Five, giant plush blankets featuring intricate original designs and brain melting colors, while being some of the softest blankets on the market. (+ hoodies, prints and pins and more)
Welcome to Playing Possum Clothing Co.’s Blankets and More Backerkit project! This is our first ever crowdfunding project and we are so excited for everything we have to offer! We have done various preorders in the past but here is why this is different.
This is the most amount of products we have ever offered at once, and with Backerkit having a pledge now choose later system, it allows us to keep adding items throughout the duration of this project. This project will be open for funding for one month, and through that time, depending on how quickly we reach our stretch goals, more designs may be added.
We have always been limited by stock, selling out super quickly of most popular designs, but with the pledge levels being unlimited, this is the perfect way to guarantee getting one of our products! So for those of you who have been eyeing a hoodie on our store, it might be available here!
This is also the best way for us to “beat” the tariffs. Even though the costs have recently gone down, they are still higher than they were initially. If this crowd funding campaign is successful, it will allow us to fully fund these products and be fully prepared in case of any unexpected fees. We explain more about why we chose Backerkit in a later section.
How Backerkit Works: Backerkit projects raise money through pledges, and pledges come in various amounts and each pledge comes with different rewards. Our pledge levels range from $10-$225, with rewards ranging from a single art print to five blankets and everything in between.
Pledges do not determine which design you get, just which items. At the end, once we see what has been unlocked, we will send out a survey to talk of our backers to decide which designs they want, and collect shipping costs. SHIPPING IS PAID AFTER THE END IF THE PROJECT, INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING COSTS WILL BE HIGH. With how Backerkit works, it we highly recommend pledging even if the design you want isn’t available quite yet, because every pledge helps get more and more designs unlocked. If it’s not unlocked yet, it doesn’t mean it won’t be.
Each design is locked behind stretch goals in $3k funding increments, to see all of the stretch goals and the order they’d be unlocked in, please go see our “Stretch Goals” section of our project.
The Designs: Each of our designs are illustrated by our owner and founder, designed specifically for our company and our mission. We try to blend art, color, humor and serious themes in our work, while striving to create beautiful pieces we hope you’ll love.
Here are the designs in this project’s lineup and their story.
Our Mission: Playing Possum Clothing Co is an autism owned and run clothing company that focuses on designing vibrant, beautiful, sensory friendly clothing and accessories for all.
Our Founding: Playing Possum Clothing Co was founded in 2022 by our owner and founder, who happens to also be the artist behind everything you see!
The founder of Playing Possum Clothing Co. has been drawing and creating art since she was a child but growing up, she struggled with sensory issues, including sensitivities to sounds, food, textures, noises, and especially clothing. If she found some clothing that she liked the look of, it was always uncomfortable with rough lining and a poor fit that either made it look like a dress or constricted her shoulders and arms. If she liked the fit, the item was usually plain and without style. As soon as she found a hoodie that was both comfortable and fun, she wore it until it developed holes and faded.
Like many young women who are high masking, the full cause of her sensory issues was not clear until she was diagnosed as autistic at 16-years-old. This led her to an alternative form of education, leaving her local high school and taking all of her classes at a local college, simultaneously getting her associate’s degree and high school diploma in art by the age of 18. Upon graduating, she worked as a freelance commission artist working on character designs and portraits.
However, her passion to serve others began to culminate in an idea… what if she could create the kind of clothing she's always wanted to wear, while also finding the perfect combination of style and comfort? She found that there were little to no sensory friendly clothing brands, and the ones that did exist focused on children and specifically boys. She couldn’t be the only one facing this trouble so she came up with an idea. That is how Playing Possum Clothing Company was born with our founder’s original vibrant artwork featured not just on clothing but many other products as well. Now 21-years-old, one of her greatest sources of fulfillment is hearing from thousands around the world from over 30+ countries who share how they have benefited from her creations, whether they are on the spectrum, dealing with other sensory or medical situations or just looking for something that brings them comfort, security, and freedom.
Who are we?: Playing Possum Clothing Co is a small, five person company located in Centennial, Colorado and founded in 2022. Founded by an autistic artist, and with a staff that is almost entirely neurodivergent, we strive to create products that are both vibrantly, beautiful, well also remain remaining sensory friendly. Our hoodies are lined with an ultrasoft blanket material, and our produced without any tags and our new blankets are created of the softest polyester, not Sherpa. We also include fidgets as gifts in every order in an attempt to destigmatize stimming. These are just a few of the ways in which we strive for sensory friendliness.
