We are starting our first day without our graphic artist, Steve Deland, who is taking a well-deserved vacation along the Oregon Coast. Steve has over 35 years of experience and is our foundation for creating incredible artwork for our customers. Walking into work this Monday morning, I felt helpless, like our company would crash and burn this week without an artist. The stress of customers calling asking about t-shirt artwork and needing it done quickly is a nightmare. We don't have anybody to replace Steve, so I am looking for a local artist to step in and help us on this week's art projects. I will take retired, current, and even kid artists so we can keep our business printing t-shirts. A 5-year-old helps us with the artwork. |
AuthorErik Mickelson is a contributing co-author for Northwest Custom Apparel and has over 25 years in the embroidery industry. Questions on how to start an embroidery company, please reach out to Erik at erik@nwcustomapparel.com |
Northwest Custom Apparel
Little Known History of Carhartt Jackets

The 1890s were booming for Carhartt, with the Trans Northern Railroad laying track only 2 miles from Carhartt's original manufacturing site. The site was perfect for Carhartt to sell jackets to the railway workers. Plus, being so close to the rail tracks, he could ship his jackets to the West Coast. Carhartt's expansion grew to 8 facilities around the country and continued growing until the Great Depression hit.
The railroad opens up the West for Carhartt
Carhartt in the Great Depression

World War II and Carhartt

Carhartt Custom Embroidery

Carhartt in the 2020s and beyond

Author
Erik Mickelson is a 2nd generation embroider and has been in the industry since 1997. Northwest Custom Apparel is a supplier of Embroidered Carhartt Jackets, t-shirts and caps.
Carhartt embroidery is a necessity for my HVAC employees during service calls to identify our company and address any safety concerns.
Factory Tour, Embroidery, Thread, Caps, and Showroom.

Embroidery Machines
The Japanese company, Tajima, manufactured our embroidery machines, and we have used this brand for nearly 40 years. The embroidery machines hold up to 10 different thread colors, giving you a pleasant color palette to make your design pop. The speed of the embroidery machines, on average, runs at about 550 stitches per minute to ensure quality and productivity. We ran the machines at nearly 900 stitches per minute, and they still produced crisp embroidery. The embroidery machine you see in the video is stitching polo shirts and fleece pullovers that are excellent choices for outfitting your employees.
Cap Embroidery

Showroom Tour
Notable Customers
Production Crew hits 20,000 caps embroidered.
What's the next "Embroidery Adventure"?

Author
Erik Mickelson is a 2nd generation embroider, with over 25 years in the embroidery industry.
Embroidery is the bond between employees and their boss"
Author
Erik Mickelson ,the Operations Manager since 1996 is a 2nd generation embroider. Erik started fulltime in his family's company after is graduation from Washington State University in 1996.
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