Sew Shop Talk: An Interview with Open Arms Shop

The Open Arms Shop started as a sustainable apparel brand empowering refugee women through living wage employment. Currently, its founders and employees are transitioning into a full-development sew shop based in Austin, TX, adding another Made in the USA production facility to the growing comeback.

Unique to Open Arms Shop is its “triple threat” of providing a living wage to refugee women, being based in the USA, and using repurposed and recycled materials. Having already taken on production of established brands such as Raven + Lily and Blue Avocado, I spoke to founder Leslie Beasley about Open Arms’ new business model and her advice for new designers looking to manufacture in the USA.

open-arms-shopFactory45: When you think back on the designers and entrepreneurs you have worked with, can you describe your ideal client? How can new designers be great to work with, too?

Open Arms: Our ideal clients are those who come prepared with their initial mock up along with a detailed tech pack and have a clear vision with the ability to commit to a six-month to a year production contract. It’s a client who is committed to being a socially-conscious brand made in the USA and see a long-term partnership with Open Arms.

New designers can be great to work with as well. It is more of a challenge with new designers because they often need smaller quantities and would like a variety of designs. The ideal new designer for us is one who is committed to being a socially-conscious brand (understanding it will be more expensive than outsourcing out of country), is willing to be flexible in order to make it work, and can commit to one or two designs to begin with instead of multiple designs.

F45: What is the most challenging part of running a sew shop?

One of the most challenging parts is having the client collect all of the elements needed to roll into production at the time production is scheduled to begin. All elements are needed to operate at optimal efficiency. When a customer has the correct amount of fabric, hardware, internal labels, etc. when production begins, things run much more smoothly.

F45: What are your goals for growth and moving the industry forward?

Our goal is to partner with socially-conscious brands that have the ability to commit to a six- month to a year production cycle. This allows us to hire and train refugee women and give them the stability of a long term job. It also gives us the ability to increase efficiencies, allowing more affordable rates. This model will allow us to grow as well as move the industry forward.

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F45: What is your advice for designer entrepreneurs who want to manufacture in the USA?

Stick with your conviction to manufacture in the USA! Don’t give up too quickly. Get creative. See your manufacturer as a partner and work closely with them. Have flexibility and creativity in order to keep it affordable. It can be done. Target retailers and customers who are also committed to USA made apparel with a transparent supply chain and who are willing to invest more in your products.

open-arms-shopF45: Price can often be a deterrent for new companies and they end up outsourcing. Do you have any suggestions for keeping manufacturing domestic and affordable?

It is a challenge to keep manufacturing domestic and affordable, no doubt about it. The best way we have found to keep it affordable is to do larger quantity runs of the same or similar designs. This enables our team to become skilled and efficient at one thing increasing production time, insuring quality products, therefore allowing it to be more affordable. In addition, designers should consider sales strategies that allow them to make a commitment for a lower monthly volume for a longer timeframe. This enables designers to spread out the manufacturing expense over time and Open Arms can dedicate fewer staff to the project but for a longer period of time. Peaks and valleys in demand cost more and are harder to manage.

F45: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I would like to encourage any designers who desire to “do it differently” to stay domestic and demonstrate social consciousness. Don’t give up. Stay true to your vision. Stay passionate. Keep believing. You can do it!

To learn more about the work of Open Arms Shop you can check them out here.

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From Artist to Designer: Meet Lara of Factory45

Lara Neece is the artist and founder behind Forest and Fin, a line of apparel that is hand-drawn and screen-printed by Lara herself. She uses eco-friendly, water-based inks, sustainable packaging and natural materials, using the environment as a consistent source of inspiration.

Through Factory45, we’re working to grow her Etsy sales, launch her own e-commerce site, and debut a biking-friendly wrap skirt that is currently in sample development.

Because the quality of her work can’t efficiently be explained in words, I want to introduce her to the Factory45 community through her photos. Enjoy.

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Lara and her husband were recently married on the island of Tortola. They live in Savannah, GA where they’re refurbishing a sailboat. Lara carved one of her designs into the deck of the boat.

