Julie & the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat

(Bonus points if you're a theatre nerd like me and get the title of this blog post!)

I have a studio rule for myself: no sleeves.  Any sleeves will absolutely 100% get covered in paint.  However, I also live in New England and am cold all the time.  What's a girl to do?

Buy a lab coat, of course!

When I got the coat, I realized there were two problems:

1. It had an open neck -- as lab coats always do -- and was therefore not very protective in the chest spatter area.
2. It was so so so so so so so very white.

I thought about returning the lab coat and getting a chef's coat instead.  But I figured a little bit of velcro could solve the problem.  I simply flipped the lapels up and glued on a few pieces of velcro to keep them shut.  As for problem number 2...I figured out a way to solve that too!

Here are some of the details:

I used fabric paint for the project so that it would (a) be washable and (b) the fabric would remain soft and flexible.  It was a super fun project to do.  It took some time (several days) because I had to let the various layers dry.  You can see some of the earlier stages of the coat on instagram here and here and here and here.

Lab Coat Jacquard Textile Paints Jacquard Lumiere Paints Deco Art SoSoft Fabric Paint: Pearl Deco Art SoSoft Glitter Fabric Paint: Sapphire Blue Deco Art SoSoft Fabric Paint: Crimson Tumble Dye Gold Glitter Spray Ranger Heat Gun Princeton Catalyst Brushes Writers Block Ring Tic Tac Spot On Make Art Leaf Vine Big Numbers Ring Fling Ring Fling Large Polka Dot Gone Dotty Tripsy Triangle Mind Track Ring Hopscotch Train Track Me-O-My Pair of Eyes Eyes: Triangle Lashes Water Lilly Sharpie Waterbased Paint Marker Liquitex Gesso Pebbles Tied 12x12 Pebbles Tied 6x6 Jax 6x6 Spikey Wheels 12x12 Spikey Wheels 6x6 Orange Slices 6x6 Tribal Fish 12x12 Mumsy 12x12 Mumsy 6x6 Cosmetic Sponges Grey Matters Palette Paper

 

Please note: Most of the paint that I used was Deco Art SoSoft fabric paint but I was too lazy to link to each individual color.  Instead I linked to the three types of SoSoft fabric paint that I used: regular, glitter, and pearl.

I'm delighted to have something that allows me to wear sleeves in the studio and makes me feel happy and colorful!  Can't wait to see all the accidental color and pattern that will inevitably be added over time!

Thanks for stopping by!