Catherynne M. Valente
patreon
Bonus Denizen for All: My Coat of Many Colors That My Mama Made For Me
🕑 Added 2025-10-30 17:16:57 +0000 UTCIām just so proud of this I want everyone to see it!
Also it took almost a year of assembling patches from various sources.
And then just...a REALLY long time hand-stitching every single patch because, as it turns out, "iron-on" is apparently just a total lie it's perfectly okay to tell.
And then I was really, really hoping the last patch would arrive before the end of the month so I could show it to you complete, but alas, it did not (it's an Audrey II patch, goes across from the Goonies one).
But this is what I made Bastian for their birthday. A geekpunk coat, full of patches representing things they love, or things I love and suspect they will one day, or things I love that have some kind of message stitched in from my heart to their future.
Feel free to ask about any of them whose references you don't get or whys you want to know...I left plenty of room for more as the years go by. This jacket is too big, so they can grow into it, and then when it's too small, I can clip the stitches and put them on a new coat all over again.
I can already see that it makes them feel 9 feet tall when full grown-ups stop them in the street to say how much they love their jacket. And in an odd way, it makes me feel like I've armored them in love and good stories about the best in us.
I hope you guys like it!
Hilarious final note: I am not a good seamstress generally, so I stabbed the shit out of my fingertips all the way through this. But that DNA patch specifically? Is the only one I hurt myself enough to get a little blood on the thread, so the happy DNA patch (across the collar from the punk one, because punk and geekery is in their blood) is the only one with my actual DNA on it.
BLEEDING FOR MY CRAFT!
Comments
Mary Cyn
My mom (a costume designer) always told me that it was good luck to bleed on a costume
Jeremy Brett
Kudos, Cat!
BrainGuy63
That's an amazing coat. What a great gift for the kiddo. Also yes, "iron-on" is a lie. š
