As the COVID-19 pandemic spread and hospitals began hemorrhaging supplies, West Virginia University Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design faculty and students stepped up - and six feet away from each other.
Like the majority of the country, Elizabeth Shorrock, visiting assistant professor
of fashion, dress and merchandising, began working from home in mid-March; however,
she soon realized her background and skills might come in handy and asked to use
one of the fashion studios on campus to make face masks.
“With previous donations of fabric and donations from community and alumni, I was
able to start production on 10,000 face masks. We’ve probably made 6,500 at this
point,” she said.
The fashion studio had been given quilt fabric and other types of fabric that were
considered a beneficial textile for homemade face masks.
However, as countries across the world scrambled for materials, most places were
entirely out of those fabrics and elastic, the material used to loop the mask around
the ears. Thankfully, Amy Bircher, owner of MMI Textiles and a Davis College alumna,
was able to supply 10,000 feet of elastic.
What many masks are lacking - but not Shorrock’s - is a nosepiece, a piece of material
that can be formed to one’s nose to avoid glasses fog from exhalation.
“I was going into Kroger and asking them for the bread ties or vegetable ties. Initially,
they’d give me an entire box, which would last a really long time. Then, I guess
they got sick of seeing me, and they wouldn’t give me as many. So I started to
go to different Kroger’s to spread it out,” she laughed.
Shorrock enlisted the help of fashion, dress and merchandising students William Whittaker,
Morgan Widmer, Hannah Sborz and Brooke Reed, and the group worked during the week
while maintaining social distance or scheduling time to work alone in the studio.
Will Whittaker, a senior fashion, dress and merchandising major, cuts fabric to make masks for health care workers in West Virginia.
She worked up to 30 hours a week in the studio while trying to teach classes online.
Her students’ work ethic was just as impressive.
“They really felt like they were contributing to the greater good, like they were
really doing something to help in a time of crisis. My students were so dedicated
to the cause. They won’t go to a class at 8 a.m., but they would come in and start
working,” she said. “They would come on time and work the whole time. I mean this
is not glamorous, fun work. You’re just sitting at a sewing machine.”
Sborz agrees. She enjoys sewing, but the work was monotonous and repetitive.
“You make your own hours and you have to sit there for that five hour shift and make
masks. You're responsible for meeting that quota of the day,” she said. “The hardest
thing is really being responsible for yourself and doing that work and being trustworthy.”
At one point, however, Sborz was exposed to COVID-19 when her roommates tested positive.
“I had to take some leave from sewing to stay at home because they were my roommates
or living in my building. So those were people I didn’t want to be around or have
[Shorrock] be around that,” Sborz said.
In all, she had three friends who tested positive.
After it was safe for Sborz to come back, the team shifted gears and was asked to
partner with the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources to make masks
specifically for WVU Medicine hospitals.
Shorrock was tasked with creating new designs and making samples with the materials the Statler College had been testing.
“We made a couple of prototypes. They wore them and gave us feedback, and we changed
them until we got what we thought was the perfect mask,” she said. “My four students
and I were just doing this crazy production. I can’t remember how many we were
producing a week.”
After designing a prototype, it would go through a series of tests for filtration
efficacy and washing.
“It was interesting because I had never done any of those things before. With clothing
design, you just make it. You don’t necessarily think about the textile testing
of it. It was a great experience,” she added.
Production of masks slowed just before the start of the fall semester when the hospital
was able to source masks in bulk. Some production shifted to Mon General, but the
demand and urgency has decreased since the start of the pandemic.
However, the need for personal protective equipment for the population at large has
not yet been fully met.
The Mon County Commission, the United Way of Monongalia and Preston Counties
and West Virginia Women Work have all asked for masks - and Shorrock and her
students intend to help.