday Afternoon

Matthew Schildkret founded Late Sunday Afternoon in Venice eight years ago. The Lincoln Boulevard boutique usually makes stylish scarves and ascots from salvaged deadstock fabric (material that would typically end up in a landfill) to keep with their “zero waste” mandate, but the