Charlene John has been involved with craft making for the last year, providing her services for birthdays, weddings, engagements and anniversaries, since she purchased a Cricut machine. With Guyana in the throes of Covid-19, she began thinking how she could be of help and began making reusable face masks. She posted them on Facebook and now has a tall order of making 100 and counting.
Charlene noted that her masks, like others being sold at pharmacies, are not guaranteed to protect anyone from the virus. However, they can still aid in prevention and what is even better is that they can be washed and reused. She stated that all her face masks are made from 100 percent cotton and are of the required size so that they fit properly on the face, covering both nose and mouth.
She received the template for it from the makers of the Cricut machine, who shared it with persons who own their machine requesting that they made homemade masks. After stocking up on cloth, elastic bands and thread, she began her mission. She noted that she has enough materials to last for quite a while. Most of her masks are plain, but purchasers could request designs for which an additional fee is charged. So far, she has completed some 50 masks and is currently working on 100 more, which she intends on finishing within the next two weeks.
“It’s not a hundred percent effective but it can still help. As encouraged by my sister-in-law, I make my masks with a pocket in the inner layer that allows for someone to put a tissue or a dried-out baby wipe for extra protection. One mask takes 15 minutes to make minus doing any designs,” Charlene said.
Some persons have ordered six and 15, while a cousin working at a bank ordered 33 for her department.
Charlene told The Scene that she was never artistically inclined. She was always the shy girl who was going to work at a firm someday. Her father left the family home, she was six and her mother took to a life of drugs. When Charlene was 22, her mother died in a vehicular accident, three months prior to her getting married.
Her grandmother took her and two of her sisters in and raised them. Her grandmother, who is 88 and still going strong, had always reminded Charlene and her sisters to be independent. She taught them to sew, to paint, to hammer a nail. “She made sure you knew to do everything and would always say, ‘You must not depend on a man’. She was very independent. She five jobs. One of them was [ironing] clothes for people. She made sure the three of us had everything we needed,” she recalled.
Charlene attended sewing classes and whenever she was at home, she practiced on her aunt’s sewing machine. Her aunt, who lived with them, was a seamstress. The first thing Charlene made for herself was a skirt then after a dress. She did not go further into the sewing of garments but would sew her own curtains and bedspreads.
Charlene grew up in Greater Georgetown. Her favourite subject in high school was Principles of Accounts. For several years after completing her high school education she worked at a jewelry store.
After purchasing her Cricut machine last year, Charlene began by making paper flowers which have since become a signature part of her work when she is decorating for parties and weddings. She now divides her time between her regular chores, crafting, and her precious family: her two and eight-year-old boys and her husband.
Among the many things she creates are cake toppers, birthday banners, cards and paper flowers. “Being a crafter allows me to be independent and make my own money. I get to work in my free time or whenever I want, and I’ve met some of the nicest people doing my own business. [However], one of the disadvantages would be that some of the materials are too expensive and I … need to order them online,” she said.
Charlene said that while business has picked up, which is a good thing, it is hectic, but she is getting assistance from her sister who is currently home from work and helps to babysit.
For the time being her challenge is getting measurements right. She confessed that sometimes she would have to discard up to three pieces of paper used for measurement before she gets the right measurement, but it does not bother her much. Her persistence comes through for her every time.
She hopes that next year she can have her business registered and within the next decade have her own craft shop.
Her favourite part of being a craft maker is getting into the creative mode which for her can be relaxing when she is not racing against time and of course her next favourite thing is seeing her clients’ faces light up after it is all done. “Persons have said that the masks, especially, they fit perfect, they like them and that the material feels good,” Charlene said.
Recounting one of her race-against-time memories, Charlene said she was hired to make a backdrop for an engagement party. “It took me a day to get this backdrop done. They called me the Tuesday afternoon and they needed the backdrop to be done for the Thursday morning. She said her husband and a teen nephew assisted her in getting it done noting that they lost sleep, but they were happy to get it done.
Currently Charlene is homeschooling her eight-year-old as well as teaching him how to use a needle. She laughed as she shared that her son asked her whether the needle came with questions on threading it. It would be good for him to know to use a needle, she said, adding that while he could be of help to her, he could also be of help to himself someday if ever he needed to patch something up.
Not much for hobbies, this Cancer likes cooking, specifically fish curry and flan.
Her favourite colours are black and burgundy.
For reusable face masks Charlene can be contacted on her Facebook business page at Fatima Paper Garden and cricutcrafts or via phone at 638-6063. Children’s masks are $600 and adults’ $800. For customizations, masks costs $1,000 each.
