James and the Mask Tree

“The mask project started from necessity. The world was turned upside-down, and we needed to adapt. We needed to understand our situation in a way that we were not accustomed to. We would have to see our situation in relation to the rest of the world. None of us had ever been faced with anything like this before. In a very real way, the world was at our doorstep.

First things first, we had to protect ourselves. We were told that we would have to shield ourselves from this thing. So, ok… Masks.

Trouble was, somehow there were none available.

Anywhere. I tried local stores. I tried online. Nothing. Somehow the world had gotten ahead of us on this thing.

A couple of weeks in, I saw that a friend of mine had sewn masks for her family from scraps around the house, and I thought “That’s cool. I wish I could do that”. Then I realized I could. Or even if I couldn’t, I could try.

A lifetime of punk DIY had prepared me for this. Damn near demanded it.

So I did it. I took some old sheets, my sewing kit and a pattern that I found online. I used my Boy Scout stitch training and cobbled together my first masks for the family. They were ugly. They were misshapen, and they were uncomfortable. But they were something. They made me feel like I was taking control somehow.

The problem was that I was hand stitching them, needle and thread, and that took forever. It took me a full week to make just the four I needed.

I knew I could do better if I could use a sewing machine, but that was scary. I’d never used one before. I had no real concept of how it was done, so I had decided I couldn’t do it.

Then boredom set in. What’s the worst that could happen? I’d make more ugly masks?

So it was decided. I’d do it.

Next obstacle: I didn’t have a sewing machine, and they’re expensive. What to do?

I posted on a social media site that I’d very much like someone to give me a machine they weren’t using, so I could get on with my little project. I never really expected any response, but the very next day I got one. A very nice lady said she had one she didn’t use, and I could pick it up any time. So I did. And that’s how it began.

I watched YouTube videos, downloaded the instruction manuals for the machine I was given, got mask patterns from the internet, and got to work.

I ruined several sheets and wasted lots of thread and elastic before I finally figured out what I was doing.

Once I was confident enough, I made masks for my family and friends.

Then I just kept making them. Refining the patterns and techniques until I could whip them out pretty regularly. I was making a few a day.

I thought about the others around us that were undoubtedly going through the same frustrating ordeal of being told to wear masks everywhere you go, but not being able to find them other than to pay outrageous prices for them, and wait forever to receive them.

I thought that they should be free. I thought everyone should be able to have one if they wanted one.

So I started cranking them out. I got to where I could make 10 a day if I tried. So I did.

I made them and gave them to anyone who wanted them. Friends, co-workers, friends of friends, friends of co-workers, etc.

I thought of posting online that I had them available, and I did for a bit, but that didn’t seem quite right. My online presence is limited at best, and that’s not what this is about.

So the tree began. I could just keep sewing, and when I had a big enough pile I would just tack them all to the tree out front, and anyone that needed them could just grab them. Simple as that.

That’s what I did, and I’ve been very happy with the results. I posted about the tree on a neighborhood site and gave the location, and the response has been enormous. A month in, and more than 100 masks have been made and distributed.

It has been very gratifying to know that I can help out in some way. It has also been really great connecting with my neighbors in a way that would probably never happened otherwise.

More than anything, this project has reminded me that things only happen when you make them happen, that you are capable of more than you think you are, and that kindness is indeed its own reward.

We’re all closer than you think.”

-James Miller, Bar Manager - The Roxy