By day, Nan Zinaman sells fine jewelry at Neiman Marcus at The Westchester in White Plains. But in her spare time, she’s been part of the crucial effort to get people to wear masks. We’ll let Nan tell her story:
“Early in the pandemic, when every news broadcast was asking the public to refrain from buying medical masks so that they would be available to frontline workers, I decided to take out my old sewing machine and try to see if i could actually make masks. I found a bag of ‘vintage’ fabrics in my attic but soon realized that I didn’t have any elastic. I found an old king-fitted sheet in my rag pile and carefully removed the elastic and used the soft cotton sheet as the inside lining. I added a fusible bonded interfacing between the layers for added protection and made the first batch of masks for me and my family.
“When I ran out of elastic (before the spool that I ordered online arrived), I used some Neiman Marcus elastic ties that I had saved from previous gift packages.
“I was so pleased with my results, that I e-mailed this picture collage (above) to my friends and colleagues. A friend said her daughter was working at an organization that was pairing mask-makers with organizations in need. I contacted makemasks2020.org and, through them, sent 40 masks to organizations in need.
“Then friends and friends of friends started asking me for masks.”
Way to go, Nan. And remember to mask up when you’re out in public for the good of everyone’s health.
– Georgette Gouveia
