Aucklanders in a stitch fix up face masks for Covid-19 protection

With the Ministry of Health recommending the wearing of face masks during the level three lockdown, some crafty Aucklanders have been stitching up their own.

AUT fashion student Georgia Armstrong said she took the sustainable option by making them herself, buying t-shirts from op-shops.

She also made another 80 or so for other residents in her building, she said, after putting out the word that she was making them.

“I was just going to make them for me and my flatmates, but I thought I should extend it to everyone else,” Armstrong said.

“I wanted to get them out as soon as possible as well, so I was staying up until about 4am.”

She said she was disappointed face masks weren’t being offered to Aucklanders for free.

“People shouldn’t have to pay for masks – if you want to stay safe from the virus, there shouldn’t have a price on that,” she said.

Papakura resident Fran Farrant told Te Waha Nui she had bought masks from a shop for $20 each, but decided to make her own after she realised she would need several more.

“We had loads of spare material, and with lockdown it was quite hard to go out and buy masks,” she said.

Farrant said she has made around 28 masks for her extended family so far, following a pattern she found on YouTube.

“We adapted it, we cut the pattern differently so it would fit better. It’s got a little more air space than the fitted one.”

The Ministry of Health website recommends at last four fabric face masks per person, and they should be worn when there is known community transmission, or if you are unable to observe social distancing.