Meanwhile, there is a burgeoning fashion community here that is starved for exposure and production. So we win and so does our local economy, anyone familiar with the big 3 of late…

The area is “blessed” by the abundance of cheap rent. Our location in the Russell Industrial Center provides us with said low rent, freight elevators, personalized electrical layouts (we needed cords hanging from the ceiling for our cutters) and inspirational neighbors in supportive businesses (screenprinters, photographers, web designers, printers and soon a cookie factory, a deli would make it heaven).

Our first project was the cutting table, tailor designed and built, which recently underwent a strengthening(?). It is 24′x6′. It is not adjustable:( Then we cleaned and moved in the machines. We obtained a lot of goods from ebay. Even receiving good tips from some purveyoors of other good resources and suppliers.

When we outgrow this space, it’ll remain the cutting area, the table stays! And we’ll rent space down the hall for production.

I ran my mouth a lot to find employees. As a waitress, I interact with so many people and they are fair game. You never know who you’re waiting on or vice-versa! People are turning up all over who will be trained over time for little pay, including students and family members. I’d like to see what the area offers in GRANTS for training, something to think about.

For pictures of our progress:
http://www.woundsofsarah.com
use the scissors to scroll down.

CHAIRS???? Any suggestions? Economical, ergonomical?
MATS? I’m going to talk to my employer to see if I can get any deals through their supplier we use them in the kitchen and dishroom.
BREAKROOM? Where the brita is stacked on the coffee/teamaker is stacked on the microwave is stacked on the fridge, all donated or thrifted.
FABRIC SPREADER? Tailorman crafted ours out of a workout bench and some brake rotors! Adjustable even.
WEBSITE? Working on a simple one. Best marketing tool ever. Our mission is to be accessible for the small and independant designer. Get them up to industry standards. We could be asking for it…

Cheers

Too many times, I’ve seen good work mangled by inappropriate storage. Good patterns represent lots of time and money and it will take lots more time and money to replace them. I’d even consider keeping hard copies off site if I didn’t have electronic storage.

I’d also second getting a place with a loading dock if you can. I had that at the Brewhouse but not here and it’s a pain. If you have a forklift, you can pull a skid off the back of a truck without a dock but most of us don’t have those.

A loading dock can be helpful, but keep in mind that a dock in a small space can dramatically increase your heating and cooling costs. You may also find that its very difficult to keep the area near the dock at a comfortable temperature all year round.

We’ve had this problem in both of our factory spaces. In our first space, we ended up installing our own auxiliary air conditioner as well as re-routing most of the air flow from the roof mounted HVAC from the finished office to the warehouse space. The result was that in the summer we could keep the ambient temperature inside between 80-85 degrees. On a cold day in the winter, we had trouble keeping things above 60.

In addition to the air conditioner work, we had installed a drop ceiling and eventually just insulated over the loading dock door. On a 1400sq ft place, we were paying $600/month in electricity costs.

In our current space, we’re having a similar problem. The front half of the space (3 offices) can be kept at a comfortable temperature all year round. The sewing area can be kept at a reasonable temperature, though its a bit warm in the summer and a bit cool in the winter. The cutting and storage area gets hot in the summer and cold in the winter and there’s nothing we can do about it.

The dock is very handy for unloading goods, but make sure that the volume you foresee doing in the space justifies the downside of a dock.

I’d also second getting a place with a loading dock if you can. I had that at the Brewhouse but not here and it’s a pain. If you have a forklift, you can pull a skid off the back of a truck without a dock but most of us don’t have those.

JC, depending on the shop environment, I don’t know that I’d recommend keeping parts (folders etc) out in plain view. Stuff like that has a tendency to walk away. Not to suggest that anyone intentionally takes things elsewhere or off site but people tend to hide things from each other, to ensure their own supply if they’re coming from a work culture characterized by scarcity.

In addition, threads and consumables (e.g. needles, clasps, buttons, etc) need to stored in a manner that’s easy to inventory. You should be able to glance at the storage area and know that it’s time to reorder or that shrinkage is evident.

I also like to have a central place to store folders, attachments and parts. Both these and the consumables need to be in the sewing area, in plain sight of everyone for easy access and management.

We also didn’t address the staging area for output. In other words, when garments have been finished (i.e. folded, bagged, whatever) and counted into inventory (i.e. SKU’d), where are they held until they’re counted into boxes for order fulfilment?

Fabric must be stored off the floor, preferably in a dry environment. You may want to store or hold it close to the tables too.
We have docks in our plants. If you can get a space with dock access, this is good as most larger fabric orders are delivered on skids by 5 ton trucks or larger.

If you cannot store fabric close to the tables, get yourself a nice flat bed trolley with steel post corners. They prevent the rolls from falling off and you can stack them up. You may even think about a hand pump that will allow you to use wooden skids easily.

Make sure you create a good lunch area for the staff too. Never have people eat on the production floor area.

BTW, that person never emailed me back. So I’m off to query the Texas Workforce Commission for a sample maker . . . My sewing machine repair guy said that I am 25 years too late to find a big pool of skilled sewing machine operators. That was about when 4 large factories (Haggar, among them) shut down.

Thanks for this discussion. It’s so useful to me. Once we get more serious, we’ll fly you out here to consult with us (any excuse, really).

V