Doncaster crafter says people should buy face coverings locally to help businesses

The new rule came into force on June 15, and inspired crafter Tracey Moore to start sewing her own. Tracey usually works with silk painting but when her daughter asked if she could try her hand at making some she got out her 1923 hand turn sewing machine and got to work. The crafter, of Cusworth, said: “Lockdown has been hard. “I miss the grandkids and being able to go out and about. “But I just thought I could sit at home in the doom and gloom or do something productive and support another local business.” Tracey is using fabric for the face coverings from SewCute in Edlington, she currently has 15 design options to choose from. “I think the community really needs to pull together and make sure that businesses can pull through this time of hardship,” she continued. “If anything the pandemic should have taught us to support one another.” Tracey made the decision to take this ethos into her personal life as well as her business. She has been buying her produce from Doncaster business K.D.Davis and Sons and purchasing her meat from butchers inside the town centre market. She said: “In the beginning, the big supermarkets were like hell, there were no restrictions and we have been following the social distancing guidelines really strictly. “That’s what pushed us to shop locally, now there’s only cleaning products that we buy separately.” The face coverings that Tracey is making are made up of three layers of fabric, two of which are recycled from her craft business. “I was brought up by my Nana who would never throw any fabric away, she kept everything and reused it which she then passed down to me,” Tracey said. The face coverings are priced at £10 with free postage and can be purchased off her Etsy shop here.