St. Clair College's fashion program has donated custom designed MRI gowns to Windsor Regional Hospital.
Every year the second year students in the Fashion Design Technician Program, design and make clothing for different projects. The students have created 11 custom made gowns that will be used in the hospital's magnetic resonance imaging machine.
Elaine Chatwood, coordinator of the fashion design program at St. Clair College says the process was a fun one.
"I met with the MRI technician, and she just told me the basics that they need and we let the students just kind of run with it and have some fun. The students got to design; they also constructed their own hospital gown in teams. It worked as a production team, kind of production, development type of project."
The gowns are for adults, but adolescents were in mind when creating them.
Chatwood says these gowns can help with the process of getting an MRI.
"Whenever teens or younger patients come in, they feel probably a little more nervous," says Chatwood. "If you put a little smile on their face by putting on a fun hospital gown, with a little bit more individuality, rather than just a normal kind of uniform type gown, and brighten up their day a little bit, and make them relaxed, that's great."
There was a struggle with creating the gowns because they needed to comply with MRI and hospital guidelines. The gowns needed to not interfere with the MRI machines and to withstand the laundry system at the hospital.
"We couldn't use anything metal, because of the MRI. We couldn't really use velcro either because of the laundering. A few students came up with a few wrap type of styles and things like that," Chatwood says. "They have to have a certain length for easy access for the doctors and the technicians."
St Clair's fashion programs previous donations have been to a local men's shelter, 100 dresses for Africa and superhero capes for kids. As for their next project, Chatwood says nothing is final, but they did discuss making gowns for children.
"There is a need for children's hospital gowns, which could be a lot of fun. So, I think we might be taking that project on for the next time."