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The demand for cloth masks is an absolutely perfect demonstration of the abject failure of free markets to deal with catastrophe. I& #39;ve been sewing for more than 20 years. And, I& #39;ve already donated or given away around 100 masks. I& #39;m making more. But, all of this is inefficient.
Because I& #39;ve been sewing masks, I see the numbers that facilities are requesting. One (of two!) hospitals in the county I grew up in has requested 5,000. A birthing center in South Texas needs 250. Prisons and jails in Chicago, which are hotspots for infection, need THOUSANDS.
I& #39;m fast. And, I& #39;m making a very basic pattern based on the CDC pattern, modified slightly for durability. Each mask takes probably a good 10 minutes of work, and $1-2 in materials. I& #39;ve made 100 masks, so that& #39;s $150-200 in materials plus at least 10 hours of labor.
5,000 cloth masks made this way would be more than 80 hours of labor and $7,500 in materials. The demand here is equivalent to tens of thousands of dollars. Much of it being contributed freely by sewists. I& #39;ve made 100 masks. I have friends who& #39;ve made 5 times that.
We& #39;re individual people trying to help. At this point, I& #39;m begging fabric from neighbors -- almost all the inexpensive quilting cotton is sold out, so yardage has gotten prohibitively pricy. @Spoonflower offered an amazing deal on yardage, but they& #39;re taking 3 weeks to print.
1/4" elastic is basically out everywhere. I& #39;ve been using 1/8" elastic and elastic cord, buying bags of remnants off Etsy, because I can& #39;t find 1/8" readily, either.
I joke, sometimes, that I make games the market won& #39;t bear. That& #39;s true. But, I& #39;m also making masks now because the market won& #39;t bear them. The market will not bear the basic safety of millions of people. The market cannot bear that. The market doesn& #39;t give a shit about you.
