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Ranchers weave their way into the sewing business

Fall in Montana is the season for cutting cattle, separating calves from the herd so they can be sold. At a ranch on the prairie where Montana nudges South Dakota, it’s also a time for cutting fabric, yards and yards of it.

By SUSAN GALLAGHER – Associated Press Writer

http://www.helenair.com/articles/2004/08/16/business/e01081504_02.txt

Jennifer and Shane Peabody like to say they’re in the business of cattle and kits.

They raise Limousin-Angus on their ranch in sprawling and isolated Carter County in Montana’s southeast corner, home to 1,360 people and 53,000 cattle. Then there is the Peabodys’ Big Sky Sewing Kits, selling to 325 schools nationwide what students in consumer science — formerly home economics — need to stitch up duffle bags and other totes as class projects.

Thirty- to 60-yard bolts of nylon packcloth stand in the basement of the Peabodys’ house off a gravel road 10 miles from the county seat of Ekalaka, population 410. They cut fabric to size for various styles of bags, then package it with hardware such as zippers and buckles, plus thread, webbing for straps, care labels and instructions. A student can get a bag kit for as little as $6, shipping included.

It’s the kind of business innovation that pops up in other unlikely pockets of Montana, as well, said Dale Detrick, field engineer for the Montana Manufacturing Extension Center based at Montana State University in Bozeman.

‘‘Every day I find out about a new little venture in Plentywood or Opheim or … who knows where,” Detrick said. ‘‘It has something to do with how Montanans go about solving problems because they are so far from anything that could solve their problems. Most of these people are very creative. The hard part is they’re small, and they’re very isolated.”

Finding a niche is one key to business success, and the Peabodys have done that by making each kit a custom order. Students in middle and high schools choose from fabric in 16 colors and webbing in 12. The dozen bag styles range in price from a $6 shopping bag to a $23 snowboard bag with a fabric upgrade for $4 more. The selection includes lumbar packs, garment bags, gym bags and three sizes of duffles.

Selling what kids specify gives Big Sky Sewing Kits an edge over competitors who prepackage materials and keep choices to a minimum, said Patty Johnson, a teacher at Dean Morgan Junior High School in Casper, Wyo.

‘‘With some of the earlier companies, it looked like we were walking out of Wal-Mart,” Johnson said. ‘‘They all looked the same.”

Shane Peabody, 43, fits the work around his ranching. In the spring calving season, waiting for cows to give birth, he sometimes finds himself cutting cloth at 2 a.m.

‘‘I’m up anyway,” said the third-generation rancher, who also trains rodeo horses.

His wife, 39, teaches consumer science in Ekalaka.

‘‘I always envisioned a business on the prairie,” she said.

Now she envisions a separate building, with an espresso machine in the corner and music wired in. But the Peabodys, parents of two, aren’t quite there.

Shane Peabody said business has been steady over the four years since they bought the enterprise from a woman his wife met at a Missoula conference.

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