DIY Wool Blanket Anorak

[the_lorax]

Put together a wool blanket anorak this week. Used a Harbor Freight wool blend blanket (80% wool/20% polyester) - cost me a whole $8 on sale. It isn't the nicest blanket but aint too bad - I did wash it to get rid of the chemical smell (and again when the cat decided she was jealous of the time I was spending making it that should clearly have been spent worshiping her -and peed on it! ). I used the basic pattern from here. Since the blanket is a bit itchy I opted to line it with some Wally World special fleece that I had laying around - made it nice and cozy.



The hood is slightly oversized. If I fold it back a bit it gives good visibility but if it's really cold I can nearly cover my face if necessary. The arms are also extra long (I hate sleeves that are too short!). I can cuff them back so they fall at my wrist but I can also put them down and basically cover my hands down to the finger tips. The back is just long enough to cover my back-side sitting, another inch or so would have been nice but hey.

I also took a shot at a hand warmer/kangaroo pocket. That part didn't turn out quite as well as I'd like and will need some refining. (Ripping those stitches is gonna stink.)

Overall I'm quite happy with how it turned out, especially since I've never sewn a piece clothing before. Time to grab the snowshoes and see how warm it is.

[Redoleary]

Very nice. I've been thinking about making something like that myself. How long did it take to build?

[2Trees]

Very nice! I've been thinking about a wool poncho with hood that would also work as a blanket/sleeping bag. We saw some wool blankets on sale for $15 at Sierra Trading Post that would make a nice poncho. You could take one blanket and cut a slit in the middle to drape over you and then buy a second blanket to cut and sew the hood. Hmmmm.....

[nothermark]

Nice job! The fleece lining is a great way to handle the itchie problem.

[the_lorax]

Probably took me around 5-6 hours spread out over a few evenings & this afternoon.

Very nice. I've been thinking about making something like that myself. How long did it take to build?

[the_lorax]

Test hike went well - kept me comfortable at ~18*F, with no wind (maybe need to try a canvas one to help cut that). Felt like with the breathablity helped regulate temp - didn't have to zip/unzip to regulate temp like my regular jacket.The overly long sleeves worked out well, hands got cold at one point, dropped down the cuffs and all better. Think I need to figure out a way to secure the hood under chin.

[MedicineMan]

Lorax, it looks awesome. Looks like the kangaroo doubles as handwarmer pockets too, very nice. Yours look just a nice as the one I got from Empire, be proud of a DIY done well.

[the_lorax]

Thanks! Yep, the pocket serves as hand warmer & storage. The hand warmer part turned out decent but I kinda botched the kangaroo pouch portion - got the sizes off a bit so the cover flap barely meets the top of the pocket. Guess that's what happens when you try to make due with scrap pieces. If it wasn't for the pocket issues I'd be 100% happy with it. But hey, it isn't a failure it's an opportunity for extended DIY fun.

Lorax, it looks awesome. Looks like the kangaroo doubles as handwarmer pockets too, very nice. Yours look just a nice as the one I got from Empire, be proud of a DIY done well.

[atrane21]

very nice. i just made one of these last week. i didn't use a liner though. I used mine down into the 20's while snowing and windy this past weekend and it worked great!

[TZBrown]

I made mine over 2 years ago and love it

Good job, just because you have not done one doesn't mean you can't