On August 22, 2020, the Greater Princeton Branch of AYLUS (GPA) continued the “Cool Crafting for AYLUS” project. The goal of this project is to encourage GPA members to raise funds for AYLUS using their own talents in all kinds of crafting.
GPA member Amy Xu is taking a lead (8/22, 6 hrs) in the current research & development process, setting up, printing, and learning how to heat set her lucky bamboo design on 5 shirts, which is necessary to experiment with products before selling.
For this project, GPA members have dedicated a lot of time, energy, and money to come up with designs and techniques to use during normal production. Here’s how it looks like:
- 100% cotton shirts.
- Tools/materials, such as buckets, bleach, and fabric dye.
- Tie-dying. Using the bins/buckets they have at home and bought, they use bleach and rubber bands to create patterns on the shirt that make them unique. They have to let the shirts soak in a dye, salt, and soap solution for 30 minutes, then rinse out with the color fixer solution for another 20 (in a bucket, constant stirring). They did the two black/red shirts together, making it more efficient.
- Drying. By hand-washing and air-drying, they are conserving a lot of water and energy that can be used elsewhere, making this process even more eco-friendly. However, when I mass-produce, I will use the washer and dryer for cleanliness for our customers. It will also be easier because I can have an entire batch of similarly dyed clothes, reducing the risk of dying the other shirts.
- Graphic Design. In addition, GPA members have experimented with screen printing to make these shirts a lot more value. Amy Xu and Amber Yu are working on some designs for the graphics, which will look very cool!
