Many designers gain sourcing leads from factories who refer other factories outside of their own capabilities and areas of expertise. We wanted to bring this communal behavior and information online – we polled our factories for their favorite factories, and they came up with some glowing recommendations.
(1) Dallas Bias
About Dallas Bias
Location: Dallas, TX
What they do: cutting, folding, pleating
From Stitch Texas: “Dallas Bias is an incredible resource for designers and factories in Texas and surrounding states. They greatly expand the industrial capabilities of our local industry and save everyone time and money, while providing better quality results. We primarily use them to make custom binding, bias, and ruffles from client fabrics, but they offer many other services. They are also fast and reliable, which is critical when working to hit manufacturing deadlines.”
Recommended by Stitch Texas
Location: Austin, TX
What they do: product development + small run apparel production
Bonus: see their review below!
(2) Unionwear
About Unionwear
Location: Newark, NJ
What they do: cut and sew textile production
From Clothier Design: “We focus on the development and manufacturing of apparel. Many of our clients have lines that include caps – which we do not specialize in sewing. As we were already working so closely on the other items in the line, we assisted with the hat design and development. We sourced all materials and created a tech pack for Unionwear to follow. We developed a beautiful wool baseball cap for one of our clients with Unionwear. The quality was superior and Nicole was a dream to work with.”
Recommended by Clothier Design
Location: St. Paul, MN
What they do: product development + apparel production
(3) SoCal Garment
About SoCal Garment
Location: Los Angeles, CA
What they do: full-scale, high-end apparel production for established brands
From Unlimited Design: “We started working with the incredible team at SoCal Garment when they moved right across the street from us a few months ago and asked if we could help with pattern making, marking and grading overflow. It’s been great working with a team of professionals who value attention to detail as much as we do (this level of commitment to “the craft” is rare to find these days) and everyone in their team is nice and attentive.”
(4) Stitch Texas
About Stitch Texas
Location: Austin, TX
What they do: product development + small run apparel production
From Unlimited Design: “I first met the founders of Stitch Texas years ago as members of a private industry forum and consider them to be two of the most inspirational people I know in the business. We sometimes get offered projects for children’s wear (which is one of the categories we don’t handle) and feel confident referring those potential clients to the fantastic team at Stitch Texas with the knowledge that they are committed to the same level of high standards we follow and they are some of the nicest people in the business!”
Recommended by Unlimited Design
Location: Los Angeles, CA
What they do: product development, small batch production
(5) The D.N.A. Group
About The D.N.A. Group
Location: San Francisco, CA
What they do: full-scale creative development, manufacturing, and brand management in apparel
From JLD Studios: “We partner with DNA Group’s textile design team to provide Sublimation printing. Every team member that I have spoken with has be beyond fantastic to work with! Alex, Tam, and Dan are always so pleasant to speak with. They are open to feedback and flexible throughout the color matching process, because, at the end of the day, their passions are with making their client’s dreams come to fruition. We are so very excited to continue our partnership with DNA Group, and look forward to future projects with them.”
Recommended by JLD Studios
Location: Portland, OR
What they do: product design, sublimation printing, and cut & sew
Reach Out to Factories
Use Maker’s Row to explore these and other top-rated factories in diverse areas such as apparel, accessories, packaging, furniture, and home decor! Take an extra $10 off your first month using code TAILORMADE.
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