Subscribe to Fortune’s Outbreak newsletter for a daily roundup of stories on the coronavirus and its impact on global business.
The Red Pincushion specialized in bespoke home decor items such as throw pillows, chair cushions, and window drapes since it opened in 2013.
But as COVID-19 broke out over the last few months, the Birmingham, Ala.-based business responded by converting its textile productions to transform old t-shirts into face masks. Thanks to the efforts of a mix of employees and volunteers, equipped with laser cutters to cut large bolts of fabric, the company has produced and shipped more than 79,000 custom masks as of the week ending May 8.
Fortune spoke with owner Christine McLean for a new series, The Coronavirus Economy, to ask about how the outbreak has affected her work and her thoughts on the future and to get a sense of how she has been handling this news, both emotionally and financially.
The following interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
Fortune: What would you normally be working on this time of year if there weren’t a pandemic going on?
McLean: I spent most of my career in medical software, and then decided to stay home with my kids when they were little. About six years ago, I decided to try and make my own drapery panels after meeting with a decorator and purchasing fabric. I have been a lifelong sewist and had gotten back into it when my kids were little, making Halloween costumes. It turned into a full-time business as an interior design workroom. Because projects are typically six weeks out, I still have workroom projects in that I have been doing at night.
When did you realize that COVID-19 would affect your work life? What adjustments did you make initially?
On March 20, the internet began circulating a lot of noise around cotton face masks facing a PPE shortage of N-95 masks. I decided to try and play around with some patterns and to look into different materials. At that same time, a friend reached out and messaged me about a group that had been started by a woman named Kathy Green that same day with the focus on making face masks for the health care community. I reached out to see if she wanted help, explaining my sewing background. She said yes and asked if I would be an admin. The first few days we were just focused on getting our pattern down and trying to find elastic.
When did you make the decision to start producing masks? What inspired the shift?
The group was initially a grassroots Facebook group that we were simply leading. Within that first week, we set up collection points throughout the city, and we set up a distribution site where organizations could pick up the masks. Some friends were physicians at our local hospitals, and they were driving to my home to come get them because PPE was in short supply. It was really crazy. We quickly figured out that we need to set up a website and that was when we came up with the name “Bham Face Masks.” Within five days, we had 600 people actively sewing and within 10 days, we had already delivered 5,600 masks into the community, and we had 2,100 open requests.
By the third week, we were contacted by the Jefferson County Unified Command. This was a coalition of the Health Department and the Emergency Management Agency (EMA). They asked us if we could produce 10,000 masks for first responders and those most vulnerable like the homeless and nursing homes.
We knew we needed to get into a production mode to make this work. The first step was to figure out how to cut these quickly as cutting took a long time. There was a local laser cutter that reached out. We learned that normal quilting cotton that you get from a fabric store would not easily go through his machine; instead it needed to be on a roll. We reached out to fabric store about an hour away, and they had what we needed.
At the same time, we were starting to source large quantities of elastic and that is when we reached out to our community to see if anyone was interested in being on our production team. Ironing the hems in was the next step we needed to get figured out. At first, we used volunteers, but it quickly became apparent that there were too many inconsistencies. Now, we use a local woman’s shelter where 200 women reside, and this week they ironed over 5,000 pieces in a few days.
Was it difficult to switch your production chain from making drapes to making masks? Are the masks medical-grade? How are the masks assembled, and many have you produced so far?
This is a whole separate business that we have created. These are cotton two-ply masks with a pocket for a filter. Currently, our process involves getting the fabric from Winfield, Ala. utilizing one of our volunteer drives who takes it to the laser cutter. From the laser cutter, we take it to the Lovelady Center [a nonprofit focused on empowering women through faith-based initiatives], where it is ironed. The buckets are then paired with thread, elastic, or ties, and the sewists pick them up once a week. We just completed our first round of production for the county in two weeks sewing over 6,000 masks. On the other side of our mask making, sewn purely by volunteers, we have delivered over 60,000.
The masks are not made in my workroom. I am just managing this mask making venture which takes up most of the day, and I spend most evening catching up on work orders.
What are your day-to-day operations like now? How many paid employees are working on this? How many are volunteers?
Every morning, we look at our request list. For requests 100 or less, we put them out to our Facebook community. A member will claim the work and contact the facility directly and set up deliver. For those larger than 100, we work to fill those from our distribution center. For example, today we are filling orders in the range of 500 to 1,000 for medical clinics that are opening to the public, and they need them to provide to the patients that come into the door.
We have added two additional production teams to increase production to fill all our larger orders. We employ 20 people sewing masks. We also have entered into another initiative with the city called #bhamstrong. It was a response to the unemployment issue many were experiencing. We utilize their employees to cut all of our T-shirts that are donated into T-shirt ties, and we have a team of 10 that will begin sewing for us next week.
What are your future plans for the masks program—and your original drapery business—short-term and long-term?
We believe this is going to be a long-term issue. We have created a nonprofit corporation called G.R.I.T. (Grass Roots Initiative Team), and we are filing for our 501-c3. Starting next week, we will be opening our requests up to businesses that are beginning to reopen and will need masks for their employees and patrons. Within the city limits of Birmingham, masks are now mandated to be worn in public.
On the drapery room side, I have begun to receive large orders again, and I have work into July. I will, maybe, be able to expand my operations utilizing some of the incredible seamstresses I have met on this mask making adventure.
On a personal note, how have you been faring amid all this?
I am tired, but hopeful. It has been in incredible journey. All of these people coming together from all parts of our community for one common purpose has been awe-inspiring, at best.
More coronavirus coverage from Fortune:
—This famed economist doesn’t think we’re headed for another Great Recession
—South Korea has the most comprehensive coronavirus data. What it’s taught us so far
—10 questions about the 2020 election during the coronavirus pandemic, answered
—6 steps to sustainably flatten the coronavirus curve
—How hackers are exploiting the coronavirus—and how to protect yourself
—Hong Kong launches a surveillance operation to track suspected coronavirus patients
—Listen to Leadership Next, a Fortune podcast examining the evolving role of CEOs
—WATCH: The race is on to create a coronavirus antiviral drug and vaccine
Subscribe to Fortune’s Outbreak newsletter for a daily roundup of stories on the coronavirus and its impact on global business.