Goals
- minimal or self determined cost
- minimal environmental impact
- durable
- customizable
- creative
Brainstorm
Clothing Items
If group members bring their own clothing, they can determine the cost and style that they are most comfortable with! Buying second hand reduces environmental impact, and can be a fun group activity.
| Item | Pros | Cons |
| Toques/Bucket Hats | – can be made by members with knitting, crochet, and sewing -> opportunity for skill share – great outdoor wear | – extra step to coordinate time together and source materials if making |
| 5 Panel Hats | – very cute on everyone | – need to be ordered (minimum order), likely need to be machine embroidered – cost |
| Bags | – lots of different styles – usable in many settings – easy to decorate and personalize – lots available in second hand stores – tote bags and drawstring bags are a great skill share | – extra step to coordinate time together and source materials if making |
| T-Shirts | – easy to find new and used – easy to personalize | |
| Button Up Shirts | – easy to find new and used – variety in formal and casual – easy to find shirts with cute fabric designs! | – can be harder to customize (small front space, or large back space) |
| Hoodies and Crewneck Sweaters | – lots of space to customize – cozy | – cost if new – hard to find blank used ones |
| Socks | – subtle | – hard to customize |
Decorating
Many companies do custom screen printing, embroidery, and vinyl pressing; however, they often require you to have item minimum order size and for the items to be uniform which takes group consensus. By self-customizing you can reduce cost, increase autonomy/creativity, and do group skill sharing!
| Method | Pros | Cons |
| Silk Screen | – skill share | |
| Block Printing | – skill share – low cost – can easily reuse stamps to share patterns with each other and use same design on multiple objects – can edit the designs – can layer and combine designs – lots of colour choices | – can’t undo mistakes, must go over them – items must lay flat under stamp (hard to add to backpacks) – hard to be very detailed -often limited to a couple colours/design because it’s difficult to accurately overlap |
| Heat-Press Vinyl | – skill share | – materials can be expensive – materials may have colour limitations, would need to agree as a group – creates waste – often cracks, especially if worn frequently in sunshine – need access to CriCut (or professional ordering, would likely need to order items from provider) – hard for multiple people to work at same time |
| Hand Embroidery | – skill share – entirely customizeable – all can work at same time – easy to fix mistakes – can buy/make templates – light, easy to bring backcountry camping as a downtime activity | – thick materials are difficult to embroider on, easier to make patches – time consuming |
| Machine Embroidery | – can make patches that can be sewn onto any item – low cost, just need thread | – need access to an embroidery machine – can only do one item at a time – limited to thread colours |
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