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Lara screenprints her hand-drawn designs onto t-shirts in her studio. She is also an active part of the maker movement in Savannah’s cooperatives and artisan scene.

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Lara is an artist and creative to the core, and she experiments with mixed media when she isn’t working on her apparel company. Keep an eye out for her sustainably-made wrap skirt coming soon… In the meantime, you can show Lara some love on Facebook and Instagram.

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From TV Host to Traveling Mom: Meet Angela of Factory45

This a guest post by Angela Tsai, Factory45’er and co-founder of Mamachic.

There’s a lot that changes when you have a baby.

I curse less — at least out loud. I eat better. I scrutinize labels. I forego makeup. I’m alternately more patient with kids, but less patient with other adults. I’m more assertive. I take deeper breaths. I wear yoga pants even when I’m not doing yoga. I ask for help more. I’m grateful for the little things. I’ve become environmentally-conscious.

Upon having a baby, I suppose I became a grown-up.

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I’m not gonna lie. I often miss the “old” me, or at least parts of me, when I used to have the energy and motivation to be social, dress up and want to look my best. I love being a mom, but I do I miss that confidence that I once had in my pre-baby body.

I once felt I could be amazing, each and every day.

So, mix all of these changes that motherhood brings, with traveling full-time with your kids? When you have to pack and unpack all of your family’s worldly possessions every month from a minivan, you realize real quick what it is you want versus what it is you need. Two years ago, when my son Max and I joined my husband Mike on the North American tour of The Lion King, we learned what really constitutes “worldly possessions.” (Here is a photo of Mike in full stage-makeup as “Scar” when I went into labor during a show.)

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As a former TV host and broadcaster, I used to have a revolving rack of clothes to choose from; now, my day-to-day wardrobe has been winnowed down to anything that can be versatile and durable — oh, and nursing friendly. We discovered with Baby Max that we were in need a foolproof burp cloth that could protect our clothes from spit-up and drool. Max was a vomiter, and we were getting tired of changing our shirts what seemed like every hour. Most burp cloths are literally glorified dish towels, and they’d constantly slip off our shoulders or soak through.

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Neither Mike nor I have any experience with garment design, so we sat down with some plain muslin and went to town. What sort of garment shape would not slip off easily and provide enough coverage, while perhaps also doubling as a sort of accessory so we didn’t have to pull it out of a bag or hunt around for it? What if it was something we were already wearing, even if we weren’t physically holding our baby?

So three years ago, we formed our company Too Cool For Drool, and the “Mamachic” was born — or as we initially called it, “The Barf Scarf.”  In a nutshell, it’s a scarf with a neck slit. It allows you to wear the fabric without it slipping off, and covers your shoulders and upper arms, the big baby “splash zone.”

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It’s taken some time for our product to get made. Our design is constantly evolving, and with our nonstop traveling and parenting, our business has been a part-time effort at best. On top of it all, I just had another baby a year ago, and Eva’s not a vomiter like Max. In fact, with her, what I’ve needed is more of a nursing cover, so we’re playing around with scarf shapes so it can be used easily as such.

I’m hoping the Mamachic can accomplish three things:

1.) Streamline motherhood. Make the task of caring for my baby convenient and seamless with feeling and looking good.

2.) Lighten my travel load and only own items that can accomplish multiple tasks. The Mamachic could be an all-in-one burp cloth / nursing scarf / blanket.

3.) Be made with sustainable materials. If I can be good to the environment so that my kiddos won’t have to someday wear hazmat suits out in public, isn’t that the proverbial organic icing on the gluten-free cake?

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Through Factory45, we’re headed down an educational and supportive road to get our product made. It’s daunting and exciting to put real wheels in motion. We’re working on an updated sample using deadstock bamboo and organic cotton, and putting numbers together to launch a Kickstarter campaign in the new year to fund our first production-run.

Beautiful. Versatile. Durable. Good to the earth. Confidence-inspiring. I’m talkin’ about both the Mamachic and you mamas out there. We are amazing. We deserve to feel it, each and every day.

You can follow Angela and her family on the road here. To stay up-to-date about the launch of the Mamachic, sign up here.

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