American soft goods manufacturing?

In spirit of yo’s post about injection molding. I wanted to see what the boards had to say about US based soft goods manufacturing and who to go to.

Currently I’ve been searching the internet trying to find factories but have had little luck finding anyone with the capability to sew complex soft goods. ie. gloves, backpacks, and or intricate objects.


Thanks for the help!

-Jared

There are some phenomenal US-based softgoods factories that I know of and use. For the sake of their sanity, I won’t post their names on a public forum. I receive forwarded emails from them a lot, from people who come to them with an idea, and they simply tell them to see an Industrial Designer first. After the idea has been designed through and through (factories aren’t very interested in doing the developing/designing, they want a final design to make a bunch of units from so they can make profit), then they want people to come back to them with that design and a serious well-thought out manufacturing budget before beginning prototyping.

No matter what type of softgoods product you’re looking to have manufactured, there is a factory that is specific for your needs, and dozens that aren’t. You wouldn’t want to make a military/tactical backpack at a factory who specializes in making plush children’s toys, for example. I will connect you with the proper factory for your needs (company size, budget, order requirements, etc).

EDIT: If you and your business are serious about producing softgoods products in the US via one of these factories who I work closely with, please email me for a quote on these factory sourcing and liaison services that I offer.

That being said, their quality is top notch, turnaround time is way faster than China, communication barrier is zero, there isn’t a 12 hour delay on calls, etc, etc. They also create US jobs, and stimulate the US economy. US money goes to a US factory, those workers spend their money presumably within the US, US citizens (and people from all around the world) spend their money on the final product. With the aforementioned other benefits, it seems to be a win win.

Then again, if you want 100,000 units on the cheap, and don’t mind a little headache, go Asia.

Taylor, if it isn’t too much of a problem for you, I would appreciate learning some specifics about US based manufacturers. Coincidentally, I’m also in Austin, so “hi” - but my company is focused more on toy design, vinyl, resin, plush, metal and wood. Occasionally however, we need bags, belts and more soft toys. Please PM me, we’re legit and respect the need not to overwhelm a good resource with poorly considered requests.

@TaylorWelden - I appreciate your response and would love to know more! The company I work with has worked primarily with overseas factories, but I would like to become better educated and aware of whats going on here in the US. I think it’d be great to see more US manufacturing and from a development stand point the benefits you listed above make a lot of sense.

If your up for it, please PM me. Thanks!

Hey @TaylorWelden I have been doing some research on North American manufacturing and I am really trying to find something close to the Canadian west coast as I am based in Vancouver. I have done the overseas thing, but would ideally like to find something in Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, but really any help would be fantastic