to EVERYONE - thank you for a great 2012!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM MERROW

how to sew a Merrow Emblem edge (and where to buy the products)

Need a place to buy your emblem related things... well we built it. Head over to emblemedge.com for Merrowing Thread, Accessories, Tables, Motors and all things emblem/patch related.

Yes it's a Merrow site.... but No, we won't be crowing about it a lot. Emblemedge.com is part of a larger project: Merrow Application Stores - and you will be hearing a lot about THAT. This one sneak peak at the Application Stores is going live because we have too many customers working too hard sourcing their emblem products. Time should be spent making emblems, not researching the recipe.

So there you have it - Emblemedge.com - a site for all of us who need patch and emblem stuff. Enjoy - and send an email to ilovethenewwebsite@emblemedge.com to let us know what you think.

Hero Graphic - Emblem Edge

Terrazign and ActiveSeam

It's a rare treat to meet smart and capable guys like Bill Dieter and Simon Quay of the product design firm Terrazign. These guys make cool products and work with some of the most interesting clients on the planet. They think differently and this is what marks them true innovators - check out a small sampling of their stuff on the Terrazign website: http://www.terrazign.com/

It's an even rarer treat when you get to sit down and see how these guys work and pick their brains, but that's exactly what we did when they came to the Merrow offices to learn to work the MB-4DFO. Justin tought these guys a thing or two about how to make a great ActiveSeam stitch and I know that they went away impressed with the machine, with Merrow, and with Justin. We're looking forward to meeting up with Bill and Simon down the road to see what types of new applications they come up with for ActiveSeam and the MB-4DFO!

Trolling a sewing machine company

this is what it looks like

we'd like to think that the sewing of the emblem edge could be quite a bit quicker... and a little more consistent. But who can argue with a sewing machine troll...

MG-3U - Production Tool and Paint Brush

What is a Merrowed Border?
It's the beautiful finish edge of a sewn product.

In this case, we look at the Merrowed emblem edge:

Most people will agree that craft and skill is something to be appreciated. It's what makes the crown molding in turn-of-the-century homes a selling feature. It's what transforms the afghan knitted by your grandmother into an heirloom. It's why they install stained glass in churches. We see these things and know that they were forged by someone able to put tools to use in a novel way that only time and repetition can teach.

In that context, check out this video of an operator sewing an edge on an emblem with a Merrow MG-3U.

It's videos like this that illustrate why the MG-3U is installed in emblem factories around the world, and why the Merrowed edge is a noticeable mark of quality on important patches, badges, and insignias.

For more information read about the Emblem Machine, the MG-3U on the merrow website.

Merrow Factory Training - November 8th. 2012 - Learn how to adjust and service Merrow Sewing Machines

Merrow Factory Training Thursday November 8, 2012

From the Merrow Factory: FREE Training! Technical Instruction A complete overview on how to use the legendary Merrow overlock machine, with a focus on the MG-3U Emblem Edging Machine NOVEMBER 8 The Merrow Sewing Machine Co. is offering FREE factory instruction for the set up and operation of MG-Class overlock machines. Training will take place the morning of Thursday November 8th 2012 from 9am to noon, and will focus on the iconic MG-3U Emblem Edging Machine. Sign up to learn from the best, on the best! REGISTER NOW

Customer Training on the MG-3U with new Merrowing Thread

Today we had the pleasure of hosting Tim and Rob from Hoffman Custom Embroidery in Maryland. Tim and Rob drove up for MG-3U training, and lead technician Justin Monteiro walked them through threading, looper bending, and emblem sewing over the course of a morning.  We hope that Rob and Tim enjoyed being here as much as we enjoyed having them and look forward to hearing of the success they're having with their new MG-3U!

The NEW Merrow ActiveSeam - Replaces Flatlock on Base Layers and Activewear

Congratulations all around - Today we're introducing ActiveSeam.

The new news at Merrow - there is a new stitch in town. That's right - after seven years of tinkering with our designs and adjusting things, we've got a beautiful, flat, durable new seam.

We think she's a game-changer.

She's called: 'ActiveSeam' - the Merrow ActiveSeam.

What makes this a different stitch?
It is flat. It is soft. And it looks outstanding.
It replaces flatlock. Did we say that yet? :)

There will be a lot more to come, and i'm sure if you're reading this blog post you may well have gotten one of the mails announcing ActiveSeam, so in the interest of brevity, i'll just post the pictures.

Congratulations all around -
With no further ado: ActiveSeam

Thank you to UGUR MAKINA !

The show Tüyep was a tremendous success.

Merrow is grateful for the work put in by the Ugur company, and to Hakan, Temel, Cuynet and Cenk specifically. With teamwork, and a terrific work effort, I think it is fair to say that this presentation of Merrow and our new products was the best I have seen yet.

We look forward to the coming year in Turkey. The foundation has been established for Activeseam, and a return trip is scheduled for early september to review the first wave of machine shipments to customers across Turkey.

Thank you all for your hard work!

Charlie

Preparing for ActiveSeam Launch in Europe

We're headed to Istanbul with ActiveSeam

the European debut of the world's first branded stitch!

