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| The back of my Minecraft coat |
I have unique kids. Unique kids that requests bizarre clothing requests like, “Mom, I want zombie mutant shoes.” So, when my kindergartner’s zipper broke on his coat, I was actually kind of relieved when he asked for something I thought would be easy, a Minecraft coat. I mean, Minecraft has become insanely popular, I assumed I could find him a coat no problem. I was wrong. There was no such coat. You could find these silly Creeper hoodies that were ridiculously expensive, but no real, I-live-in-Alaska winter coats. So, we decided to make him one. In fact, you could personalize just about any fabric-based item to make Minecraft clothes, backpacks, and more—or most any other character or design you wanted using a, in my opinion long-forgotten and under-appreciated, method, iron on patches.
Finding a patch:
Luckily, the web is full of customized patch makers these days. You can find basically anything you want or even have personalized patches made. In my search for a Minecraft coat, I landed on the Patch Maker’s Etsy page where she offers a pretty fair array of super-awesome Minecraft patches. I picked out three for my soon-to-be Minecraft coat creation. An Enderman’s head, a Creeper against crossed swords, and the Minecraft logo itself. My total cost was $37 after shipping to Alaska.
Finding a coat:
Next, I needed a good coat for my Minecraft patches. I looked around locally, but found even basic plain coats ran $60 to $70 plus. I checked thrift stores and couldn’t find his size, so I eventually ended up on Amazon. Amazon can be a great alternative for some items in areas where retail prices can be high. I picked out a jacket which matched my patch selections well that was on-the rack locally for $80 for $17.99 with free Prime shipping on Amazon. I do recommend reading reviews when purchasing online, always checking the actual size chart for the item you are buying, and looking for patches first that way you know what colors to look for.
Customizing your Minecraft coat:
It took less than one week for both my patches and my coat to arrive even being in the oh-so-distant North. Iron on patches are very easy to apply. Simply heat up your iron, lay your fabric flat, put your patch where you want it, and apply heat for 20-30 seconds. After cooling you’ll want to check for edges that may not be fully attached. To fix these you can just apply heat a little longer. All in all my son’s Minecraft coat took me 10 minutes to assemble and cost me $54.99. Considering the price of popular brand items, especially Minecraft right now (like this $150 Minecraft backpack or $70 Minecraft hoodie) and the cost of kids winter coats in particular, I think I did fabulously well while creating a coat no one else at school will have for my child.