Sleep: a transitional sleeping liner

This group project was designed with the help of Kevin Kan and Pat Clancy.

project Concept

Design and construct a "soft good" product that helps us move towards a sustainable future. Intended as an introduction to soft goods, I taught myself through trial and error, a few books, and a little advice from friends, basic sewing and pattern making. During this project I discovered my interest to pursue sewing and soft goods design.

Researching homelessness

Each day the homeless face a wide array of problems, one issue is often where they will sleep at night. In order to narrow this demographic, we focused in on people who had recently become homeless. These people are in a very stressful transitional period and they rely heavily on friends and family for shelter.

insights

In researching this issue we found that the product needed to give some level of control over the sleeping environment, provide peace of mind, and go with them easily when they move. From these ideas we developed three primary design criteria.

constraints

1. Made from durable and waterproof materials.

2. Physically secure personal valuables

3. Easy to set up, light weight, and compact

design concept

A lightweight sleeping liner for people who move from shelter to shelter or home to home. Many of the place the homeless find themselves staying at night may not be sanitary or comfortable. Therefore the liner is designed with a cotton interior and a water resistant shell. The liner acts as a barrier between the unpredictable and possibly inhospitable environments, while also providing some level of consistency and control over the users own comfort.

The liner also features a light weight duffel bag attached to the head. The attached duffel's zipper can be locked and is intended to act as a soft good "locker" for your backpack, clothes, and other valuables. An inflatable pillow covers the duffel's opening to give increased security to the access of the duffel while the user is sleeping. There is also a hidden pocket on the interior of the liner that can be used to store small items like a cellphone or wallet. This system is intended not only to provide a small level of security that the user otherwise would not have, but more importantly, some peace of mind to someone who is undergoing extreme stress and may be surrounded by strangers or resentful care givers.

1. Unclip the two attached straps holding the roll together.

3. Unzip the attached duffel and place personal belongings inside.

4. Zip up the attached duffel and add a luggage lock if desired.

5. Store wallet or cell phone in the hidden interior pocket.

6. Additional blankets can be added is needed or available.