By Alesha Capone
Lexi DeRock has found that her hand-crafted face masks are very much in demand.
The owner and founder of Yankee Sweetheart, a retro beauty parlour in Geelong West, offers hair and make-up services for special occasions.
But stage three pandemic restrictions have caused many events to be postponed.
Ms DeRock, who also makes and sells vintage-inspired accessories, has turned her hand to sewing face masks to match her dresses.
“I thought, ‘If we’re going to wear them, at least they can be cute and fun’,” she said.
After posting photos of her masks on Instagram, people started asked Ms DeRock to make them a mask.
“Once the government said they were going to be mandatory, everyone said: ‘Can you make me one very quickly?’” she said.
Her first batch of 25 face masks, and a second batch of about 40 masks, both sold out within a day.
Ms DeRock said that she has received orders for custom masks for children, teenagers and larger ones, for men with beards.
She said fabric masks were generally more environmentally-friendly than plastic masks, which some people leave discarded on the ground.
Ms DeRock said that she posted images of her newly-made face masks every week on Instagram and Facebook.
“I’m happy to take orders and make as many as I can, but I’m only one person and I can only do my best,” she said.
Details: www.yankeesweetheartshop.com, www.instagram.com/yankeesweetheartshop/ or look up “Yankee Sweetheart Geelong” on Facebook.
