For the last decade, Jefferson College of Nursing student Sophie Ferguson and her mom, Michele, have made burp cloths from their home. However, when COVID-19 hit, they both realized they needed to shift their business to address the nationwide shortage of masks.

Since March, they have sown some 750 cloth masks in a variety of styles, including food, animal and sports prints. Most recently, they began creating clear masks to help people with hearing impairments.

“I saw a girl on a Facebook video communicating with her mother who was wearing a clear mask,” says Ferguson, who learned to sew from her mom and honed her skills in a high school fashion design class. “The girl was deaf, and she needed to read lips. After watching this interaction, I decided to add these masks to my repertoire for anyone who needs them.”