Coronavirus: Janome Educators Sew Masks For Mahwah Police

MAHWAH, NJ — As shortages of personal protective equipment continue to plague health care workers and first responders across the nation, New Jersey-area sewing experts are dropping everything to provide masks for police in Mahwah.

In a post on Mahwah Police Department's Twitter page Wednesday, the department gave a "shout out" to Janome, a sewing machine company, for crafting N95 mask covers for officers in the field.

Patch spoke with Regena Carlevaro, Director of Education and Product Planning for Janome America, about the initiative.

Carlevaro said she was first made aware that Mahwah police were in need of N95 masks through Karen Vogel, sales supervisor at Janome. Carlevaro said Vogel's husband works for the department.

Police officers in the field are often put into risky positions from entering a person's home to physically contacting a suspect when making an arrest, and Bergen has the state's highest number of cases of the new coronavirus.

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High demand for equipment like masks and gloves has limited the supply of such items, often causing first responders and health care workers to reuse their masks throughout the day.

Vogel and her husband tried making the masks themselves but ran into difficulties, Carlevaro said. She then reached out to Janome for help.

Shout out to Janome a local sewing machine company in the Township for protecting our officers, with these custom made N95 mask covers, sewn by Janome Educators Sam and Alba #janomemakers #SocialDistancing #janome pic.twitter.com/lA22Eni8i5
— Mahwah Police Dept. (@Mahwah_Police) April 1, 2020

Carlevaro said she first reached out to two Janome Educators — sewing instructors who create content for Janome's websites and teach people to sew on their machines — and asked if they'd be interested in creating masks.

The educators — Sam Fung in New York and Alba Fekete in New Jersey — both agreed to help with the project, sewing 49 masks in two days.

The masks, Carlevaro said, are designed to hold N95 masks to officers' faces, allowing them to repeatedly wash the fabric masks while prolonging the lives of their N95 masks.

"I think it shows the American Spirit," Carlevaro said. "When there's a need, a lot of people are dusting off sewing machines they haven't used in years and saying, 'I can do this; I can help.'"

Carlevaro encourages other sewing professionals and hobbyists to reach out to local officials and identify their needs and specific requirements for personal protective equipment.

The American Sewing Guild North Jersey Chapter encourages anyone making PPE for first responders or health care workers to visit www.weneedmasks.org to identify which organizations are in need.

The guild also recommends using only 100 percent cotton fabrics and pre-washing all fabrics before sewing to shrink the fabric and remove dust or dirt.

Visit the American Sewing Guild North Jersey Chapter for more information on how to help local officials meet their PPE needs.

Fung and Fekete used a specific sewing pattern to create masks for Mahwah police. The pattern for that mask can be found here.