North Attleboro Sewing Studio Busy At Work Making Masks

NORTH ATTLEBORO, MA — Mikala Cash's The Creative Sewing Studio was bustling. The North Attleboro storefront was a window each day into packed classes of students learning their craft as part of a thriving small business.

"Spring is our busy season," Cash said. "We were really jamming six days a week coming to the close of March. We had 100 people in the studio each week."

By the actual close of March, however, everything had changed for The Creative Sewing Studio — the way it did for thousands of stores, restaurants, bars and small businesses across the state. The classes were canceled, the students were sent home and the doors were locked to all but a small handful of staff due to the coronavirus crisis.

Cash could have shuttered the store and gone home for weeks, perhaps months, before hoping for the chance to reopen. She could have thrown up her arms in despair. She could have spent hours each day feeling sorry for herself.

Instead, Cash got back to work at the sewing machine. Only, she wasn't teaching classes for a profit. She started making quilted cotton masks to donate to area assisted living facilities and medical offices.

"So many of our students come from medical offices and doctors' offices that we wanted to see what we could do for the medical community," Cash told Patch.

Cash, along with a small staff of assistants, began sewing, and sewing, and sewing, all the quilted cotton the studio had in stock to provide the masks to eight places with which she, her family or her staff has a personal connection to in the Attleboro and Providence, RI areas. While the masks are not the N-95 grade that first responders and frontline medical personnel require for personal protection equipment, she said they are helpful for some protection and peace of mind for office workers, food and custodial staff, and those providing assistance going to grocery stories and pharmacies for the most vulnerable to a COVID-19 infection.

"We are very up front with them that these are not medical grade," she said. "They will not protect you against the virus. But if you cough or sneeze it may contain your germs so they don't come in contact with someone else. The response from everyone has been: 'Yes, we went them anyway. Anything is better than nothing.'

"It's bittersweet because I am happy to be able to use my sewing skills to be able to help people, and it's keeping my hands busy doing what I do. But, at the same time, this should not be happening," she added.

Cash said she uses quilted cotton to tightly weave two layers of fabric together with a third interface layer that helps add to the longevity of the mask. The masks are pre-washed in hot water, so that they are pre-shrunk, and can be washed and reused.

Cash said she is maxed out with volunteer staff to be able to help — with social distancing guidelines in place the studio. She has eight or nine people sewing each day, and another three or four making deliveries and going to the store for supplies. Within two weeks, she said she went through 90 percent of the quilted cotton in stock and is soliciting donations for additional funds and supplies to keep going.

She said she and her staff are on pace to sew 1,000 masks by the end of next week with supplies going to Madonna Manor in North Attleboro, The Branches in North Attleboro, Kent County Hospital in Warwick, R.I., Providence Veterans Medical Center in Providence, St. Elizabeth Home in Providence, Summit Commons Nursing Home in Providence and Charles Gate Nursing Home.

"It's crazy that these last two weeks have been like some type of weird time warp," Cash said. "We're at it eight hours a day. I am more busy now than I was when we were open teaching classes six days a week."

There are links on her Facebook page and website where those looking to donate can contribute money for either supplies, to help provide a little compensation for her staff, or for both purposes at her discretion.

"A lot of people have asked how they can help us help other people," Cash said. "We have heard from all sorts of people. One person was someone who doesn't even sew, but they wanted to help one small business per week for as long as this lasts. It's interesting because I not dealing with a lot of the things I was two weeks ago, but I'm connecting with a whole different community than I ever have before."

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(If you have a story of a local business or organization that is looking to lend a hand to those in need during the coronavirus epidemic, Patch wants to let people in your community know about it. Contact Scott Souza at Scott.Souza@patch.com to help us spread the positives amid this scary and uncertain time.)

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