American Made Running Shoes

For obvious reasons we're rather big on Made in USA around here. The Made in USA Showcase on the Sewing Business Resources page of our web site is a great place to shop. But the truth is, it's pretty hard to be a Made in USA purist these days when most retailers rely so heavily on imported merchandise - ourselves included. For example there are very few sewing machines or parts made in the U.S. today. The same is true for high volume sewn goods.

So I am very glad to report that you can still get some damn good running shoes made in the U.S.A. from New Balance. I've got some myself, pictured here. They're great. Next time you're buying athletic shoes, take a look at what New Balance has to offer. And note that they say Made in USA right up front. (Also note that New Balance does source source some of its shoes elsewhere, so be sure to pay attention to the source info for each particular model you consider.)

An American Story

Timid people don't make a great nation.

So I'm proud to say that I come from a long line of difficult people. I've got a photo of me as a baby in diapers sitting on my grandfather's sickbed shortly before he died. He's smoking a cigarette and glaring at the camera through his bifocals. I love that picture. Nobody told him what to do.

When he was about 15 he and his father got to butting heads, so he hopped on a train and away he went. This was about 1905. Somehow he ended up in Detroit and got a job as a driver for an owner of one of the new automobile factories. That's how he learned about business among other things, I guess.

I wish I knew all the details. I've heard he wrote an autobiography before he died but some good woman in the family decided it was best his colorful stories went to the grave with him.

In any case, he wasn't all rascal. I know that when he heard his father was too sick to carry on his dry goods business, he came back to Nashville and took it over for him and eventually started a company like SouthStar serving cut and sew factories. He built it into one of the biggest employers in Nashville. It wasn't that simple, though. Along the way he was partners in a factory that went bankrupt. He had a sideline too into the early flying business that ended when his plane crashed.

He was bullheaded! As my mother says, trying to tell him anything was like hollering down a well. Does this sound like someone in your family? Or maybe YOU? It wouldn't surprise me! You have really got to be a contrarian to carry on in the sewing business, or to start out in it. It's dying, you know. Except that we get calls every single day from folks who've got a better idea about fashion, or canvas, or any fool thing and they can't or won't got to China to get it made.

I guess I'm saying you're a bunch of difficult people. But if you ask me, that's the best kind of people to have as customers. You're as American as it gets.

The Things We Make

Jeep is out with an ad that features their new Grand Cherokee which makes a powerful statement about manufacturing in America:




Note our beleaguered but beloved sewing industry is part of the message in the form of a straight knife cutting through a lay of fabric!

This comes to me courtesy of Mike Todaro over at American Apparel Producers Network who sent it in one of his many informative, thoughtful email broadcasts that alone are worth the price of admission to the network. He provided as well a link to the following blog entry that shares thoughtful comments about the ad:

http://pragcap.com/the-things-we-make-make-us

As Minnie Pearl used to say, "I'm just so proud to be here!" Even if we're a mere shadow of our former self in the U.S., the sewing industry is still a great thing to be a part of.

Needling

I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to explain the impossible. No, not how our country has embraced higher taxation, less freedom, and overall mediocrity, but the complex issue of ordering sewing machine needles.

The first rule of ordering sewing machine needles is: DON'T THROW AWAY YOUR OLD NEEDLE PACKAGE!!!

If you just call us and start reading all the seemingly gibberish numbers on the needle package, we can figure out what you need quite quickly.

FYI, the reason needles have so many numbers is that back when sewing machine needle brands like Singer and Pfaff and Union Special etc. were brand new on the market, they each came up with their own numbering system for needles so that customers would have to buy the needles under their brand name even though they were usually available cheaper under other brand names. This is one reason so many people hate capitalism today, it being the worst form of economic life known to man, except for all the others.

Anyway, over time we sewing supply people figured out which needles were the same, so nowadays the packages carry the most common aliases.

Also, know that there are two pieces of information we need to know about your needles: SYSTEM and SIZE. System is the type of needle, like 135X17 or B27. Size is how thick the shaft of the needle is, like 12 or 14 or 18 or whatever. Note that just to make things more confusing, there are also several sizing systems, so you will usually see something like 12/80 on the package, which is the Singer size and the metric equivalent.

We cannot reliably choose needles for you based on the machine model because over the years, mechanics might have retimed the machine to work with whatever needle they had on hand.

