MEET VERMONT’S MASK MAKERS

Through our Listening in Place project, the VFC started documenting people’s experiences during the early months of the covid-19 pandemic. Part of this effort included collecting photos of people wearing their homemade masks. As we saw it, making and distributing masks to address the shortage of commercial personal protective equipment (PPE) in spring of 2020 was one of the ways that Vermonters were staying connected and taking care of each other. 

A year later, as the pandemic seemed to be easing here in Vermont, our staff started seeking ways to process and reflect on the collective pandemic experience to date. Realizing homemade masks are now a ubiquitous part of pandemic life, we chose to talk with some of the people who had been making those masks.

In the spring and summer of 2021, VFC staff interviewed 15 mask makers across the state. We talked with a range of people: a variety of ages and backgrounds, as well as people with a variety of connections to the mask making effort. Everything from the person who got their sewing machine out of their closet to make a few masks for friends and family, to the owner of a small, local craft store that supplied the materials for almost 10,000 masks.

From these interviews we created a three-part mini-series on our VT Untapped™ podcast called The Mask Makers, which you can find below. Below you’ll also find a list of everyone who was interviewed for the project.

To access the full recordings of the interviews please contact the VFC Archivist.

Mask Maker Podcast
The Mask Makers: Episode 3 - Masks and Identity
The Mask Makers: Episode 3 - Masks and Identity

In spring of 2020, face masks were one of the few tools we had against covid-19, and you couldn’t buy one. Anywhere. When hospitals started calling for homemade fabric masks amid a world shortage of personal protective equipment, people with sewing skills in Vermont and around the world began to respond. This three-part mini-series explores the pandemic experience through the voices of some of Vermont’s mask makers. In Episode 3 - Masks and Identity we learn how mask makers began expressing themselves creatively through the masks they made, and how they helped others affirm their identities in the middle of a global crisis.

The Mask Makers: Episode 2 - Community and Collaboration
The Mask Makers: Episode 2 - Community and Collaboration

In spring of 2020, face masks were one of the few tools we had against covid-19, and you couldn’t buy one. Anywhere. When hospitals started calling for homemade fabric masks amid a world shortage of personal protective equipment, people with sewing skills in Vermont and around the world began to respond. This three-part mini-series explores the pandemic experience through the voices of some of Vermont’s mask makers. In Episode 2 - Community and Collaboration we hear from mask makers who worked together to share resources and solutions when elastic or fabric were hard to find and offered mutual support amid the isolation of the early pandemic.

The Mask Makers: Episode 1 - Sewing in a Crisis
The Mask Makers: Episode 1 - Sewing in a Crisis

In spring of 2020, face masks were one of the few tools we had against covid-19, and you couldn’t buy one. Anywhere. When hospitals started calling for homemade fabric masks amid a world shortage of personal protective equipment, people with sewing skills in Vermont and around the world began to respond. This three-part mini-series explores the pandemic experience through the voices of some of Vermont’s mask makers. Episode 1 - Sewing in a Crisis, looks at mask making as an outlet for anxiety and considers the complexities of mask makers earning money, or not, in exchange for their labor.

Mask makers interviewed for this project:

 

Eli Coghlin-Galbraith

 
 

Mary Margaret Groberg

 
 

Roz Whitaker-Heck

 

Tammy McNamera

Angela Lavalla - Burlington, VT

  • Angela is the technical design manager at Vermont Teddy Bear Company where she headed helped organize volunteer sewers to make masks with the help of kits assembled in collaboration with other local businesses.

  • Interviewed by Eliza West via Zoom on June 11, 2021

Eli Coughlin-Galbraith - Brattleboro, VT

  • Eli is co-founder and co-owner of Shapeshifters, a custom binder and sports bra company in Brattleboro. Shapeshifters employees shifted their sewing operations to make masks to help their community and eventually sold masks to keep their business running amid pandemic shut-downs.

  • Interviewed by Mary Wesley via Zoom on June 11, 2021

Erin Aguayo - Montpelier, VT

Hank Bissell - Starksboro, VT

  • Hank is a farmer at Lewis Creek Farm in Starksboro. When the pandemic hit Hank had to procure masks for his employees so they could keep the farm running.

  • Interviewed by Eliza West via Zoom on May 27, 2021

Jennifer Matthews - Montpelier, VT

  • Jennifer works in long term care at a nursing home. During the pandemic she sewed masks in her spare time at home and donated them to colleagues, family, and friends. When people offered to pay her she invited them to make a donation to Outright Vermont, an organization that’s very important to her and her family.

  • Interviewed by Mary Wesley via Zoom on June 18, 2021

Judy Contompasis - Underhill, VT

  • Judy is a longtime sewer and knitter and made masks at home for friends and family.

  • Interviewed by Eliza West via Zoom on May 22, 2021

Mary Dowd - Northfield Falls, VT

  • Mary was part of the “Northfield Mask Brigade,” a group of Northfield residents who contributed to the mask making effort in central Vermont.

  • Interviewed by Mary Wesley in Northfield Falls, VT on June 20, 2021

Mary Margaret Groberg - Montpelier, VT

  • Mary Margaret is the owner of Notion Fabric & Craft in Montpelier, VT. In addition to creating mask making kits and coordinating volunteer mask sewing, Notion also supplied the materials for almost 10,000 masks!

  • Interviewed by Mary Wesley and Eliza West via Zoom on May 17, 2021

Matte Brittenham-Jones - Williston, VT

  • Matte works at the UVM bookstore and sewed masks in his home for family and friends during the early days of the pandemic.

  • Interviewed by Eliza West via Zoom on May 23, 2021

Merry Kay Shernock - Northfield Falls, VT

  • Merry helped organize the “Northfield Mask Brigade,” a group of Northfield residents who contributed to the mask making effort in central Vermont.

  • Interviewed by Mary Wesley in Northfield Falls, VT on June 20, 2021

Nancy Bell - Westminster, VT

  • Nancy is a tailor, shepherdess, and blogger (blog: “On the Mend”!) She had to close her tailor shop due to the pandemic. She sewed masks at home to donate to friends and community members.

Roz Whitaker-Heck - Williston, VT

  • Roz is an Associate Provost at Champlain College. She sewed masks for friends and family, incorporating colorful Ankara fabrics into her creations.

  • Interviewed by Mary Wesley via Zoom on June 10, 2021

Serenity Smith Forchion - Brattleboro, VT

  • Serenity is the Co-Founder, Producing Director, and Youth Troupe Director at the New England Center for Circus Arts in Brattleboro, VT. She sewed masks for friends, family, and to donate out of her home.

  • Interviewed by Eliza West via Zoom on June 23, 2021

Tammy Lynn McNamera - East Dummerston, VT

  • Tammy is a Veterinarian in southern Vermont and she learned how to sew from her mom in order to make masks during the early pandemic!

  • Interviewed by Eliza West via Zoom on May 31, 2021

Vickie Lampron - Bennington, VT

  • Vickie was part of the Green Mountain Mask Makers group, which sewed thousands of masks to donate locally in southern in Vermont.

  • Interviewed by Mary Wesley via Zoom on June 11, 2021

 

Hank Bissell

 

Nancy Bell

 

Serenity Smith Forchion