The booth will be part of Ugur's gigantic display at the Tuyap show beginning on May 30th. We've sent out 15,000 invites, and expect it to be quite a party. If you're thinking of going, send an email to nate@merrow.com. We've got a great week planned - the more the merrower. :)



We'll be showing off ActiveSeam - as well as the Merrow Purl, Shell, Emblem and End-to-End machines. We'll also have garment samples and stitch swatches available. If you have a custom request let us know before May 25th and we'll carry it to the show.

Look out Istanbul, we're packing our bags and readying the caravan!

Building a Tradeshow Booth - for Activeseam

The evolution of a successful tradeshow booth. Or How to build a cost effective trade show display.

Why this post? We found that  it cost dumb money to have someone produce a booth - So in the interest of democratizing the tradeshow development process, we're going to share with you a quick synopsis of how we built an ass-kicking 10X20 booth without breaking the bank.




THE BACKSTORY -

After the success of the show in Mexico in March, we decided it was time to introduce Activeseam to the US market, and the opportunity was the Texprocess show produced by SPESA in Atlanta in April.

We had three weeks from the moment we made the decision - Nothing existed to display prior to this show.

Nate Murray was given the task of building from scratch a tradeshow booth designed to show off the new program, while supporting our legacy machines as well.

He also had 100% responsibility for booking the space, the hotels, and travel arrangements for three people.

Here's how we did it.

1. Sketch-up
It's free, and after three days or so of design work we landed on something we thought made sense.

2. IKEA
It's not free - but it's cheap. Here's what we used
A. the SLATTEN flooring @ .65/ft
This took about 90 minutes to put in the 10X20 space. It is a two man job...but when you're done, damn does it look good.
B. EXHIBIT for showing off machines and line cards
C. MOBIUS for portable tables

3. NEGOTIATE
Everything was negotiable (except IKEA and the plane tickets). We were able to adjust booth space price, the hotel price, the freight charges, the posters etc.

4. http://www.ultratruss.com/
These guys - who don't know that we're going to say really nice things about them - were helpful, quick and most importantly, they make a really nice product. Nate and I set it up in 20 minutes. It was a piece of cake. Push comes to shove - i'd call it essential. With all of the other problems you'll have at a show, having this remarkably well built/easy to assemble truss will be like that first chest full of cool fresh air after 10 hours on well over capacity 105 degree bus with busted half shut windows, shoulder to shoulder, non-stop, Guatamala city to Puebla. It will just feel nice.

5. POSTERS
Order them online - direct ship to the show.
Make twice as many as you need - order the retractable ones, and use them as wall backing to cover the back and sides of the booth. Yeah, it could have been tighter, and the zip ties weren't perfect- however for short money you get a versatile, reusable thing that is very easy to ship. I can't say enough about the stand-up 33"X80" posters. The booth space is always a little different than you expect, and these let you change the blocking of the booth while you're there to better handle traffic.

6. TIME
We blew it on time. Assume you need 6 hours to assemble the booth, and then double it. I think all told, it took two of us 8 hours to put this one up

---

Get there a day early - and leave a day late. Expect that the union will exact a pound of flesh to deliver your stuff - DON'T PANIC. These are the things to let happen. There is no rational argument that will change the idiocy of union organized trade show organization.

Bring tools - but not too many! You need a screwgun, a hammer, an allen key, a rubber mallot and a couple of large screw drivers. You need Zip ties and lots of packing tape, shrink wrap and packing foam.

Remember velcro with an adhesive backing!

Pack Acrylic stands for Line Cards.

That's really it. With a few tools and the aforementioned display items you end up with:

Exintex Mexico 2012

Exintex Mexico 2012, a set on Flickr.

Some photos from the successful show in Mexico featuring ActiveSeam and Provedora Remco.

the 2012 Merrow Product Catalog has shipped!

After many (many, many) hours of work the 2012 Marketing packages are headed out the door. Here's the announcement: 

...and the Letter from Nate:

After several months of work, it is my pleasure to present the 2012 series of Merrow catalogues and brochures, describing in detail the value and application of Merrow products.

This year we have created several types of material to help educate our customers about the wide variety of products offered.

1. A Product Catalogue showcasing our sewing machines, some accessories and service programs

2. Specific Application Brochures (the Active Seam brochure) highlighting niche markets

3. Product Family Brochures (the Needle Brochure) describing a group of products

4. Line Cards (all available online) listing every Merrow product in a one page printable format

5. Application Cards (all available online) that describe dozens of the most popular Merrow applications

6. The 2012 Stitch Book (available upon request) profiling 50 sewn Merrow samples

At Merrow we work hard to support our agents and customers, and this latest release of marketing material is one of many major initiatives planned in 2012 to increase the awareness of Merrow in the market place.

Everything available in this packet is also available online; in fact the website www.merrow.com contains a wealth of information and detail about all of these products and much much more.

We hope that Merrow will remain an important part of your business in 2012, and I expect that should you need any specific information about our products, you will contact me directly; I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Nate Murray

Director of Marketing

Merrow Sewing Machine Co.

email: nate@merrow.com

phone: 508.689.4095