As we’ve probably mentioned before, we spend all winter preparing for summer. One of our biggest projects is producing unique apparel. We take great pride in making sure our guests have great options for a souvenir t-shirt or hoodie. Kasey’s mother owns a silk screen and embroidery company. So rather than simply order items from various vendors and have to deal with inventory requirements and restrictions on designs, we do it ourselves! While it is a ton of work, we find it very satisfying to offer unique options that can’t be found anywhere else. And we want to make sure that guests looking for a great vacation or an awesome place to stay in Orr Minnesota also have some unique shopping options and a souvenir of their vacation to Pelican Lake. We want to share with you what goes into this process.
First we work on the designs. Everywhere we go we look for ideas and inspiration. Frequently our kids complain we are always taking out our phones and taking pictures of sayings or designs seen on a billboard, t-shirt, bumper sticker or advertisement. Then we look over all the photos and ideas that have been compiled and brainstorm how we can use these ideas and merge them with our own.
Next Kasey gets on the computer and creates a rough draft of a design. Then we look at how many colors are needed for a design and choose a color and clothing type to be printed on. After we order the chosen apparel, we go back to the design and really go over it, making numerous adjustments until it is “just right”.
Then we have to break the design apart and print negatives for every color to be printed. Then we put the negatives on screens covered in emulsion and use UV light to burn the images and characters into the screens.
Once the screens are cleaned and dried they are ready to use for printing.
Each color has to be set up and aligned. Paint is then applied in layers and dried for each color.
At the end of the printing, the shirts or hoodies are run through a heater so the paints are fully dried and washable.
Like we said, it is a lot of work, but we are thrilled to offer you the best selection of hoodies, sweatshirts, hats and t-shirts in Orr Minnesota. We hope you like them as much as we do!
To see all of the unique apparel options, including what is being embroidered in the following picture, make sure you come see us at Birch Forest Lodge this summer!