INDIANAPOLIS — As more central Indiana school districts lay out their plans for a safe return, students, teachers and parents are bracing for major changes this school year.
One big change is face covering requirements. A couple on the south side of Indianapolis found a way to make ends meet during the COVID-19 pandemic while providing face mask options for kids.
The face mask is now part of daily life for people all over the world and in Indiana it's even mandated in several cities, including Indianapolis. While that's not welcome news for everyone it has been life-changing for an Indianapolis seamstress and her business partner husband.
"It's actually been really exciting that you know we are able to have our own business now and pay the bills, pay for four kids to eat," Chelsea Snider, of Stitches and Sundries, said.
Snider has been sewing pretty much her entire life that's why it was only natural that she would eventually open a business making hundreds of items from custom clothes to alterations, repairs and retail items. It was a side business at first until her husband, Tim, lost his job due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But things changed when friends started asking the Sniders to make face masks. In an instant, the hobby became a full-time job called Stitches and Sundries.
"We hadn't really thought about getting into the whole face mask business until we started having multiple people ask us and at that point we added a listing to our website to be able to keep track of our orders a little easier and then it grew from there," Snider said. "A few face masks here or there to in the last week we've put out almost 200 face masks."
The popularity of Chelsea and Tim Snider's work is due to the customizable options, attractive prints and sizes for adults, young kids and now even toddlers. In their words, it's something handmade, unique and nerdy for everyone.
"We have a kids size that is recommended down to 4 to 6 and we also have a toddler size down to age 2," Snider said.
Those smaller masks will come in handy for families in Perry Township where the Sniders live as the school district has now mandated that all staff and students from pre-K to 12th grade wear masks when school reopens later this month.
Snider said the masks are getting rave reviews from her own kids.
"My daughter is in love with Paw Patrol and Elsa and she doesn't necessarily want to just have the kid surgical masks and so I made her her own face mask that has Elsa on it," Snider said.
