Shelby Lawson was ready to sew up a storm: “I had the elastic. I had the thread. I had the fabric. I had the sewing machine. I was prepared without even knowing what was to come.” What came, of course, was a global health crisis, and Lawson, owner of Lawson Accessories in Bethlehem, knew how she could contribute. She became a one-woman mask-making operation, cranking out the face coverings at impressive speed.
“I think I stopped counting around 400,” she says.
Before opening her sewing shop and store three years ago, Lawson worked for St. Luke's Cardiology Associates for many years. So, with her former colleagues in mind, she donated the first big batch of masks she made to workers on the front lines of the pandemic at places like nursing homes and hospitals. Later, Lawson began making and selling the masks to anyone who requested them as a way to stay afloat financially. “It really saved my business,” she says. Many of the materials she uses are bright and bold, designed to catch the eye. It's a vibrant pick-me-up in fabric form during what can feel like a bleak and dreary time. “The personal reward you get out of it—you can't even describe it,” says Lawson. “It's just joy. I'm in a perpetual state of gratitude.”
She's thinking up new ways she might be able to connect with her community and offer a listening ear to anyone who needs it. Her shop's “Tuesday Tea and Talk” sessions have gone virtual. Lawson also wants to offer sewing sessions but knows that social distancing restrictions may mean a rewrite of the rules. “I'm a hugger. I don't know how that's going to work,” she says with a laugh.
