Tsunami Jacket how a Tyvek Jacket was made

Tsunami Jacket, how a tyvek jacket was made. 

Sustainable fashion can be technical, functional, and stylish; Four Rabbit is breaking the eco-fashion stereotype. Four Rabbit saw a need for sustainable, functional, well designed sustainable clothes and accessories. Four Rabbit wants to change the way we think about fashion. Where it's from, how it's made, and the impact those choices have socially, environmentally, and ethically. 

I believe the most sustainable clothing is the clothing you love and wear. I only want a closet full of clothes I love. Before my first meeting about the Tsunami Jacket, I knew I was going to design something I would love and wear. Ultimately, I was designing the Tyvek jackets for myself. This was the first garment I ever designed. Albeit a most complicated first design project. I had no deadline and could spend almost two years making this exactly how I wanted. 

After poorly packing for a three week trip to Oaxaca, Mexico I knew there had to be a smarter way to travel. As a person that often runs cold, I am always overpacking an extra jacket or sweater. Both of which do not pack small. However, this trip to Mexico, I overpacked three too many layers, a leather jacket, a down vest, and a sweater. It was chilly in New York when I left, but not that cold. I could have layered more clothes on the airplane instead of shoving it in my luggage. When I arrived in Mexico it was warm. Really warm and then hot during the day. The mornings were cool, but just the very early mornings, a light sweatshirt or sweater would have done the trick. Definitely no need for the down layer or the leather jacket. In fact, I wish I would have packed a t-shirt or two more, and that would have taken up way less space in my bag. 

After this trip, I knew I would never pack like this again. Layers are better than one giant heavy jacket, and unless I know I'm headed to a particularly rainy climate, I hardly ever wear the “emergency raincoat” I pack. I knew I could design a jacket that could be lightweight, pack small, and cover most of the “weather” I would encounter on any trip.

This was the seed of inspiration for the tsunami jacket. This jacket would become my best travel companion, after two years of research and development. 

There were many factors taken into consideration for the jacket. Not only did it need to be lightweight, packable, and have a million pockets. It needed to be functional, with lots and lots of pockets, a hood, and a sturdy zipper. It also had to be stylish so I would want to wear it (not the black raincoat I was usually packing) and be made in the most sustainable way I could possibly produce it. Choosing the right material for the jacket would be a huge determining factor for design and sustainability. 

I have always been fascinated by Tyvek. How could something so thin be so strong and durable? A material that has such a wide range of uses. It can be used to weatherproof houses and make the best envelope material for sending packages. 

Before delving into the fashion world, I would make small bags from Tyvek by Dupont. I would reuse Tyvek mailers that were sent to me and turn them into drawstring bags. Sometimes I would decorate the bags with stencils or other drawings (I remember drawing waves all over one of the bags). I would take these bags with me on backpacking trips. Durable stuff sacks to organize everything from clothes to food in my backpack. 

I wasn’t the only one who was making fashion and accessories from Tyvek. Mighty wallets had been making Tyvek wallets for years, and a quick google searched proved that a few other designers had made jackets as well. Knowing my jacket would be different, even though our material was to be the same. 

As I started my research, I could not believe that there were so many different kinds of Tyvek. From fabric-like material to more paper-like material. Within those categories, there were even more choices, from the best to digitally print on, weight, and density. 

Knowing that I was going to print my material, I requested a sample of Tyvek graphic materials. I needed something that would withstand stitching and wear and tear, but also be comfortable enough to wear. (The tsunami jacket gets better with age. First, out of the bag it is paper-like, and as the material wears in, the stiffness relaxes and the jacket gets really soft, silky, and drapey). 

The material also had to be water-resistant, act as a good windbreaker, and fold up really small. 

A lot to ask of one material. But tyvek does it all. As the jacket wears in, the material softens so the jacket is able to roll up to the size of a water bottle. Being able to get all of this in one material is incredible. 


Tyvek is a polymer made from little plastic strands, thinner than a human hair, pressed together under immense pressure. This means that when the jacket softens, it does not lose any of the amazing tyvek properties, like water resistance or ability to block the wind. One of the most popular manufacturers is Dupont Tyvek.

Tyvek is also breathable. Breathability was important in a material. As a jacket that acted like a greenhouse for its wearer, it would not be a very comfortable jacket. 

There is much debate in the sustainable fashion world over natural fibers and synthetics. Both good and bad in their own ways. Cotton takes a huge amount of water to produce, synthetics never biodegrade, recycled synthetics take a huge amount of energy to produce. I believe, that if you buy a garment, love it, wear it all the time, that is the most sustainable way of purchasing clothing. Keeping clothes you love and wear keeps unloved garments out of the landfill. 

