Masks are icing on the cake for Petone shop

A cake store may not seem like the obvious candidate to offer handmade face masks, but a collaboration between a Wellington crafter and a Petone cake store has taken off.

Jhan Lindsay began the project when she used some leftover materials for a mask for her partner to wear when working in the close confines of a construction job. One week and more than a hundred masks later, the Wellington musician, composer and teacher is struggling to keep up with demand.

Pictures of her creations on her Facebook page quickly led to friends requesting masks for their own use. Soon after local cake shop Cake It Forward approached her to supply masks for their Jackson St store.

On the evening of the announcement that masks would be mandatory for people travelling on public transport, Lindsay received an order for another 100 of her home-sewn, reusable masks.

Cake It Forward owner Bridget Cheesman is donating proceeds from the sale of masks to Women's Refuge.

Cake It Forward started from an initiative to provide cakes for birthdays and special occasions for kids with a parent in prison.