This is a jacket composed of panels of handmade milkweed paper and onion-dyed muslin. It is insulated with cotton scraps and milkweed seeds, allowing the wearer to disperse the plant throughout the environment as the jacket’s milkweed panels deteriorate. In so doing, they are gradually returning the jacket’s materials to nature.
Create a soft surface intervention that references an aspect of Montréal’s local flora. Use environmentally-conscious design techniques and guidelines.
For this jacket, my teammates and I researched milkweed, a plant which plays in integral role in Montréal’s unique environmental landscape, specifically in supporting certain insect populations. Its seeds are attached to a downy material and produce a beautiful effect when they are floating through the air in the Summer. Because of this down’s insulating properties, we decided to make a jacket using it as filler material. We modeled the sizing of this jacket on one of my teammates and used a series of oval panels to create dimensionality and visual depth.
I made this project in collaboration with three classmates, which meant that we were able to split the labour between the three of us. First, myself and a teammate collected milkweed pods in local parks and separated the seeds from the down inside each pod. Next, we blended the down and combined it with some cotton and vinegar to produce a pulp. We then used a screen to strain the pulp into sheets of milkweed paper with a felty texture.
I also prepared the dye bath for the muslin and once it was dyed, I sewed the back panel while my teammate sewed the front panels. Then, I assembled the pieces of the jacket, including sewing some decorative patterns on the sleeves. Finally, my teammate sewed the collar onto the assembled jacket, using leftover milkweed material.
This was a project that gave me back my love for sewing and made me want to work on more soft surface projects in the future. Throughout the process, I learned how to make a pattern, how to manipulate fabric properly, and how to use a domestic sewing machine well enough to achieve a high-quality finish throughout the whole piece. The dyeing and paper making processes were great learning opportunities as well, though they have been less present in my subsequent works.
