Pivot!

Firstly, if you’re just here for a functional face mask pattern, please visit Sewing Therapy here. This is what I’d consider a beginner pattern if you have some sewing know-how. Sewing Therapy does have a few free patterns up on her blog, but this is the pattern I’ve been using(with some personal variations). Sara is great for answering questions in the comments, but I’d also be more than happy to walk you through it, if you try this particular pattern and have any trouble. Reach out to me in the comments, or on any of the socials, and I’ll be sure to get back to you!

With the current state of the world. it’s been incredible important to stay flexible to the changes that seem to occur daily. For example, I spent the weekend crafting a fabric mask. It’s not perfect, by any stretch, and I wasn’t able to line the fabric pattern up nice so it looks silly as hell, but it has a filter pocket, so it will work. I need to remove the nose piece, and make changes to the elastic, but again, it’ll work for me when I need to go out.

The most important factor for me in starting these, is the fact that my boyfriend, his brother and his father get up every morning, and go to work. We’re all living together, so them working together isn’t an issue, and they do work outside with minimal contact with people, but they do still sometimes need to speak with their customers. Since they’re out almost every day, they’re also the ones who make a majority of the grocery store and other supply runs. One of them getting sick is not an option if our household is going to continue to operate normally.

This week, we’ve seen some relaxed restrictions, especially in the “who’s allowed to work” sector, and it’s starting to look like things will relax more in the coming weeks with Ontario’s new case rates starting to go down. The weather is getting nice again, and the lock down burn out is getting real, and starting to weigh on people heavily. Being locked away from our loved ones isn’t easy, not that anyone thought it would be, but people are eager to connect.

Admittedly, on the weekend, I visited my parents. It was the first I had seen them in weeks. I needed a pie plate, which seems trivial, but it;s to make a no-bake cheesecake for Mother’s Day. Having little treats to look forward to is very needed as something to look forward to, so I NEEDED that pie plate. I ended up staying for an hour, isolated from them on the deck, while they sat out in the yard. We talked about the weather, my dad’s beard matching Justin Trudeau’s, and what books we were reading. Nothing important in the slightest, but just being there, seeing them, even if I couldn’t touch them, was so incredibly important, I can’t put into words.

In my own home, we hosted a ‘social distancing dinner’ for my father in law’s birthday. My sister in law and her husband visited, sitting on the back deck the whole time, eating take out from paper containers, and cake off paper plates. We left the garbage and their cutlery on the deck over night to soak up the morning sun, before we could trash, or bring in to sanitize. Again, it was incredibly difficult to see her, through a window and a screen, and not be able to touch her, hug her, love her, but the joy her visit brought has been resonating for days in our house.

As an introvert, I didn’t think I would be as effected as I have been. I’m not too keen on people in my space to begin with. I’ve thrived since I began working from home. My social circle is small, and we’re all in different fields with strange schedules, so long gone are my party at the bar nights. It’s usually holidays, and odd brunches, all of us favouring being in bed with Netflix by ten. It turns out though, those ‘odd times’ weren’t as spread out as I thought they were. It turns out, I spend a lot more time with my friends than I originally thought, and I’ve really been missing even the quick ten minute breeze bys, or last minute coffees.

As the work sectors start to open, I’m hoping that some of the personal restrictions start to ease up as well. Some provinces are starting ‘two family’ rules, where two separate households are allowed to interact with each other on personal levels, to begin socializing in person again. I don’t think we’ll be opening parks and beaches, or going to restaurants again anytime soon, but to actually be able to sit in my parent’s living room, or to have dinner with them at the same table would be able absolute joy.

Until then though, I have my silly mask, for when I go to the grocery store. And along with that mask, I have my optimism, that soon enough, all of this will be a distant memory, and hopefully a lesson we’re all not too soon to forget!