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Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, when face coverings became scarce, Janelle Haselhuhn decided to put her impressive sewing skills to work. The southwest Michigan runner and mom of two young kids, ages 5 and 3, made some 700 masks in just a few short weeks with the help of a small group of volunteers.
To listen to this episode, click on the player at the top of this post. Or, download the episode (and subscribe to the show!) using your favorite podcast app.
Janelle, who shares her sewing creations — including memory quilts and blankets, the latter of which incorporate race T-shirts — on her Facebook business page MI Sew Haven, joins me on the podcast to talk about life as a long-time athlete, sewist (she also makes her own running attire), and now-homeschooling mom.

One way she’s making the most of these interesting times? Making a point of dressing up during the work/school week — she wore a super-cute leopard print jumpsuit, which she made, of course, when we recorded this episode — and doing fun things like blasting rockin’ music and hosting fancy, dress-up dinner evenings for her family.

“I’m a firm believer in what you wear directly affects how you feel. It just makes me feel good to dress up.”
JANELLE HASELHUHN, MOM, RUNNER, SEWIST IN PAW PAW, MICHIGAN

Janelle, who lives with her husband and their son and daughter in Paw Paw, Mich., credits attending the MRG Winter Weekend Getaway at the start of 2020 — right before life turned upside down for all of us — with helping her believe she could be a year-round outdoor runner. She shares how this winter she is planning to run outside all season long for the first time. She also talks about what the pandemic has taught her, how she’s stayed sane and found a few new hobbies over the past several months, and how she became a runner following high school and college experiences that included rowing on a crew team (they did their workouts on the Detroit River) and trying the sport of fencing.
“This has been a really good learning experience, and I hope other people are realizing this, too, that this can be a good time of our lives.”
FIND JANELLE:
@jnl.dsgn on Instagram
FIND JANELLE’S SEWING BUSINESS
Mi Sew Haven on Facebook
FIND HEATHER:
@michiganrunnergirl on Instagram
@michigan-runner-girl on Facebook
If you enjoy what you’re hearing on the Michigan Runner Girl show, we’d be so, so grateful if you’d take a few moments to write a review on iTunes. This will help more runners and Michigan lovers like yourself find the podcasts. Thank you!! Also, the quickest way to get the podcasts is to subscribe to the show via iTunes or via Stitcher or your favorite podcast app. A special thanks to the talented Jonny Tornga for producing the show.