This felt a bit different to my usual sewing-just-for-myself. There are strict regulations as to fabric, making up and fastenings. For example, did you know that the ‘wrong sort’ of Velcro causes a static risk around high oxygen flow? No, nor did I! Quite simply they have to be perfect. The wearers are putting themselves and families at risk so if they’re not up to the job then they can’t be used. I was a bit nervous at the beginning...
It meant something to know who we were making them for too. The scrubs our group made went to Medway Hospital’s Covid-19 testing unit and the isolation gowns were for the respiratory team. The letters of thanks we received back from the hospital staff via our Facebook group spurred us on to make more.
In 8 short weeks my group, called Medway Scrubbers, got through 3km of fabric and endless amounts of cotton and tape to produce 972 scrubs! That’s not including countless isolation gowns, scrubs laundry bags, masks or headbands. Just scrubs. Wow!