So here's the bottom line:
DON'T THROW AWAY YOUR OLD NEEDLE PACKAGE!!!

Sewing Business Resources

This time around, I'm going to depart from my usual diatribe against big government, high taxes, and excessive regulation which make it ever harder for sewing business entrepreneurs to make it in this world. So nary a word about any of that!

Instead, noting that our business is not otherwise breaking any records, I am pleased to report that we had more online orders in January that for any previous month in our history.

So I think it appropriate to point out one of the best pages on our site to all you web surfing sew-ers: the page called "Sewing Business Resources". It is easily ignored or overlooked , but you can click to it right from the top of any page of our site.

Frankly our web editing software isn't the best, so the page is not very attractive, but it does have a lot to offer you. Right at the top of the left hand side is a list of items on the page which you can click on to get right to them.

For example, let's say you need a part for your sewing machine but you don't know the number. You will get much better and faster service from us if you call here knowing the number. Just click on "Parts Diagrams, Sewing Machines" and you'll be moved down the page to a list of sewing machine manufacturers that links to the site pages on which they have parts diagrams available for downloading.

There are also listings of trade shows, magazines, and other web sites and companies that can help you get the information you need to run your business better, not to mention our "Made in U.S.A. Showcase" where you can have your web site listed free gratis.

The pages change frequently, so don't think once you've seen it, that's all there is. And if you have suggestions for improving it, please speak up.

And thank you thank you thank you for your business!

T G I A N Y

The dominant thought as I sit to write this in the last week of 2009 is Thank God It’s A New Year! Just about any new year will do and 2010 sounds just fine.

It’s a relief to have the challenges of 2009 behind us. But then I think, better to deal with the devil you know than the one you don’t. What does 2010 hold for us? Inflation? Higher taxes? More jobs lost? Less freedom and more government dictates?

No doubt, all of the above. If the powers that be don’t get their worst instincts under control, this time next year we may actually be nostalgic for 2009.

Yet there are, of course, blessings to be found even in the worst situations:
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Virtually all businesses, SouthStar included, have survived this downturn by finding ways to do more with less. That puts us in a much better position when the market does improve.

Will that be this year or do we have to wait for 2012? We’ll see. But we know we can get by in the meantime. At least as long as things don’t get too much worse.

Another blessing in disguise is the opportunity that a hard change like this forces. Some who’ve lost their jobs this past year will find a rebirth from it professionally or otherwise. And according to the Wall Street Journal, many new graduates who can’t find a job are starting their own small businesses and no doubt learning in the process lessons far beyond what they got in school or would get taking a paycheck from someone else.

Finally, there’s ingenuity. Necessity is the mother of invention, and many individuals and companies are finding new markets and new ways of serving old markets.

It might be hard in a year like 2009, and maybe 2010, too, but indeed we should count our blessings. Here at SouthStar, they are many-numbered and you, our customers, make up most of them.

Happy New Year!

Used & Surplus Sewing Machines On Hand!

Those of you who have dealt with us for a long time know that we don't usually keep sewing machines on hand. But now we do!

We've made room for four machines, now available for purchase and pick up in our west Nashville office/warehouse at 233 Oceola Avenue (37209 - behind the Charlotte Pike Kroger).

All machines are complete with table, stand, 110 volt motors, thread stand, and bobbin winders if applicable.

Sorry - these machines are available for on-site purchase only and all sales are final. So if you're interested in one, give us a call first to let us know you're coming, bring your thread and fabric to try them out if you want, and do the cash and carry thing.

Here's what we have available as of today:

Juki DLN-415-4 (used) single needle, needle feed flatbed high speed sewing machine. Excellent for use on denim, upholstery, and other tough to feed fabrics. REDUCED!: $550.00 complete.

Willcox & Gibbs 516-4-51 (used) five thread true safety stitch especially suited for heavy materials. Submerged setup. REDUCED!: $650.00 complete.












Consew 205RB-1 (new) single needle large bobbin walking foot machine with reverse. Ideal for upholstery and leather work. REDUCED!: $1,075.00 complete.









Consew 2043R-1 (new) artisan zig-zag machine with reverse. Use as a tailoring machine. Also can be used for free-hand embroidery. Similar to Singer 20U. REDUCED!: $625.00 complete.

We also have some excellent used Bevco ergonomic upholstered sewing chairs with hydraulic lift available to go with the machines for $90.00 each. Come on down!