Seamstress going above and beyond to keep frontline workers safe

With most shops and workplaces closed, many people are using their time on lockdown for DIY and self care but, instead, this creative woman had other ideas.
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Nichola Vernon, from Pleasley, decided to use her skills as a seamstress to spend her furlough days making scrubs, headbands and masks, with the help of her employer, Stitch Express.

Nichola is well-known as the area manager for the company and usually splits her time between the Chesterfield branch and travelling the country to visit other stores, however she is back behind the sewing machine, helping to keep our frontline workers safe.

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She has created a cabin at the bottom of her garden and works for 12 hours per day, sewing and creating protective clothing.

A completed set of scrubsA completed set of scrubs
A completed set of scrubs

After hearing about Nichola’s work managing director of Stitch Express, Diane Moran, asked her to share her patterns with the rest of the team, and it soon became a nationwide effort with all employees pitching in to help.

Nichola explains: “I started off making headbands, and then scrubs and masks too.

“When Diane heard about it the company offered to fund 300 sets of scrubs, and its gone from there.

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“I’ve even roped my partner, Tony Hursthouse into cutting out patterns for me – I’m keeping us both busy!”

Nichola VernonNichola Vernon
Nichola Vernon

Nichola also put out an appeal for old bedding, which she is now re-purposing into scrub bags and headbands, and was inundated with donations.

She has so far supplied nurses, care homes and midwives with hundreds of sets of PPE around the country, all completely free of charge to the recipient.

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