Fourteen-year-old Madi Curran chooses a cloth from an assortment of colorful, themed fabrics—ranging from checkered patterns to different shapes and even animals. With help from a Brother sewing machine and a few elastic straps, Curran converts the fabric into a custom, viable cloth mask. Although these cloth masks aren’t CDC approved in the fight against COVID-19, they can be used to go over N95 safety masks in order to help keep them clean, which extends their lifespans.
Since the end of March, Curran has been churning out nearly six cloth masks a day (each mask takes about half an hour to complete). She was originally inspired to make the masks for her mother, who could wear them while grocery shopping or while out on other essential errands. But she didn’t imagine health care workers at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital would eventually be topping their N95 masks with her sewn creations.
“I learned to sew in the fourth grade, and learned to use a sewing machine a year or so ago,” Curran told the Sun. “But this was my first time making a mask or anything like this.”
After making the initial set of masks for her mom, the Righetti High School freshman decided to just keep sewing, gradually giving out the final products to other family members, friends, and anyone else “who needs protection, so we can all get back to normal.”
As the project progressed, a family friend of Curran’s, who works as a nurse, suggested she start donating her cloth masks to Cottage Hospital. Curran agreed and continued working with a new goal in mind. She told the Sun it feels good to know her sewing is making a difference, but she called it “easy” compared to what health workers are currently up against.
“Compared to what other people are doing—doctors, nurses, etc.—it feels like the easy job and an easy way to help,” Curran said.
The Righetti High School student also said she plans to continue sewing daily—usually two hours a day—until the coronavirus pandemic fades. Curran first learned how to make the cloth masks after watching a YouTube tutorial. Although Curran did have prior sewing experience, she was thankful for some helpful guidance from a loved one to brush up on her skills.
“My grandma showed me how to use the sewing machine to make them,” Curran said. “It took me about 20 minutes to learn how to do them on my own.”
Reflecting on the various fabrics Curran creates her masks from, she doesn’t favor one design over the other. She enjoys the mask-making process not only with the knowledge of her product’s usefulness in the war against COVID-19, but for its artistic rewards as well.
“There is a white with silver glitter one that I just made that I really like,” said Curran, who is also an accomplished artist in other areas besides sewing. Her favorite medium actually requires a pencil and notepad rather than a thimble and thread.
“I like drawing, and I want to be an interior designer one day,” the Righetti freshman said.
Curran, who is also a school spirit leader, was enrolled in an intro to art course at Righetti, prior to the school’s indefinite closure in March, along with every school in the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District.
“I do miss school, mostly the social aspect and seeing my friends,” Curran said.
After Curran’s art teacher at Righetti, Melissa Johnson, heard the news about her sewing project, it brightened her day/week/month/year to know her student was making such a positive impact on the community.
“I’m incredibly proud of her,” Johnson said in a press release from the school district. “[The project] is a lovely counterbalance to all the sadness and hardship going on in the county.”
Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood wants to know what you’ve been working on. Send him your latest art projects at cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 16-23, 2020.