Behind the Mask: The Faces of Calico
Above: Calico's Jan Jessup in center, flanked by Dina Previti and Paige Sullivan of the Christine Shirley Sewing Studio in Wayne, Pennsylvania, loading up fabrics in the Calico warehouse to make face masks.
Sewing has been part of the DNA and heritage of the Calico brand for the past 70+ years.
From donating fabrics to sewing and delivering masks, the spirit of Calico shines bright during this difficult time. We are honored to give back and support local communities and are extremely proud of the Calico associates who are giving their time and talent to help others. We will come through this with a greater sense of purpose and strength of community. Here are just a few Calico Stories to share with you.
Janet Magill
Store Manager at Calico Memorial – Houston, Texas
Janet’s daughter-in-law is a Registered Nurse at HCA Houston Healthcare North Cypress Hospital. She asked Janet to make surgical masks with a pocket for filters as the staff was running out of all PPE. Janet made two different styles of face masks for them:
Paula Feick
Custom Product Coordinator at Calico Ridgewood – New Jersey
Paula has been busy making masks for Valley Hospital in Ridgewood. The hospital is in Bergen County in northern New Jersey—an area hit hard with Covid-19:
Nancy Bridegam
Custom Labor Department at Calico Corporate Office – Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
An avid seamstress, Nancy volunteered to sew for two hospitals in Chester County, PA. Her masks were donated to Jennersville Hospital. She also sewed masks together from kits distributed by Chester County Hospital:
Tracy Hansen
Custom Product Coordinator at Calico Main Line – Strafford, Pennsylvania
The Calico store in Strafford, PA donated fabric for Michelle’s Masks. This organization distributed more than 5,000 masks to medical facilities, nursing homes, and first responders in Berks County, PA. Tracy’s masks were also donated to Making the Mask:
Anne Jung
Merchandising Department at Calico Corporate Office – Working from Urbandale, Iowa
As soon as the call went out from Masks for the Front Lines Iowa, Anne signed up. An accomplished seamstress, she dipped into her supply of quilting fabrics, set up her machine, enlisted the help of her daughter and started sewing. So far, the group of volunteers has made more than 11,000 masks and delivered them to organizations all around the state:
Jan Jessup
Marketing Department and Merchandising Department at Calico Corporate Office – Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
Always going above and beyond, Jan coordinated the donation of Calico fabrics to Paige Sullivan and Dina Previti of Christine Shirley Sewing Studio in Wayne, PA. At last count, they and other home sewers had made more than 7,000 face masks for healthcare providers and EMTs. Even Paige’s father has been enlisted to cut components for all the mask makers:
Jane Witham of Newark, Delaware and her friends were also recipients of Calico fabrics from Jan’s warehouse trips. They were able to sew more than 300 masks for Nemours/A.I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware. Here are fabrics and linings in bolt bags lined up on Jane’s fence, ready for distribution to sewing friends:
Calico Westport and Calico Wilton - Connecticut
Our Westport and Wilton design shops provided much needed fabric to a variety of local organizations making masks and caps for the medical frontlines. They also teamed up with Wilton Warrior Helpers to provide masks to more than 2,700 senior citizens in their Connecticut community:
If you feel inspired and want to try your hand at mask making, there are many online resources. One of our favorites is Mask Makers. They offer face mask templates based on your skill level and materials you have available. They can also connect you to a hospital in your area that is accepting mask donations.
Thank you to everyone who is creating face masks for those in need.
