Meet the 12 year old seamstress behind Marion Masks

Jul 18, 2020

MARION —  Caroline Houdelette got a sewing machine for Christmas to further her love of sewing. Six months later, at 12 years, old she started a small business with it, making masks to help others through a deadly pandemic. 

When the coronavirus lockdown started, Houdelette started off by making masks for her family and friends. It was her peers who encouraged her to make a business out of the masks, and so Marion Masks was born. 

Each mask takes about half an hour to make, and three weeks in she has already sold more than 100. 

Houdelette offers deliveries for local orders, or shipping to anywhere in the world. Since she can’t drive yet, she does some of the closer deliveries on her bike, and teams up with her mom for some of the ones where it would be easier to drive. 

Asked whether she is sick of making masks yet, Houdelette said “not yet.”

She added: 

“I do get a little overwhelmed sometimes, but it is still really fun.” 

The 12 year old offers about 45 to 50 different fabric patterns for customers to choose from, and can do single or double color masks. 

Her most popular fabric is a blue tie dye pattern, but some of her favorites are colorful llama and lemon fabrics. 

Houdelette teamed up with Suzanne Bellanger, who runs the Bella Flower Truck, to sell masks there, and has also had an inquiry from the Marion General Store as to whether she can sell masks at the store. She plans to sell a few there within the next few days. 

She will save the money she makes, as she enjoys watching her bank account grow. 

When not sewing, Houdelette enjoys sports, especially tennis, soccer and running. She will go into the seventh grade this year. 

To see all of Houdellette’s fabrics or order a mask, see https://www.marionmasks.com/

Masks will also be on-sale in the Marion General Store starting July 22.