Posted in: Cosplay, Pop Culture | Tagged: Allen Ryde, Chic Revolt, cloth masks, cosplay, cosplayers, covid-19, handmade masks, Joleen Torres

How Cosplayers Are Helping Our Front Liners With Handmade Masks

Published Wed, 08 Apr 2020 17:25:42 -0500

by Baltimore Lauren

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There is a shortage of Personal Protective Equipment available to most healthcare workers in the USA, and an unlikely ally has stepped up to help out those who need PPE's to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Cosplayers from across America have started making cloth masks, and 3-D printed PPE's, to help hospitals and medical staff. These cosplayers highlighted today have turned their cosplay sewing stations into mask sewing stations, showing that we really are all in this together.

pjimage (53) — A series of handmade masks by cosplayers. L-R: © Allen Ryde | Chic Revolt | Chonky Cat Creations and all photos are used with permission.

Allen Ryde:

For the past few weeks, Allen Ryde of Aurora Clothiers has been a mask making machine. Ryde is making masks for anyone who asks and doing a pay-what-you-can scale for these masks. Ryde also has a variety of prints at his disposal. Are you looking for a little Oz or Disney magic for your mask? Allen can do that.

: Handmade medical masks by Allen Ryde. Photo © Allen Ryde and used with permission.

: Handmade medical masks by Allen Ryde. Photo © Allen Ryde and used with permission.

Emrys Koup:

Emrys Koup of Chic Revolt felt the call to help when Pennsylvania was getting hit. The steady line of commission work is gone, for the time being, Emrys focused their energy on assisting hospitals in their area. These masks range from fashionable to fashionably geeky and perfect for everyone, you know.

: Handmade medical masks by Chic Revolt. Photo © Chic Revolt and used with permission.

: Handmade medical masks by Chic Revolt. Photo © Chic Revolt and used with permission.

As soon as Covid became a serious reality for my area in PA, which has since been declared a disaster zone, all my commissions vanished. My income was gone. But I had time, a studio full of supplies, streaming equipment & a passion to educate. There is as much misinformation online as there is fact, so being able to get connected with hospitals in need came readily. It was a no brainer. If I could crunch out a cosplay the week before a convention, mass production of simple medical masks would be no problem. Being able to apply my skills to a problem outside my control gave me a bit of power back. It gave me a brand new community as well. There are so many people pushing hard on this project & I think it makes us all feel a little less alone to use our talents to take care of frontline workers.

Joleen Torres:

Joleen Torres of Chonky Cat Creations just wants to bring a little light into these uncertain times. She is always there for her friends and the community around her. These masks can help in a variety of ways — from making this current world a little less scary, to even helping those who want to clean their house without triggering an asthma attack.

: Handmade medical masks by Chonky Cat Creations. Photo © Chonky Cat Creations and used with permission.

: Handmade medical masks by Chonky Cat Creations. Photo © Chonky Cat Creations. and used with permission.

Making these masks are important to me because if it can make someone smile seeing these in a hospital instead of a scary looking medical mask. If it helps someone is any other way such as not touching to their face, or any other form of protection then they have served their purpose. As someone who has pretty bad asthma these masks make great masks for cleaning the house.

There are other cosplayers out there doing good work during these trying times. If you'd like your work to be featured in a future article like this send a Bleeding Cool a message.

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