The julian dash factory fellowship is a full service agency and incubator providing local clothing designers with the resources necessary to either begin or progress their ideas. Turning ideas and creativity into products and businesses.

I feel very thankful to have the crew of interns that I have…I call them the space cadets because that is what they are but they are a really a rare breed. Meeting up to 4 times a week I always enjoy teaching them what I know but I truly enjoy all the things I learn from them each time I am with them. Handling admin work, deliveries, incoming orders and learning to sew and make jeans, the goal is to find their passions, foster them and employ them and/or help send them in the direction they need to go. Shout out to the Space Cadets!

I feel very thankful to have the crew of interns that I have…I call them the space cadets because that is what they are but they are a really a rare breed. Meeting up to 4 times a week I always enjoy teaching them what I know but I truly enjoy all the things I learn from them each time I am with them. Handling admin work, deliveries, incoming orders and learning to sew and make jeans, the goal is to find their passions, foster them and employ them and/or help send them in the direction they need to go. Shout out to the Space Cadets!

With HolyStitch SF Jeans Repair picking up in business we have had to increase on the bike delivery and pick ups. Now on a 3 day a week schedule, I have decided to take advantage of local young bikers’ summer vacation. An intern’s brother was in the market for a bike and needed some extra money so we decided to help each other. Since we are all about sustainable child labor at the julian dash factory fellowship and dashetc we have no qualms with utilizing the youth, as long as they are learning, gaining real experience and exposed to what school cannot provide by “just doing it” Part of the benefits is a meal full of protein, carbs, omega 3’s and balanced catered by julian dash himself to replace that energy burnt carrying 30+ pounds of jeans on their backs.

With HolyStitch SF Jeans Repair picking up in business we have had to increase on the bike delivery and pick ups. Now on a 3 day a week schedule, I have decided to take advantage of local young bikers’ summer vacation. An intern’s brother was in the market for a bike and needed some extra money so we decided to help each other. Since we are all about sustainable child labor at the julian dash factory fellowship and dashetc we have no qualms with utilizing the youth, as long as they are learning, gaining real experience and exposed to what school cannot provide by “just doing it” Part of the benefits is a meal full of protein, carbs, omega 3’s and balanced catered by julian dash himself to replace that energy burnt carrying 30+ pounds of jeans on their backs.

Here is Camillo and Ryan of The Commission inside Camillo’s Berkeley Studio. We all meet every wednesday, some go to gym together and we all cook and sew together like old ladies do but we’re grown men although some bicker like teenie boppers on steroids. These two people are the backbone of the factory and possess enough machinery to take on a certain rival…Camillo is working on perfecting his fit for his jeans and Ryan is working steady on construction and machinery. Keep tabs on them as they are working hard to present a product that is unique, relevant and thought provoking. Camillo cannot cook steak for dear life.

Here is Camillo and Ryan of The Commission inside Camillo’s Berkeley Studio. We all meet every wednesday, some go to gym together and we all cook and sew together like old ladies do but we’re grown men although some bicker like teenie boppers on steroids. These two people are the backbone of the factory and possess enough machinery to take on a certain rival…Camillo is working on perfecting his fit for his jeans and Ryan is working steady on construction and machinery. Keep tabs on them as they are working hard to present a product that is unique, relevant and thought provoking. Camillo cannot cook steak for dear life.

Sorry for the lack of updates…I am sewing jeans again and am in the studio…Stay tuned.

Sorry for the lack of updates…I am sewing jeans again and am in the studio…Stay tuned.

please respect store owners and disrespect the system…

please respect store owners and disrespect the system…

Blue Jeans Hold Secret To Making Better Solar Cells by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California Researchers at Cornell University have found a seemingly simple solution to creating more efficient solar cells. It turns out that particular molecules found in blue jeans and some ink dyes can be used in a process for assembling a structure called “covalent organic framework” or COF, which can help create cheaper, flexible solar cells. While organic materials haven’t proven very easy to use so far for creating solar cells, the researchers are finding that these molecules found in every-day materials might be just what we needed. The process uses phthalocyanines, which are common industrial dyes similar in structure to chlorophyll. It can absorb almost the entire solar spectrum, so is ideal for maxium solar cell efficiency. By using this molecule and a new process, the researchers have come up with something special. Life Sciences reports, “The strategy uses a simple acid catalyst and relatively stable molecules called protected catechols to assemble key organic molecules into a neatly ordered two-dimensional sheet. These sheets stack on top of one another to form a lattice that provides pathways for charge to move through the material.” Not only is it simple to build, but the structures can be taken apart and re-made to correct any errors. So far, the research is yielding just a structure for a solar cell, not an actual solar cell. But the researchers hope that it is a model that can be used in manufacturing more efficient solar cells in the near future.

Blue Jeans Hold Secret To Making Better Solar Cells

by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California

Researchers at Cornell University have found a seemingly simple solution to creating more efficient solar cells. It turns out that particular molecules found in blue jeans and some ink dyes can be used in a process for assembling a structure called “covalent organic framework” or COF, which can help create cheaper, flexible solar cells. While organic materials haven’t proven very easy to use so far for creating solar cells, the researchers are finding that these molecules found in every-day materials might be just what we needed.

