CALGARY -- Samantha Horner has made well over 3,000 masks since March when the the pandemic hit North America - and then given away 1,500 of them to people who need them.

“So it would (donating the masks) to a homeless shelter, (or to) teachers, nurses, (or at) clinics like the blood donation clinic down in Eau Claire,” said Horner.

And many times it’s just people she sees on the street struggling with wearing an ill-fitting mask. Her style has evolved over the month and continues to change. She started making rectangle shaped masks, but now they are more form-fitting, with some even custom-made to fit children.

“If you have to wear a mask make it fun,” said Horner “Something with the little ones - if they can have My Little Pony or something on there, they may not feel so angry about having something on their face.”

Despite all the masks Horner has made she doesn’t claim to be a seamstress. She took it up to help others. It started with a friend of hers who is a nurse in Edmonton. In March, when the pandemic struck, they were both struggling to locate personal protective equipment (PPE), so Horner made and donated masks to them.

“They would use a cloth mask as if it was a disposable mask,” said Horner. “150 of them so then whoever is on shift the next day they can all wash them and then bring them back and then do that again the next day.”

Horner uses two layers of high thread count cotton for the exterior and interior of her masks. The fabric is expensive so she sells masks for $5 to friends and others who hear about them through word of mouth to try and offset her expenses.

Her nine-year-old son Robby used to help out folding and ironing fabric for her mom.

Samantha Horner

“It’s pretty good for the community but she does stay up a bit too late sewing,” said Robby. “Because after I go to bed I can still hear the sewing machine for 30 minutes.”

Horner says during the summer she was at the sewing machine for 16 hours a day. But she got burned out and has now cut her daily hours to around seven.

“There’s a lot of people out there especially here in Alberta right now (where), the economy has taken a hit,” said Horner. “I think that if there’s people out there that can (help), then you might as well do (it).”

She has even shipped masks to family in the U.S. but Horner says she will soon have to scale back her operation because her makeshift sewing room is where the family Christmas tree is located.