ECOSEW IS ON A ROLLSince the beginning of the quarter, we have worked with two different solutions utilizing sustainable epoxy that we purchased from Amazon. We've found the epoxy to be a useful binding agent for the materials we hope to create our button with though we observed different results with each material type. EcoPoxy on Layered Fabric We initially tried to utilize the EcoPoxy on layered fabric that Danna provided us with music note decorated cotton fabric. We stacked the fabric and soaked it in resin, though after the resin had time to set in we noticed that the sample was very sticky and filled with air bubbles. These air bubbles compromised the overall strength of the sample. EcoPoxy on Layered Denim Based on the results of the layered music note fabric, we decided to test EcoPoxy with layered resin and clamps. To layer the denim, we used the same procedure: stacking 3x3 in. squares of resin-covered denim, each stacked 45 degrees from the other. The sample was clamped under two non-porous pieces of wood, wax paper, and carbon fiber molding wax. This experiment proved to be successful, as it produced a durable, homogenous material that could be cut and drilled. We band-sawed, drill-pressed, and dremel-ed into this sample to produce square buttons with neat inner fastening holes. This was our first successful prototype of a button so we were very excited about this method. EcoPoxy on Rolled Denim/Cotton To create round samples, we considered rolling reused fabric into a cylinder that could be chopped into thin disks. These disks could then be drilled to create the inner fastening holes. We applied EcoResin to strips of fabric which we rolled by hand. The cylinder was then wrapped with wax paper coated in carbon fiber molding wax. The sample was then stuffed into a PVC pipe and left to cure. Once cured, we sliced the cylinder with a band saw and drill-pressed or dremel-ed the inner fastening holes. The slicing worked well, but drilling inner holes proved to be difficult, as the spiral creates a grain that is hard to drill against. However, we found that rolled cotton worked better than rolled denim, as the cotton absorbed more resin, which made the spiral grain less problematic. We were very fortunate on Thursday to be visited by high school students from Chicago, Illinois who're taking part in a college visit program through the Upward Bound/Trio Program. We were able to talk to the students some of whom are aspiring engineers, we were happy to let them try out the dremels. We look forward to speaking to Tunde sometime next week to get him up to date with our progress thus far. An idea that we are excited to prototype would be utilizing shredded denim soaked in resin and placing it into the 3D mold while it cures. This way, when the cylinder is extracted, it already has the inner fastening holes and only needs to be sliced. Above you'll find some sketches accompanied by 3D molds that we're planning on prototyping in the coming weeks. We're so excited to continue working on our button
Hi, we are EcoSew! From the left: Asukulu, Teresa, Danna, and Cyprien! Project BriefOur team is designing sustainable buttons for our community partner, Oakland/Accra-based fashion brand, Ade Dehye. They currently manufacture a whole line of streetwear pieces using traditional cloth making techniques borrowed from different West-African cultures, particularly those from Ghana. The transition to streetwear means that there are a few additions to the production such as inner linings for jackets and buttons. Those two features are still manufactured in bulk by overseas suppliers. Our task was to see what kind of sustainable solutions we might be able to find for buttons. Recently we requested sample jackets from our community partner to have inventory from the brand to prototype our buttons on. Tunde, Ade Dehye's founder, agreed to provide us with two jackets to utilize for our project (we may need to request some for the whole team as a souvenir of course). Matt was able to retrieve two jackets from Tunde during a brief visit to our campus and we're excited to utilize these jackets to test our buttons again in the upcoming weeks. We are currently planning on reaching out to Tunde to schedule a meeting for Week 3 and continue to have check-in every three weeks so he can stay up to date on our project milestones. Below, we've added some of our initial prototype ideas. Initial Prototyping IdeasSpring Quarter PlanFor Spring quarter we are planning on continuing the developing the process of button-making through rolling and utilizing stacking of fabric, similar to how carbon fiber sheets are made. As we focus on sustainability, we recently received our first 2 resins to try which are eco-friendly compared to conventional epoxy. Our current brands are ecopoxy (liquid) and Eco resin powder by Tassika.
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