LifSkool: last in-person session and the SPARK ChallengeOpening doors: first school outreach togetherUnderstanding each other at LifSkoolGuided line practice for Kantha stitch precisionBuy unique Tote Bag with Constitution of India Preamble
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aikyam fellows

aikyam fellows

aikyam fellows work on important and urgent needs of the planet and underserved communities, across education, environmental conservation, poverty alleviation, public health, and art and culture.

What aikyam fellows did here

Show all 10 sessions
  • A group of women sit on blue mattresses arranged along the walls of a room with tiled floors, facing one another around low wooden tables. One woman on the right gestures with her hands as she speaks, while the others listen. A whiteboard is mounted on the left wall, and a standing fan stands near a window on the right. A wooden door is open in the background, leading to another room.

    One-week initiation: participant progress review and skills assessment

    3 November · Stitching Club

    We held a review meeting to close our one-week initiation. It gave everyone space to look back on what they learned and to share their work. Each person showed recent work. This sparked talks about growing confidence and new creative freedom. A highlight was that participants designed and executed diverse, intricate Kantha patterns on their own, without the Kantha app. That showed strong personal initiative. Those who used the Kantha app guided others through digital pattern creation and workflow planning. That was notable leadership. Beyond embroidery, participants took ownership of the main steps of making a garment. They cut fabric and line up patterns. They also put whole bags together. This means they do more of the work themselves. They need less step-by-step guidance or outside help in daily tasks. The meeting showed that everyone's skills grew and that everyone shared responsibility. Peers also led each other. This is a good base for the group to run production more independently.

  • Three people are in a room with wooden flooring, surrounded by fabric pieces and sewing equipment. On the left, a person wearing an orange headscarf and matching outfit sits on a wooden chair, barefoot, with hands resting on their lap. In the center, another person in a maroon headscarf and light blue clothing sits on the floor, working with fabric. On the right, a third person in a green top and red pants sits cross-legged on the floor, also handling fabric. Behind them, a sewing machine sits on a stand with bags and materials nearby, and a table holds more supplies against a white wall.

    Tote bag handle redesign and adjustability testing

    19 October · Stitching Club

    The team ran design tests to make tote bag handles more comfortable and useful. They made a prototype with one handle slightly wider and longer. They looked at how it looked and worked. Finding one standard handle length was hard. Users have different heights and body types. The team thought about making the whole bag smaller. They decided not to. They wanted the bag to stay the same size and wanted to avoid extra production problems. Instead, they tested an adjustable strap with buckles made from sustainable materials. This helps users of different heights. The team also looked at durability and machine washability. Metal buckles could rust and stain the fabric in the wash. Other materials must handle repeated washing and strain from use. They set baseline handle sizes. They began looking for adjustable buckles for more testing before finalising the design.

  • Two women are sitting on a floor surrounded by piles of colorful fabric scraps. One woman, wearing a pink shirt and dark pants, is kneeling and sorting through the materials. The other woman, wearing a green patterned top with a light-colored scarf, sits beside her and also handles the fabric. A large white plastic sheet covers part of the pile. They are on a balcony with a blue wall and a metal railing, through which a street with parked vehicles and buildings is visible. A yellow hose runs along the wall.

    Quality control in fabric pre-treatment: managing shrinkage and color bleed

    15 October

    All team members gathered to select a fresh batch of cotton fabrics from a new supplier of higher-grade materials. We assumed premium quality would prevent dye transfer, so we soaked all the colourful fabric pieces together in one washing container for the first pre-treatment. During soaking and washing, we saw significant color bleeding across many pieces and visible fabric shrinkage as the cotton fibres reacted to the water. To assess the structural and aesthetic effects of the wash, we dried and ironed each fabric panel. Ironing let us examine the extent of color fading, cross-staining, and dimensional shrinkage across the batch. This experience was a crucial quality control lesson: even high-quality cotton fabrics naturally release excess surface dye and contract during their first wash. We realised that using unchecked, colour-releasing fabrics in finished bags would make dyes bleed onto nearby panels and ruin the final products. So we set a mandatory quality control protocol: every newly purchased cotton fabric must be washed individually and thoroughly inspected before we approve it for bag construction.

  • Three women are seated in a room with wooden floors and patterned windows, engaged in sewing and fabric work. One woman sits on a wooden stool at a table with a black sewing machine, wearing a yellow and red headscarf and working with red fabric. Another woman sits on the floor in front of her, wearing a purple head covering and a patterned top, also handling red fabric. A third woman sits on a black chair to the right, wearing a yellow patterned outfit, working with fabric in a white tray. A second sewing machine sits on a table in the background near a wooden shelving unit holding various items. A colorful patchwork piece lies on the floor in the foreground.

    Stitching the Pieces

    12 October · Stitching Club

    We continued our Kantha work by joining the fabric strips prepared in earlier sessions. The aim was to practise following a design, aligning fabric strips and keeping hand stitching even. Each participant used their design from the Kantha app, printed on A4 paper, to select and arrange the matching 6 cm-wide fabric strips. The printouts helped them check the colour order and placement before stitching the strips side by side into fabric panels. Participants then added rows of Kantha running stitches along the panels. We focused on consistent stitch lengths, even spaces between rows and thread tension, particularly at the thicker seams.

  • A group of people sit in a circle on a wooden floor indoors, each working with fabric or paper in front of them. Some wear headscarves, and one person wears a denim jacket. A wooden shelf unit stands against the wall, and an ironing board is visible in the background. A purple cushion rests on a bench to the right.

    Digital visual planning and Kantha App pattern printing

    9 October · Stitching Club

    We used the Kantha App to plan pattern variations. It let us test how different strip widths and color sequences look together. This gave a clear digital preview before we sewed. When we had the best combinations, we printed the design sheets on A4 paper. Each page guided artisans on aligning, ordering, and placing the pre-cut strips for panel assembly.

  • Several white picture frames of different sizes are mounted on a light wood wall, each containing a mat with printed dimensions indicating the frame size and compatible photo size.

    Exploring photo frame designs for the Constitution’s Preamble

    31 August · Others

    We are exploring how to make frames from sustainable materials. The frames would display the Preamble to the Indian Constitution. We visited IKEA to compare frame designs and chose one as our reference. We plan to make a similar model with carpenters from Fort Kochi and Mattancherry. We will use local materials where possible. This supports local craftsmanship and makes the frames more sustainable.

  • Three women stand side by side indoors, smiling toward the camera. The woman on the left wears a white T-shirt with dark text and graphics. The woman in the center wears a matching white T-shirt with similar text and graphics. The woman on the right wears a white headscarf and a white T-shirt with a dark patch on the sleeve. Behind them is a wooden shelving unit with books and small items, a window with light curtains, and a glass board with writing and notes on the wall to the right. A wooden table is visible on the left, and a bed with a black-and-white checkered cover is on the right.

    CDF STEM Femme fellows and their programme manager meet in person for the first time

    27 March

    CDF STEM Femme fellows Fathima Hiba and Sharon C came to the Tools for Storytelling Residency that aikyam fellows led. Their programme manager, Shana Shihab, came too. They met in person here for the first time. The residency included a website design session and conversations about setting boundaries and learning from stakeholders directly.

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