The Tsunami Jacket is synthetic, but for many good reasons. While not waterproof, it is water-resistant, windproof, and breathable - but it's also recyclable. As in, it can be recycled with your regular plastics. The Tsunami Jacket is also washable (cold after only and not dry-able, as it will melt). Who doesn't want easy to maintain garments. All of this from Tyvek an amazing synthetic material.

Tyvek is easily printable. A good digital print will withstand the elements and the washing machine. I was able to create my own patterns to print on the jacket. Creating patterns that would work with the jacket was its own challenge. 

After watching “The True Cost”, a documentary on the textile industry, I could not with a conscience make a garment that created more textile waste. The Tsunami Jacket had to be created using a zero-waste pattern. The zero waste pattern had to include a few design features that were imperative to the functionality of the jacket. This included a big hood, as many pockets as we could fit, and a drop shoulder seam. 

The drop shoulder was one of the most important design features. The jacket is unisex and can fit slightly oversized or more fitted, depending on the body wearing the jacket. Shoulder seams can make a garment look too big or too small depending on the fit. Since I knew I would be only making two sizes to start, this jacket had to be able to fit as many bodies within these two sizes. The drop shoulder insured that this jacket could fit a myriad of sizes and layer well over other garments. 

A zero waste pattern is a garment pattern that uses the entire piece of yardage. When the garment is cut from the material, no small or large scraps of fabric are left for the garbage. I had chosen my specific Tyvek material and knew the width measurements. The pattern for the jacket had to fit in the width, with the length being flexible during the design process, knowing that the pattern pieces had to fit within a rectangle shape in the end. This meant no curvy pattern pieces (except at the neckline), since squares and triangles are much easier to fit into each other. It’s like a Tetris game for a pattern maker. More challenging, if one pattern piece changes in size it has to be refit into the final pattern marker. One pattern piece can’t be changed without changing all the other pieces around it. 

Through the almost two year project of getting my final patterns made, I worked with a few pattern makers and had over 5 samples made to get the jacket just the way I had imagined. 

The small size jacket was designed first. For the large size jacket, standard grading (grading is making garment patterns in bigger and smaller sizes) could not be used. This meant that a whole new pattern had to be created for the larger size jacket. Many pieces stayed the same, but the pattern arrangement is certainly different. It took over a year from the original small size pattern to be able to grade the large size pattern.

When designing a zero waste pattern, not all pattern pieces may layout top to bottom. This could be a problem if I were using regular fabric. The fabric has a grainline and stretches in certain directions differently than other directions. Working with fabric and a zero-waste pattern you would want to make sure all your pieces were laid out in the correct direction. Tyvek, being a polymer with no stretch, it didn’t matter how each pattern piece would be laid out, each pattern pieces would have the same internal material structure as the next. 

Because the pattern pieces were laid out multi-directional, the print also had to work as a multi-directional print. This meant that the print design had to work not only from top to bottom but from side to side too. 

I had been working with the wave design in my personal art for awhile. Showing up in black and white and watercolor versions, from whole backgrounds, to little waves here and there. The waves seemed appropriate for an all-weather jacket. The design easily lent itself to being cut up and rearranged to work multi-directionally for the garment. The tsunami jacket got its name from the wave design. 

The wave print is so simple, and yet up close it becomes more complex. From far away the jacket looks almost light grey and as you get closer the waves reveal themselves. I knew I wanted a bold graphic for the jacket. But bold and simple, something unique but totally wearable. The wave perfectly embodies my vision for the final jacket. 

The very first jacket sample was made from the white wave print, a white background with black lines. I love the first iteration of this white jacket. But being a New Yorker, wearing mostly black all the time, the inverse of the white wave would become the second colorway. A black background with a white line, making a black version of this jacket. This was the jacket I had in my mind the whole time, something functional, and something that I would want to wear on any trip I would take.

I visited many factories before finding one that even knew what Tyvek was and surprisingly had worked with the material prior. I needed to find a factory that could not only cut and sew Tyvek but also do a very small production run of just over twenty jackets. I found a little gem in the middle of New York’s garment district. 

