Interview by Kara Larson

Photography provided by Lauren Oland

Conducted in collaboration with American Craft Council

So, let’s start with the basics—how are you holding up?

I’m doing okay! I have type 1 diabetes, so I am at higher risk and have been trying to keep necessity purchasing as low contact as possible. I have a son who has a lot of medical needs and food allergies, and because of the fact that he’s allergic to things we have around our house regularly, I’m used to washing the living daylight out of my hands.

There was actually a cool post I saw that basically indicated that when people are really stressed, they often either go into hyperdrive to feel like they’re being productive because it helps them feel better, and it helps them navigate their tough feelings. Whereas some people go much slower, and they process, and they need to rest. And I definitely am the first, like 1000%, if not to a fault. So I’ve really been thinking about how I can improve and help out and make things better and work harder. Which feels good, but once the adrenaline lifts, a person can crash. So you need to be more prepared to do a lot of self-care to keep yourself afloat.

Even in just being aware of that as a stress response, it puts you in a position to navigate it with a level head.

It takes time to realize that’s what you’re doing. Just knowing that everyone is having different stressors, and everybody had stressors before this that are now amplified.

How has your daily routine changed? I’m guessing your two small children aren’t probably doing what they’re normally doing.

Since I’ve been able to pivot, and since I have a tendency to plug away even harder in a crisis, I feel like I’m really doing fine. I’m self-employed, so I’m trying to get orders out on time and keep people happy, and in addition, have a child who is at his wit’s end because he misses his friends, wants to play, and talk talk talk. So that’s been the biggest challenge, but I’m also aware that that is an incredibly privileged thing for me to be able to say. Like, ultimately, I have an awesome kid I am grateful for.

Have you been able to find comfort or solace in natural spaces during quarantine?

One thing that has been especially helpful during quarantine is when we go on family walks, it’s the moment in the day that feels completely normal, if not better than normal. There are more people outside, there are more people who are being overt about smiling and waving and chatting from a distance, and it feels like a much more community driven experience to walk around the neighborhood now. Before all this, one thing we didn’t like about our neighborhood was that it was very quiet and private and people did not interact very much. And that has definitely changed. It feels much more like a community now.

Has your production shifted during social distancing/quarantine?

Making masks has probably become 2/3 of total production. Especially once I was able to get enough elastic. I have a background in apparel design and weaving, so I have the skills. I have made several hundred, if not a thousand masks at this point. I have two assistants that have been able to work from home as well right now which is a really awesome way that I can keep them employed. Because I have a zero-waste studio, I have a lot of quilting cotton, and I’ve been sitting on it for years—like closets full of fabric—and nothing ever seemed to get the stashes down. Except for this. I think I’ve used half of what I had, and I’m really happy to see it going to a good cause. And now I feel like there was a reason I kept it around.

How do you hope this pandemic changes the way we shop and support local businesses/makers?

I’m trying not to go to Amazon or JoAnn [Fabrics], but honestly, Amazon and JoAnn don’t even have these supplies anymore. So I do think one of the big silver linings of what’s going on right now is people are being forced to reroute. They’re seeing that the big box stores are not able to fill orders or are all sold out and they have to find it in other ways, and it’s opening some really good doors.

I was very inspired this morning because a friend of mine asked if she could post about my care kits and my custom jackets in a social post that her friend had made. It was basically this post between all these non-makers who normally do go to big box retailers who were noticing the struggle that small businesses are having, and felt very tired of the rigamarole that Amazon and WalMart delivery has right now. The post was made by people to say, “Please comment links of your friends that have small businesses so we can all go to them.” And it’s cool because before the pandemic, people would create posts like that and you’d maybe see a new follower, but I got six new orders. It’s really great to see that people are really ready to shop small and shop in different ways—and also being forced to go different routes than their normal buying habits right now.

I love your care package, and think it’s such a great idea. What’s in it and why did you choose these items?

Thank you! I’m excited about the care package. Shortly after the pandemic and quarantine started, I worked on selling items in different ways online, and I also put together the virtual makers collective with my sister, and was seeing a fair amount of online orders despite the situation, which I was so incredibly grateful for. This is my full-time job, so when I saw that I would be able to pivot and make sales online, some really heavy fears I had were put at ease.

The care package consists of a few components that feel very Mezame, but took a lot of thought to realize how it should all come together. The first piece is an herb-filled sachet, which is based on a series of hearts I made with my handwoven cloth with a cotton lining and backing that are filled with lavender or rosemary or dried rose petals or combinations of different herbs.

The second piece is the cotton mask. I was toying with the idea of making masks for a while because I had the supplies, but I was also hesitant to release them because I felt like the weight of the responsibility of producing a mask was huge. And then I started thinking more and more about it and decided I should just do it—I couldn’t see how it would hurt. That same day, Etsy came out with all of the guidelines for how to produce them in a safe way and use verbiage so that you weren’t promising anything that you shouldn’t be promising, which was super helpful.

The third piece is based off of these affirmation patches I create. They’re these little patches of the tiniest handwoven remnants that have one or two words on them, have a charm, and often have a keychain or a pin back on them. I say they’re either positive or realistic, so typically either an uplifting word, or a swear word, ha.

It is a special moment for me when I sell them to people who are attaching a story to it. Much earlier in my career, I was considering going into art therapy and did some masters program prerequisites. And as a business person now with my handwoven work, this is a cool way to reincorporate that. People can touch them and feel them and have that body engagement and a mind opening sensation with them when they’re having a panic attack or a tough day.

I was thinking about how I could make everything feel like Mezamé and I was noticing that people were buying things that they made them feel good, loved, or connected. So I put the care package in my shop, and within 24 hours, there were almost 100 of them ordered. We did no contact supply pickups and just figured it out as we went. Eventually I had to close my shop down for a few days so we could catch up, which was a really good feeling. It’s been a whirlwind experience and I’m grateful I was able to think on my toes.

See more of Lauren’s work here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MezameDesigns

Learn more about American Craft Council here: https://craftcouncil.org/

Lauren Oland of Mezamé Designs