The process uses phthalocyanines, which are common industrial dyes similar in structure to chlorophyll. It can absorb almost the entire solar spectrum, so is ideal for maxium solar cell efficiency. By using this molecule and a new process, the researchers have come up with something special.

Life Sciences reports, “The strategy uses a simple acid catalyst and relatively stable molecules called protected catechols to assemble key organic molecules into a neatly ordered two-dimensional sheet. These sheets stack on top of one another to form a lattice that provides pathways for charge to move through the material.”

Not only is it simple to build, but the structures can be taken apart and re-made to correct any errors. So far, the research is yielding just a structure for a solar cell, not an actual solar cell. But the researchers hope that it is a model that can be used in manufacturing more efficient solar cells in the near future.

Scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology have created the world’s first 3-D photovoltaic solar system that actually works underground. Using optical fibers common to the telecommunications industry, researchers seeded them with zinc oxide nanostructures—much like the white stuff found on a lifeguard nose. Those nanostructures were then coated with a dye-sensitized material that converts light into electricity. The electricity is then captured using a liquid electrolyte surrounding the nanostructures. So only the very tip of the cable needs to be exposed to actual sunlight. Image courtesy of Gizmag This 3-D system can be easily concealed, leaving rooftops panel-free. It gives architects and designers new options for incorporating PVs into buildings. For each cable is only 3-times the width of a human hair. “This will really provide some new options for photovoltaic systems,” Dr Zhong Wang of the Georgia Institute of Technology said. “We could eliminate the aesthetic issues of PV arrays on building.” Image courtesy of Gizmag Once the light reaches the end of the fiber, it bounces back, actually doubling the chances for absorption. The result is up to six times more efficient than planar zinc oxide cells with the same surface area. The fibers can be cut to any length: a 10-centimeter fiber results in about 0.5 volts. Though the scientists have only reached an efficiency of 3.3 percent but hope to soon reach 8 percent. One improvement is collecting the charge with a titanium oxide surface coating. Of course, that’s a bit short from the average 12 percent that much more expensive silicon-based solar panels get. “No one wants to buy a big, nice, fancy car with a huge solar panel on the roof,” says Wang. Dye-sensitized solar cells use a photochemical system for generating electricity. While they are cheap to manufacture, flexible and mechanically robust, they have a lower conversion efficiency than that of silicon-based cells. Producing highly-efficient panels requires temperatures of several hundred degrees whereas these optical fibers require the same temperature as your morning Starbucks. “This is a different way to gather power from the sun,” Wang said. “To meet our energy needs, we need all the approaches we can get.” I couldn’t agree more

Scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology have created the world’s first 3-D photovoltaic solar system that actually works underground.

Using optical fibers common to the telecommunications industry, researchers seeded them with zinc oxide nanostructures—much like the white stuff found on a lifeguard nose. Those nanostructures were then coated with a dye-sensitized material that converts light into electricity. The electricity is then captured using a liquid electrolyte surrounding the nanostructures.

So only the very tip of the cable needs to be exposed to actual sunlight.

3-D Solar Cell Works UndergroundImage courtesy of Gizmag

This 3-D system can be easily concealed, leaving rooftops panel-free. It gives architects and designers new options for incorporating PVs into buildings. For each cable is only 3-times the width of a human hair.

“This will really provide some new options for photovoltaic systems,” Dr Zhong Wang of the Georgia Institute of Technology said. “We could eliminate the aesthetic issues of PV arrays on building.”

3-D Solar Cell Works UndergroundImage courtesy of Gizmag

Once the light reaches the end of the fiber, it bounces back, actually doubling the chances for absorption. The result is up to six times more efficient than planar zinc oxide cells with the same surface area.

The fibers can be cut to any length: a 10-centimeter fiber results in about 0.5 volts.

Though the scientists have only reached an efficiency of 3.3 percent but hope to soon reach 8 percent. One improvement is collecting the charge with a titanium oxide surface coating. Of course, that’s a bit short from the average 12 percent that much more expensive silicon-based solar panels get.

“No one wants to buy a big, nice, fancy car with a huge solar panel on the roof,” says Wang.

Dye-sensitized solar cells use a photochemical system for generating electricity. While they are cheap to manufacture, flexible and mechanically robust, they have a lower conversion efficiency than that of silicon-based cells. Producing highly-efficient panels requires temperatures of several hundred degrees whereas these optical fibers require the same temperature as your morning Starbucks.

“This is a different way to gather power from the sun,” Wang said. “To meet our energy needs, we need all the approaches we can get.”

I couldn’t agree more

Been hard at work…Haven’t sewn a pair of jeans for weeks…just been on the phone and the interweb. So far so good, we have been building the team and gathering the space, machines and weaponry necessary to kill the san francisco manufacturing game…can someone say solar factory?

Been hard at work…Haven’t sewn a pair of jeans for weeks…just been on the phone and the interweb. So far so good, we have been building the team and gathering the space, machines and weaponry necessary to kill the san francisco manufacturing game…can someone say solar factory?