I designed a collection inspired by the negative experience I felt when I wore a weighted blanket. The collection focuses on how the body reacts to pressure, whether it be physical or sociological pressure. The garments are to invoke the feeling of unease, immobility, suffocation, and being trapped. This is done through the use of heavy materials, weighted garments, structured seaming, and strapping. I then created the weighted blanket dress and cape. The garment was created by first topstitching through both layers of fabric to create channels on each piece. Next I serged around the whole perimeter of a piece minus one edge to leave an opening to fill the channels. I then filled the channels with rice, and stitched the edge closed. Once all of the pieces were filled with rice, I sewed all the seams together finishing them with a bound seam finish, to create the garment. The whole garment weighs 45 lbs., the cape is 25 lbs. and the dress is 20 lbs. 

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This project was also jury selected to be displayed at the ITAA (International Textile and Apparel Association) 2021 Annual Conference.