Face Shields on Your Cameo for Healthcare Workers

I am just so excited to share this post with you!! In this difficult time, we all want to do what we can to help. However, sometimes, we just aren’t sure what we can do. This is a story of how we can put our skills and talents — and our Silhouette Cameo machines to work to help others!

One of my Terri Johnson Creates Licensed Instructors (and good friend) – Teresa Pepe – shared with me that she had begun making Face Shields for nurses and healthcare workers in New York. This idea was born out of request from a nurse at Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York to Teresa’s husband, Gino Pepe. Gino is a High School Chemistry teacher, and the nurse is the Mom of one of his students. Teresa shared this with me:

“She was desperately looking for N-95 face masks and reached out through email to my husband.

My husband told me how desperate the need is, and I started looking around and found a few boxes of transparency film.

I can only sew a straight stitch, but I thought of a face shield without any need to sew.

I use my Cameo every day and am amazed how this machine can do so many things. I thought to myself surely, this little gem can help.

I designed the face shield on silhouette studio. Since they are thin I designed a washer out of the same material to

keep tension from elastic from ripping the film.

Lastly, my husband thought of weather stripping foam to create a cushion shield on the face and give lift, in case you are wearing googles

underneath or a mask made out of fabric.

I gave the nurse 50 shields (met her at a parking lot). She divided them up between two hospitals.

After telling me how well they worked, she requested more.

She said these are re-usable because they can sterilize under UV light and they are great for intubating patients.”

Once Teresa realized how well these were working for the nurses, she enlisted the help of her family! Left to right is Alfredo De Zayas (Teresa’s Dad), Teresa Pepe, Genesis Pepe (Teresa’s daughter) , Gino Pepe ( Teresa’s husband), and Ruby Roo – the quality control dog!

Using just the materials she had on hand, and a cut file she created in Silhouette Studio, Teresa began a family assembly line! Using both her Cameo 3 and Cameo 4 at the same time made production much faster! (Did you know that you can run multiple machines at once with Business Edition?)

And no delivery would be complete without a thank you note & Scripture to share with the healthcare workers!

Teresa has made 150 of these Shields to date, and those are being distributed between three hospitals in the NYC area. However, the word has gotten out & more hospitals are requesting additional shields. One anesthesiologist from Long Island has contacted her & offered to pay for shields, as he has been re-using the same one for a week! However, Teresa is not charging anything for these shields, she just feels this is her way of helping out!

So – -here is how you can help! Because I know you will want to!

1) You can make these Face Shields on your own Silhouette Cameo (instructions and file posted below), and contact your local healthcare providers to inquire as to whether or not they would like to use them!

2) You can make the Face Shields & ship them to Teresa. She will see that they are distributed where needed in the New York City area. (address below)

3) If you can’t make Shields – -then you can donate supplies! The supply list is listed below & have them shipped directly to Teresa.

Instructions for Face Shield:

Supplies Needed:

One acetate sheet of transparency film – Available on Amazon or Staples.
Rubber foam weatherstripping 3/4″ wide (4 inch piece) – goes between two holes.
Stretch Elastic Cord – -2 mm — This is available at Uline (for gift packaging) UPDATE: Uline is out — but as of 4/15 — Amazon had this cord.
Silhouette Face Shield Cut File – available for free download here.
UPDATE: I have added SVG and pdf files, so that people with other brands of machines can make shields, or cut by hand with pdf pattern — Download here.

Cutting and Assembly:

Cut Shield & Washers on the Cameo, using Auto blade or Ratchet Blade
Settings: textured card stock- Heavy (80lb) , Increase the Passes to 2
- Force 30 – Speed 4 – Passes 2

You can get one shield & several washers from one sheet of transparency. It is best to use 2 washers per hole for a total of 4 per mask.
Cut the elastic cord 17”. Place the cord through the hole in the shield, placing two washers on the cord. Tie a knot and pull back until the washer goes flush against the shield. Repeat for the other side. Whoever receives the shield can adjust the tightness by simply untying the knot and retying to the desired length and tension.
Cut a 5” piece of the foam strip. Peel off the backing and place between holes on the mask. There is a second backing on the opposite side of the foam. Do not peel but leave for the recipient to peel off.
There is a second cut file with larger holes included, in case you are using larger elastic cording!

Again, if you can help either by making Shields or donating supplies, please send them to Teresa. She will make sure that they are distributed where they are needed! (her address is shared with her permission)

Teresa Pepe
34 Muradon Road
Mahopac, NY 10541

Finally, Pray for New York! Teresa shared this with me in an email:

It’s a very difficult time but its also a blessing to see how God uses us and how strangers help each other in such a time. Thank you for sharing, please share the file with anyone who can make these for their hospitals or those on the front lines. The more we help the better! Please keep us in prayer, NY is a battle ground right now.
Love you, Terri!!! Hopefully when this is over we can give each other a hug.

I know that this community of Silhouette Users is a wonderful, caring group – -And I know that we all want to do something to help! I am so excited to see what will happen as a result of us all working together! Know that I love you & so appreciate all of you!

Until next time, (and until we can see one another face to face) — much love & hugs to all of you!