St. Pete Bartender Makes Coronavirus Masks Out Of Liquor Bags

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Do what you're passionate about, and everything else will sort itself out. These are words from a friend that inspired St. Petersburg resident and bartender Daniel Harris to believe in his creative talents as he recovered from coronavirus, and since he's been without a job because of the coronavirus lockdown of bars.

Harris has worked as bar manager at Lucky Star Lounge for nine years. After the bar closed during the second Florida bar lockdown in June, he started to worry about his finances. However, he collected a lot of Crown Royal and Tito's cloth bags from the bar that would later benefit him.

"This time around it kind of freaked me out because my rent comes directly out of my checking account — my trainer at the gym I just shut off because I can't afford it anymore," Harris told Patch. "I was also very lethargic and mentally drained from the COVID as I worried about what to do."

The Florida Department of Health coronavirus test for Harris came back as positive toward the end of June.

"I was lucky because I didn't have to go to the hospital nor did it last for a long time," said Harris. "I had a lot of dizzy spells, headaches, the constant smell of chlorine, night sweats. The symptoms lasted for about four days."

As he lay in his bed with coronavirus, Harris became concerned about what to pay his rent and bills.

"I've got enough money in my checking account for another month's rent so it made me question whether I needed to change my career," Harris said.

He started wondering when the bar would reopen, how long would he have coronavirus and how would he make the money he used to bring in from the bar?

In the midst of those worries, Harris talked with his friend who told him to follow his passions and get back into sewing, which he loves to do. He learned how to sew in college at Virginia Commonwealth University as a theater major.

Another friend gave Harris a mask with patterns, and that's when he got the idea to create masks out of fabric designs that could be from a person's T-shirt that doesn't fit them any longer, shorts with designs and sewing fabric. He also started making masks from his collection of Crown Royal and Tito's bags.

"I put a post out on Facebook that I'll make masks, and if you have favorite clothes you can't wear anymore then bring it and I'll make it into a mask," said Harris. "A friend of mine named Brick was the first to drop off clothes and from there it snowballed into crazy sewing town."

So far he has shipped his creations to New York, Canada, Wisconsin and North Carolina, and has followed through with local orders. He has made over 60 masks in two weeks. He charges $10 per mask.

"I'm not feeling stressed right now about anything because all of this is working out for me, and it's going to be there for me because it always has been," said Harris. "And it's just a matter of accepting it."

If you would like for Harris to make you a mask, contact him on his Facebook page.

Harris hopes to go back to work as a bar manager at Lucky's when things are safer in St. Petersburg.