Tyvek is tricky to sew. You cant pin it together, any hole, no matter how small, will be there forever in the material. That goes for sewing too. No sewing mistakes or the holes from the sewing machine needle will be there forever.  Tyvek is also difficult to cut, or at least to cut 50 sheets of Tyvek at the same time. The material, though papery to start, is a bit slippery when placed against another piece of Tyvek. Keeping a stack of tyvek together during the cutting is definitely a challenge. The same goes for sewing two pieces of tyvek together, especially since the two pieces can not be pinned together. 

Even though tyvek behaves like a fabric it is not. A whole new set of tools has to be used. Fabric scissors will dull if used on tyvek since its plastic, not fabric. It also has a tendency to dull sewing machine needles quickly. Usually, needles used for sewing leather are used since they are durable and sharp. 

After going into a small production run of the tsunami jackets in the black wave and white wave prints, I knew I would need one more print, a print that was full of color. 

A camouflage print is classic. From military gear to streetwear. It has found a stronghold in the fashion world. It was only natural for me to want to design a classic print with my own twist. The camo would also work as a multi-directional print for the zero waste pattern. Instead of designing a camouflage with just color blocks, I wanted to add a natural element. The ocean is found in the wave print, so I brought the camouflage print to land by incorporating a plant motif. The print is made up of a variety of succulents that I lovingly call paradise camo. The colors are soft greens and blues, moving it away from the traditional camouflage color palettes.  The green is a nice balance to the black and white of the wave pattern. 

Now that the bulk of the jackets had been designed, there were a million little decisions to be made about hardware. A two was zipper was certain. Being able to control the zipper for optimum mobility while hiking and bike riding was super important. 

Choosing black grommets, and snaps for all three colorways kept clean lines and didn’t take away from the design. Each color way has its own color ties for the hood and hem. A nice blue for the paradise camo and a bright red to pop on the white wave and neon yellow to stand out against the black wave. 

Because tyvek takes ink so well, I was able to stamp my label and washing instructions in every jacket without needing a separate label. 

The tsunami jacket is my go-to jacket. It rolls up small and is light enough to always keep in my backpack while running around New York City. It’s certainly saved me from getting soaking wet in a number of surprise rainstorms. It’s also the only jacket I need when I'm traveling, save for a nice thin puffy layer in colder weather.

I was on a road trip in Texas in January a few years ago. The days were warm, around 60, but the nights were cold. It also happened to be very windy. The Tsunami Jacket was the perfect windbreaker and warm layer during the day. At night I would layer it over a thin down Patagonia jacket and was plenty warm and added a wind guard layer that a puffy coat doesn’t have on its own.

I can always fit the jacket into a corner of my luggage no matter how lightly I'm packing.

Part of its design is the stuff sack it comes with. The bag is perfect for storing and stashing the jacket, and also perfect for when you need an extra bag for dirty laundry, a wet bathing suit, or groceries.

The tsunami jacket has it all. Or at least most of what I’ll ever need on a trip. I love the giant inside pockets, perfect for stashing a passport or travel documents, and big enough for a sketchbook. The comfortable front pockets, for keeping hands warm on cool mornings. A big hood that keeps the rain or sun out of my eyes, and the Velcro at the wrist cuffs to keep them tight when I'm riding my bike. 

The jacket is long enough to cover my back plus a little more. When the wind blows I never worry that the jacket will ride up above the waistband of my pants, so I’ll always stay warm. And for those really windy days, I can tighten the tie at the hem and around the hood to keep all the cold out and all the heat in. Tyvek, for being so light, holds heat incredibly well. Much more then I assumed at first. It’s no winter jacket, but I will certainly put it on for warmth even if the sun is shining. 

I can feel really good about the clothes I wear when I know where they are made. Our last production run was printed in Pennsylvania and cut and sew in New York city’s garment district. Keeping production local kept the carbon footprint low, and communication easy.

What's in store for the Tsunami Jacket,? More prints! But for now, you can still order older styles available on the website HERE.

In the meantime, I have developed a one hundred percent recycled denim Chore Jacket using a zero waste pattern, based on the same principles of the Tsunami Jacket. 

Those principals include environmental impact, sustainability, functionality, and fashion. 

When I'm packing for travel now that I have my Tsunami Jacket, I can be much smarter. My lightweight, super packable tyvek jacket is the first thing I pack. Even though I should finish packing all my other things first, and placing the tsunami jacket in that tiny space left in my luggage. I might still pack another jacket, I am a jacket person after all, but knowing that I have protection against the wind, the rain, and cold with just one jacket makes planning for any trip a breeze. 

Interested in learning more about designing with tyvex, or looking for a custom design? Message me at info@fourrabbit.com

Look good getting lost.