Sewing Together Hope
Women’s group supplies healthcare workers with gowns
BY JEANA DURST
When I caught up with Sandie Taylor, an RN
nurse who works in the ICU Step Down Unit at
East Princeton, it was one of her few days off
and away from the hospital. Yet she was still hard
at work. Taylor was ironing plastic tablecloths
together using parchment paper to help seal the
separate pieces into protective plastic gowns for
those who are vital in the ongoing battle with
the coronavirus. Home-engineered PPE, you
might say. It’s all because Taylor believes in being
proactive: “I’m not one to sit and complain about
a situation and wait on someone to bring me what
I need.”
The idea to create no-sew gowns for nurses
from plastic tablecloths began one Friday night
at the end of March when Taylor was leaving her
hospital shift with a heavy heart. She had heard
sad stories of New York nurses using plastic trash
bags to protect themselves. With COVID-19 cases
in Alabama projected to peak in just a few weeks
and knowing that her hospital had already begun
to see COVID-19 positive patients, Taylor felt the
urge to act. So she called her friend Shirly Arnett,
a longtime community leader in South Vinemont
and avid sewing circle member, from her car on
her drive home from work, sharing concerns and
brainstorming solutions. By the time Taylor arrived
home, there was a mask and a gown on her front
porch.
A sign of what would come. Once Arnett and
the women of South Vinemont were mobilized, it
wasn’t long before patterns for protective gowns
had been created that could be easily distributed
and replicated by others—in fact, at press time
more than 200 healthcare workers had received
plastic gowns at UAB Hospital, Brookwood
Baptist Medical Center, Princeton Baptist Medical
Center East, Jasper Memorial Baptist Hospital and
Walker Baptist Medical Center.
What the women had discovered is that large
store made great material to provide an extra layer
of PPE protection for nurses and their patients.
Not only could it be sanitized easily but this extra
layer meant that they could re-use gowns if they
needed to. The only downside, as you can imagine,
26 Bham Family May 2020
Amy Brown, RN and nurse manager at Princeton Baptist,
models the hand-sewn plastic gowns that are helping to
protect medical workers.
is that they are very hot. However, it’s a new
frontier out there—most healthcare professionals
are just happy for more protective gear. As Taylor
puts it, “Now, every detail that you take for granted
when walking through an environment and being
safe is gone—you just don’t know who you are
taking care of anymore.” And she empathizes with
families whose loved ones may be spending their
are allowed by law. “It’s heartbreaking because the
families can’t be there. That’s one of the hardest
parts: doing Facetime with the family.”
In the midst of so much new territory and
uncertainty, Taylor and the women of South
Vinemont took charge of what they could affect
rather than worrying about things out of their
control. When I ask Taylor about recognizing these
women by name, she says that these modernday
Rosie the Riveters prefer to be known as an
anonymous group. As Arnett once said, “We are
only doing what we should be doing.”
Their response has been tremendous: all of
their supplies have been donated and many others
are choosing to download instructions to make
more gowns. If you’d like to be part of this effort,
message Sandie Taylor on Facebook or visit the
Rusty Peacock page for video instructions on how
to make gowns.