coat full cover

Blan

Coat

Recycling two old blankets into the warmest (and coziest!) coat.

Why? Because desert night are surprisingly cold! I love watching stars and camping out, but I had never been able to find a coat that reached my ankles and was warm enough without breaking the bank - some of the "cloaks" out there are sold for $1k or more! And let's be honest, I've always wanted to wear a cozy blanket.

While visiting an estate sale in my neighborhood, I found a dozen blankets for a few bucks. For others, it was trash. For me, it was a treasure. I was determined to transform these thick fabrics into the coziest piece of my wardrobe.
Sustainability
Design Thinking
Fashion Design
TYPE
DATE
Case Study
Aug 2022
coat back

DESIGN THINKING

PROCESS

1

Exploration and learning

2

Making sense of patterns

3

Creation - prototype!

4

Feedback and Iteration

1

IDEA

I toured many websites to see what people were doing. The very few tutorials I found were too simple for what I wanted.

Finally I found the right pattern - a long cosplay jacket made out of 25+ unique pieces - that meant 100+ fabric pieces for the entire coat!

I love a good challenge.

2

CREATION

I picked the blanket for the inner coat to be warm and wonderfully soft. I wanted to feel hugged.

The outer layer was thicker and rougher - perfect to sit on the ground and keep the cold away.

Between them I added batting for extra insulation in the hood and around the torso.

Pockets

I customized the basic pattern by adding personal features - it needed to have pockets!

I included 4 pockets in the design: 2 huge inseam on the outside and 2 patch pockets on the inside.

Extra - straps!

Another useful feature for temperatures swings - shoulder straps!

And the coat is easily turned into a backpack.

RESULTS

The first test of my new jacket was at Burning Man 2022. Despite this being the hottest year on record with nights in the low 50s, I decided to give it a go while wearing almost nothing under.

The result? It was incredible! No chills and no sweat, I was the coziest creature.

The added features proved to be incredibly useful - dancing on site? No problem with my shoulder straps. Feisty winds? Got a triple layered magician-style hood. Need snacks? Stuffed my giant pockets with mushroom jerky and nuts. They were so big I didn't even have to use my inner pockets.

Possible applications for the BlanCoat? Camping, festivals, even city life! This jacket provides a whimsical way to make your every day life more magical.

The only downside? To double check it before washing it or putting it away - when I got home I found a beef jerky stick in one of the pockets :) 

1

2

3

wearing the coat

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