Shelby Pedersen is just one woman in one house with one sewing machine…but her involvement in a Wright County group who are all doing the same things individually out of their own homes has totaled up to literally hundreds and hundreds of masks for the fight against COVID-19. Pedersen is also proud to say that in a way, she is involving her late mom, Shirley Patterson, in this project as well by using some of her mom’s “quilting stash.” She has even shared some of it with the other ladies in the group, just as many other women have shared their materials.
“When I get a bunch done I put them in a plastic box on my outside steps. A lady, Shannon Walker, from Clarion, picks them up and distributes them to hospitals, nursing homes, and police officers, noted Pedersen.
Then one day, her husband, Darrell, decided to get in on the fun as well. Goofing around, he put a “sleeve” he had gotten at an ethanol show awhile back and he told the kids he was social distancing from his wife. Little did they know how that would come into play a few days later when their daughter-in-law, Rachel, asked Shelby to make headbands for her to share at Unity Point hospital in Ft Dodge. Rachel works there three or four days a week.
“I sewed 17 the first day from a pattern I found on Pinterest and it truly took me all day,” said Shelby.
The next day Darrell came up with the idea to cut the sleeve into three pieces and make headbands. After experimenting with it for a little while, she made three in less than 30 minutes. They worked perfectly. Darrell stepped up and quickly emailed the company, Whitefox Technologies in Alberta, Canada, and they got back to him immediately! They design membrane-based solutions to reduce steam, water and carbon emissions in the ethanol industry and they were shipping out 400 sleeves to them ASAP!! That equals 1200 headbands!!
“Tammy Johnson, Tracey Wigans, Shelley Rethman and Becky Phipps have been helping me,” said Shelby about the headbands.
She is happy to say that she has received donated buttons from other people as well that are a crucial part of the headband. The great thing is that the headbands allow the masks to be attached to the buttons on them rather than having to be worn behind the ear, which can be irritating when worn for long periods of time.
“Tammy gives hers to her daughter, Alyssa, that works at UPFD. I’ve sent a few to Van Diest Hospital in Webster City…as well as to a friend’s daughter in eastern Iowa. I’m not sure where the other ladies are sending theirs,” said Shelby. “ I’ll be sending them wherever I see requests coming in.”
As Shelby put it, it’s just her way of doing a “small part” in a very large project. To everyone out there who has helped in some way, be it making masks, getting groceries for a neighbor, or just staying home to prevent the spread…and everything in between, thank you for your “small part” at tackling a very big need.
