Christine Moser, WSU student making masks
Wright State University (WSU) student, Christine Moser, is helping in the fight against coronavirus by making and shipping masks all over the United States.
Making and shipping masks
“I’ve been sewing for two and a half weeks now,” said Moser. “And I’ve probably averaged four or five hours sewing a day.”
With the help of her mom and her Etsy account, Moser has now made over 500 masks and shipped them to 31 different states.
Etsy is an online shop that focuses on homemade, vintage and craft supplies.
“I update my Etsy in the evenings, so I’ll sew all day, or however long I’m going to sew, and then I’ll update my inventory on Etsy,” said Moser. “I’ll have them sell-out throughout the night or in the morning.”
Getting started
When the pandemic first began, Moser’s brother enlisted her help. His girlfriend works for an eye doctor and needed a mask, but the hospitals were already starting to collect masks from people at a lower risk. This left her without a mask for her job.
Moser made the first mask for her brother’s girlfriend but then realized she should have been making them all along.
“I was like ‘oh my gosh, why haven’t I been making masks?’ I have all this fabric, the sewing equipment, the thread and elastics,” siad Moser. “My brother started it because his girlfriend needed masks and then I just kept going because why not.”
Crafting and sewing are not new to Moser. This is something she learned from an early age.
“I’ve always knitted. Knitting was my big thing,” said Moser. “When I was younger, my mom taught me and from there it’s kind of branched out. It started with knitting but now I’m doing a lot of sewing.”
‘Because I can’
Once the idea of making and selling masks was planted, Moser knew it was something she needed to do.
“The main reason [I make the masks] is because I can,” said Moser. “I’ve had a lot of people comment, ‘Thank you so much because I don’t even own a sewing machine. There is no way I could have made these.’”
According to Moser, she gets a lot of nice reviews on Etsy. Her customers thank her for the fast turn around and for providing a quality product.
There are a lot more masks on Etsy now, but Moser was one of the only ones selling them in the beginning.
“Price gouging is insane on these masks,” said Moser. “They have them for up to $26 on Etsy for a mask, and I’m just like, ‘how can you sell a mask of that price and feel good about yourself.’ Mine are four dollars so they’re really reasonable.”
Moser really enjoys making the masks and is glad she is able to help.
“Because I can, I feel like I should help out, and I love helping out like this,” said Moser. “I’m not really doing anything else right now. I don’t have a job. I’m just doing schoolwork and so I might as well.”
Finding a passion
Moser started at WSU aiming for an engineering degree, but after successfully making and selling masks, she is considering other options.
“Everybody asks me all the time why I’m not in business if I already have my own little business on Etsy,” said Moser.
Making and selling products on Etsy is something that Moser loves to do and she hopes to continue her passion as a career.
According to Moser, she will continue to make and sell masks as long as the orders come in.
