Jenny sews our tricky fabrics - Ultrasuede ST, mainly - and one day she tearfully approached me and cried "Bobby, I have to quit - I have to babysit Scottie!" And before I could regain my composure, she blurted "Let me bring my machine home!"
Working from home? This was pre-Covid. Despite my reservations, despite my control freak nature, we drained the oil from Jenny's Juki, dismantled it, packed up a box of fabric and some thread, and delivered them to her home. "Call me when you need more," I said.
And a business model was born. While Scottie was napping, after dinner's dishes were put away, Jenny rejoined her Juki. In the comfort of her home. On her schedule. The next morning she called, and I picked up a box of finished pouches, just like the ones done in the shop. And I delivered a new box of fabric blanks to be sewn.
Sewing pouches requires good, old-fashioned hand crafting - there is no automation - and right now, we have our machines in the homes of qualified sewers across the Chicagoland area. Yes, fabric still needs to be sheeted, clicked and branded by sophisticated machinery and operators in our shop - inspections, too - but the blood and guts of our manufacturing - the sewing - occurs in peoples homes, while babies sleep.
When you buy our pouches, you are supporting grandmas and grandpas who ain't done just yet, you are helping some kids pay their way through college, and you are providing moms and dads meaningful employment when child care defies 9-5 convention. Your pouches are hand crafted by a team of proud people who really enjoy servicing you.
Yeah, I realize that this blog post blows our cover of being an international conglomerate, but I'm guessing you already knew that.
Thank you for supporting our products and company, and most importantly, our people.
