From floral dresses to set pieces to plaid skirts and now masks. While being stuck at home, Spartans have been getting creative. Senior Nicole Chirinos has been using her time in quarantine to learn different techniques as a fashion designer and to improve her blog, Roselivelyco, while also finding a way to use her passion for fashion to help others.

 “Now that I have more time on my hands, I have been working on making masks for my family. Hopefully, I’ll be able to deliver them to my friends soon, while keeping my social distance, of course. My main goal of quarantine is to create something that allows me to express my inner sense of style and creativity with the patches of fabric that I haven’t used,” said Nicole. 

Nicole has been practicing pattern making and learning new techniques by tuning into virtual workshops that her teacher at the Fashion Institute of South Florida is hosting.

With everything that has been happening with the coronavirus, Nicole’s mom brought up the idea that Nicole and her grandma should begin sewing masks in order to help slow the spread of the virus. Thankfully, Nicole’s teacher from the Fashion Institute of South Florida had just posted a guide on how to make masks and Nicole quickly began learning. After watching the video a couple of times, Nicole was able to make her first mask in just 15 minutes.

“Surprisingly, I was able to use a waist-band that’s usually used to make pants to make the mask. I cut the waist-band in half and I just worked with what I had,” said Nicole. 

To make the masks, Nicole uses two pieces of six-by-nine fabric and she cuts a waist-band into smaller pieces to go around your ears. Even though Nicole sews her masks, she has seen several people making masks with nothing but a bandana and two rubber bands, and she wants to urge others to start making their own masks. 

Currently, Nicole has only made a couple of masks, but she plans on making more in the near future. She wants to start off by providing masks to her family, friends, and members of her community. In the future, she plans on broadening her reach to provide masks to anyone in need, and she would love to work with organizations that share this same goal.