How Makers are Stepping Up to Respond to COVID-19

And we — the Urban Manufacturing Alliance — are stepping in to connect those place-based organizations through our Sewn Trades Collective (STC). Launched three years ago, today we’re seeing the STC’s existence as more important than ever as member organizations strive to help small-scale manufacturers lead local responses to the pandemic.

“Makers and home-sewers are ready and able to be part of the solution,” said Katy Stanton, UMA’s program director and coordinator of the Sewn Trades Collective, referring to the manufacturers that our members support. “So they’re actively finding ways to do that–not just because it’s great for their bottom line, but because it’s what they want to do and what they feel is the right thing to do.”

In early March of this year, the World Health Organization put out an alarming call. They described a “severe and mounting disruption to the global supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) — caused by rising demand, panic buying, hoarding and misuse.” That disruption has been “putting lives at risk from the new coronavirus and other infectious diseases.”

Health care professionals in the United States, now the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, have been feeling the brunt of this shortage as hospitals in cities like New York are overwhelmed with patients. Similar struggles are already taking form across the country as the virus continues to spread. An U.S. Office of Inspector General survey published this month found that 3 out of 4 hospitals nationally are already treating patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, and that they’re experiencing “widespread shortages of PPE”.

Sewn Trades Collective members are already mobilizing their response. In Detroit, the Industrial Sewing and Innovation Center (ISAIC) has started work with the mayor’s office, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and others to create a PPE ecosystem that will help supply local hospitals. In Pittsburgh, small businesses and non-profits joined forces to create (mask) MAKERS PGH, a group of volunteer sewers who have provided over 4,000 protective masks to essential workers in their city. The Carolina Textile District, a coalition that helps textile manufacturers in North and South Carolina, is also bringing its members together to create a response unit to respond to demands put forth by regional healthcare providers. Those are just three of dozens of organizations stepping up to create an ecosystem that supports both PPE production and their communities.

Amid so much economic uncertainty, the Sewn Trades Collective sees this unfortunate crisis as a chance to keep workers and trainees afloat. “Our main interest in doing this work is to make sure these organizations survive this time, and that they’re able to continue training their community and supporting small-batch manufacturing,” said Stanton. “So many of these organizations are focused on engaging at-risk or lower income communities, like women, refugees, and returning citizens, and right now they’re trying to figure out how to keep getting money into those people’s pockets.”

UMA is uniting these groups so that they have access to vital information in real time. Through the STC, sewn trades organizations are sharing tips on effective mask materials, keeping up to date with PPE guidelines promoted by the federal government and medical professionals, and interchanging gown design prototypes.

We’re also inviting organizations outside of the Sewn Trades Collective but with ties to the sector to keep us informed on innovative practices. For example, N.A.bld, a platform that connects sewers with industry for on-demand orders, recently presented to the Collective on the softwares available that can facilitate new pipelines.

“Textile manufacturing is alive in the U.S., and this is an opportunity to build strength around the smaller producers driving a resurgence,” said Stanton. “If we’re able to ramp up production in this time of crisis, that could create supply and demand structures that will remain once the pandemic needs are less acute. And, these are the sorts of ecosystem building efforts that could be scaled beyond the creation of PPE.”

We’ll be sure to keep you posted about our Sewn Trades Collective and what its members are up to. If you or peers you know need help ramping up their PPE production, or if you’d like to join the Collective, please reach out to katys@urbanmfg.org.