The five person team (+one of our employee’s boyfriend)
Why Backerkit?: We have chosen crowdfunding for our blankets for a variety of reasons. 1. High MOQ
These blankets have a very high MOQ (minimum order quantity) meaning that the cost to get these made initially is quite expensive.
2. Customer Input
It’s very hard to guess which designs are going to be the most popular, so a crowdfunding pre-order like this is a great way to determine that! We can see exactly which designs are the most and least popular and take those numbers into account for production moving forward. This allows us to be prepared for interest in popular designs while also not overproducing less popular designs and being stuck with them.
3. Expanding Our Customer Base
As a company, we have a really high returning customer base, much higher than average, and we are at the point where we want to expand and get our products in front of new and we believe backerkit is a great option for that. It has its own community of backers that we believe would be interested in our products.
4. The Tarrifs
Here it is… The big one. The tariffs are affecting all imported goods, and our blankets are imported. Not only is the MOQ high, we now have to deal with extra costs that we were not prepared for. Crowd funding seems to be the only way that we can get these made. We wanted to thank everyone for taking interest in our products and we believe together that we can make this happen despite the new economic situation.
What are stretch goals? When producing large, custom textile items there is an MOQ (minimum order quantity), which is the minimum amount of items that can be made of a certain design. This can be in the tens, hundreds or thousands. For us the minimum order quantity is 250, and with that each design costs around $3000 to produce. To ensure that we can get the required funding for the designs we would like to produce, each design is locked behind a stretch goal. These goals, ensure that each design is guaranteed to be made before moving onto the next one.
The more money that is raised, the more designs we can produce! Even if the design that you particularly want is not unlocked yet doesn’t mean it won’t be, each pledge helps us get further to the goal and unlocked more designs. At the end of the campaign, depending on how many blankets you purchased, you can choose from any of the designs that have been unlocked!
Primary Stretch Goals: These are the five initial stretch goals based off of the designs that we already have samples for. They will be unlocked, in order, in $3000 increments. If all five of these designs are funded, we can move onto the secondary stretch goals. Secondary Stretch Goals: These are additional blanket designs that do not have samples yet, but have been fully illustrated by our artist in the in instance that the five primary stretch goals are funded. They will be made with the same print quality and genuine softness as the first five samples. Hoodies: Hoodies will be unlocked with the corresponding blankets, in increments of $3000
Enamel Pins: Enamel Pins will be unlocked with the corresponding blankets, in increments of $3000
First Five Stretch Goals (Final Samples)
Blankets: Playing Possum Clothing Co.’s blankets are 6.5’ by 5’ ft, a perfect for 1-2 people. Whether that be cuddling on a couch, or being fully wrapped in it for sleeping, these blankets are as strikingly beautiful as they are comfy. They can immediately add life and color to a space with vibrant, detailed printing that makes it almost like a giant piece of artwork. Made of super soft polyester, they are machine washable, but are recommended to hang dry.
Size: 6.5 feet by 5 feet Material: Polyester Washing instructions: machine wash on low heat, hang dry. Do not machine, dry, do not bleach, do not iron.
Art Prints: Size: 8 inches by 6 inches (approximately) Material: recycled card stock Hoodies: Our hoodies are lined with an ultra soft blanket material that stays soft washed after wash. Similar and texture to a squishsmallow, this polyester lining is incredibly soft yet breathable due to the cotton exterior of the hoodie. With dropped shoulders and a true to size boxy fit, these hoodies look and feel good. Sizes range from S to XXL.
Enamel Pins: Size: 2 inches tall Hard Enamel Gold or Black Metal Plating Two posts and rubber pin backings Printed details
Example of Enamel Pin Production
May 19th: The project goes live May 19th-June 19th: Funding Late June: Surveys July - September: Manufacturing September – early October: Shipping Mid October: Inventorying and quality checking Late October - November: Fulfillment and shipping Late October - early December: Delivery of the blankets to our backers
We have estimated this timeline with the understanding that there may be delays, we’ve tried to account for the best we can, but if any part of the process is delayed we will update everyone. The tariff are affecting imported goods and we will do our best to work around/with them.
