Proximity Manufacturing Company

First, thanks for ordering and supporting two small businesses that have local, talented employees on staff.  We at Proximity Mfg. Co. are super appreciative of any and all who can support our startup, and are humbled to have folks like Mike putting their brands behind us to help us not only succeed, but to grow and have viability.  

Second, I know that the majority of American selvage has been, for the better part of several decades, all sanforized.  Us making cloth and furnishing it to businesses and brands without any finishing, straight from the cloth roll of the loom, can offer consumers uncertainty and reluctance to buy because of shrinkage.  We have, based on this very fact, made it our goal to put cloth and garments through wash testing, and to analyze fiber and yarn for contraction, so that we can not only continue to furnish cloth this way, a much more eco-friendly manner that saves countless gallons and thus prevents that very water from having to undergo treatment to clean for reuse, but in doing so we can help pass this knowledge onto the brand, to offer it to the consumer, to help reduce issue after purchase, and help understand how garments made with our cloth, or any unsanforized cloth, tend to fit when worn, soaked, washed, etc.  

That being said, do you mind keeping folks here apprised of fit over the lifespan of your jacket?  Did you buy it raw or rinsed and dried from Mike?  I know that because of the aforementioned, he offers it both ways to folks.  

Lastly, a small update.  We are now weaving on both looms, one is continuing 3x1 right hand twill, while I restacked the cams on the camshaft on the other loom to right 3x1 left hand twill, and we are now using a 9.00/1 ARS 14% shade indigo warp, and filling it with a natural jute two ply yarn.  I think this will make a nice 3-season weight, balanced cloth, and in preliminary wash tests I have discovered that the two ply, turns per inch similarity between a cotton and a jute yarn have not caused the "sponge" effect that Ralph Tharpe and I anticipated with the jute.  By using a bast fiber in the filling, this should bump up the durability of the cloth, while not adding any abrasiveness due to it being well cotttonized yarn, and the same weight, 20/2.  

Thanks for posting thesse photos!  Mike and his Runabout crew have done an amazing job to not only create a beautiful article of clothing that doubles as wearable art, but they have also made an amazing narrative that tells part of our story inside that single front pocket.

Sincerely,

Proximity Manufacturing Company

We have been weaving on both looms, producing Left Hand Twill 3/1 and Right Hand Twill 3/1 for a few customers, using alternative natural fiber in the filling yarn we insert into the indigo-dyed and slashed cotton warp.  

We worked with W.O.L.F. and held Denim 101 again this year, the first of two courses planned for in-industry folks this calendar year.  We are also beginning to host these courses with private businesses, with more specific material covered per request.  Denim 101 was sold-out again, and consisted of teams from brands large and small, as well as other in-industry folks.  We look forward to the next course in October, which has just a few open slots left.

During the second day of Denim 101, we hosted two groups in our weaving facility at White Oak Plant, where we demonstrated color effect on both looms, both with twill hand and filling insertion.  

We have been actively producing more colored filling variant denims for Opie Way, who will have new Weft Out products releasing soon.  

We are actively working with a few new brands, as well as those we have been working with since the inaugural run, and look forward to seeing some new products hitting the market soon.  Keep your eyes peeled for another cut being released by Tellason, an update to the Brander Jacket by Runabout Goods, and new colorways from Opie Way.  

Additionally, we are actively begining to work to put on a few events within the next year, with items of interest consisting of:  4th of July Picnic, Concert in The Grove with Food Trucks, and hosting Denim 101 and 101 Workshops at White Oak in 2023.  

Our website gets updated pretty frequently, so be sure to check it for the latest.

Sincerely,

Proximity Manufacturing Company

Thanks for all of your support and for following along our rekindling of a storied trade in our city.  If you aren't already following us on social media, check us out here:

@proximitymfg

-HARDENCO 003 production is underway, their fabric arrived this week via freight.  These should be available for purchase through HARDENCO website and Hudson's Hill website sometime in early December.  Three fabric options:  Right Hand Twill Grey Filled, Left Hand Twill Double Indigo, Broken Twill Tan Jute Filled.  The 003 is a vintage fit with a higher rise than their 006, slightly relaxed to compensate for shrinkage of the unsanforized cloth.  More details to come.

-Production just completed for another USA-made brand in a broken twill with a Royal Blue package dyed filling.  They will be releasing a jacket sometime later this year or early next using this cloth.

-R&D projects have completed using some of the first correctly processed US-grown hemp, built into several proprietary yarns with custom TM and TPI, plying, staple length and denier all developed internally in tandem with a sample laboratory and two other companies.  We will begin working toward commercializing some of these yarns for full-scale production levels by 2023.  We are grateful for the opportunity to experiment with first-movers in the hemp industry, and look to apply this technology to a classic product, creating opportunity for anti-odor, anti-bacterial, and anti-microbial fabric properties in a way that doesn't detract from the aesthetic of denim.

-We recently finished an R&D project using the first bio-based indigo dye applied to yarn.  It produced a beautiiful cloth shade similar to Salty Dog, a product of Canton Mills in the middle of the 20th century.

-We will begin test weaving with pineapple husk fiber content yarn in the near future, and will report back.  This is an alternative fiber content yarn developed and produced in Spain.  This is our first non-domestic experiment.

-We look forward to expanding some of our production capabilities into plain weave, and anticipate producing some canvas options early next year.

-We recently conducted two more Denim 101 programs, with sold out attendance.  Last week we hosted in-industry students with attendees from Levi Strauss, Wrangler, Lee, and Interloop, and had speakers from Cotton, Inc., Cone Denim, Cotton of The Carolinas, Goodwill of The Triad, and Blue Jeans Go Green.  This week's program was sponsored by North Carolina Public Schools, and consisted of teachers from across the state that teach fashion and apparel studies at their respective schools.  Next year's courses are set for March and September, with the March class already sold out.  The September class dates are being finalized, but we expect it will book in full within a few days of opening up seats.

Thank you for reading and following our journey, as well as those of you supporting the small brands that give us business to keep us in operation.  

Sincerely,

Proximity Manufacturing Company