BY PAM KRAGEN, ANDREA LOPEZ-VILLAFAÑA
AUG. 13, 20212:01 PM PT
Tales from the pandemic: In the early days of the spread of COVID-19, amid supply shortages, sewers got to work cranking out handcrafted facial protection for those who needed it
Although the COVID-19 pandemic caused global supply issues with surgical face masks for hospital workers, officials from local health care organizations discouraged home seamstresses from donating their own hand-sewn crafts.
Seamstress Claudia Rodriguez-Biezunski, who runs the Barrio Logan tailoring studio Sew Loka, made hundreds of masks, including an order from the Alpha Project bridge shelter not far from her studio. She also received numerous requests for masks from nurses and grocery workers.
“I never thought that something that I love to do would become such an essential thing,” said Rodriguez-Biezunski, who offered the masks for free on her Instagram page. She got started when she heard that stores and hospitals were running low on face masks and she decided to make them to at least give people some peace of mind.
Sew Loka
Barrio Logan seamstress Claudia Rodriguez-Biezunski has made more than 1,000 cotton face masks this week for community members, local businesses and homeless shelters.
Rodriguez-Biezunski said making the masks was therapeutic and gave her a sense of purpose. She said there were times when she worried about what is happening, especially because she doesn’t have health insurance.
“The sewing community has really come together; it’s really cool to see that,” said Rodriguez-Biezunski.
“The sewing community has really come together ... it’s really cool to see that,” said Rodriguez-Biezunski. “I’m a small-business owner, so it’s very difficult for me to say, ‘let me donate money.’ So this is my sense of contribution ... I can donate my time.”
2113 Logan Avenue, Barrio Logan