The women are making the masks for Upcycle Newcastle, which in non COVID-19 times is a project which educates and inspires people to reduce clothing waste to landfill and cut down on consumption of new products by reusing and repairing old textiles and clothing.

But at the moment, the Upcycle Newcastle Shed at Hamilton North is a full-time mask factory and Ms Stuart and Ms Williams have been putting in 10-12 hour days, six to seven days a week to help produce 500-600 masks per week for the community, and they're still having to turn orders away.

So what does Ms Stuart do when she leaves for the day?

"I go home and I'm on the sewing machine until midnight," she says.

But it's all part of the process for Ms Stuart, who started Upcycle Newcastle after realising a lot of the messaging about reducing waste was about what not to do.

"Don't drive cars as much, don't use plastic - for me it was all fairly negative," she said. "I thought there should be a positive, creative response that would excite people, rather than make them feel guilty."

And so Upcycle Newcastle was born out of sustainability organisation Transition Newcastle.

Before coronavirus, the group held workshops and events about how to create products from old jeans, t-shirts and other textile waste that may otherwise have ended up in landfill.

"It's about showing people all the amazing things they can do with products at their fingertips, and teaching people to think about consumption and what's going to happen to that stuff when they don't want it," Ms Stuart said.

The group also goes into schools to teach kids how to make rag rugs out of old T-shirts and people can hire their equipment and space for $3 an hour to upcycle their own clothing and textiles.

The organisation was successful in receiving a NSW Government My Community Partnership grant in December which allowed them to buy new sewing machines and overlockers.

Ms Stuart said the new equipment had been extremely needed to produce the masks, which are made with donated, but new materials.

The grant also allowed Ms Stuart to be paid for six hours a week, which barely covers half a shift at the moment, meaning she certainly doesn't do it for the money.

"For me it's the passion for sustainability and creativity," she said.

"To make something out of next to nothing is deeply satisfying and really builds on your own sense of self worth.

"That's certainly not the case for just me."