New FireBoard Shirts by Hewn

“A rising tide lifts all boats” is a popular aphorism at FireBoard Labs.  An ethos that drives us to source local goods and services as much as possible.  So when we were shopping for new t-shirts,  we hit a home run when we found Adam Worrel’s company Hewn right here in KC!  These new pocket t-shirts turned out really nice, and the Long Sleeve and Short Sleeve versions are up on our site now.

As with many t-shirt shops, Hewn offers in-house graphic design and mechanized printing presses that quickly turn your idea into a shirt.  Worrel’s company stands out, offering “cut and sewn” shirts that are hand-made from bolts of fabric.

Hewn founder Adam Worrel on the production floor of their new 9400 sq ft facility.

Housed in a 9400 square foot industrial space, Hewn’s staff of 12 employees includes designers and printers that produce private label apparel for companies like Rally House and giftshop apparel for attractions like the American Jazz Museum, National WWI Memorial, Pearl Harbor Memorial, and the US National Parks Service. Also on staff are tailors who make premium custom t-shirts from patterns of their own making. 

To accomplish all of this production Worrell has equipt his crew with ROQ printing presses, and Brother and Juki sewing machines.

Hewn’s thread wall. Contrasting hemstitching is a trademark of their custom line of shirts.

Hewn’s contrasting stitching on sports apparel and FireBoard’s new pocket-T

In order to claim that their shirts are made in the USA “from dirt-to-shirt”, Hewn uses cotton grown and milled in the USA.

100% U.S. Cotton

What caught our eye was their custom t-shirts made from domestic cotton. Worrel explains that domestically grown cotton yarn is often shipped overseas to be woven into fabric and then reimported for the market–but he is not. “The cotton we buy is grown in Alabama and made into fabric by mills in the Carolinas.  This means that our shirts are made in America from dirt to shirt.”

Hewn’s pattern library. Pattern-making is one of the skills Worrel’s team specializes in.

Molly, Hewn’s Production Manager, working on the FireBoard order sewing on the signature contrasting pocket with logo.

It Started as a Side Hustle

When Adam was an art student in college he found a button press and started making and selling buttons to local bands to sell at their gigs.  He was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug and his brother, a graphic designer, encouraged him to expand into t-shirts.  Adam started his first batch in his kitchen: “I would silkscreen on the counter and use the oven to cure my first batch of shirts.”

A Cabin in Hawaii

Adam’s prototype t-shirt vending machine was project he was working on prior to relocating his operations.

After he graduated Worrell moved to Hawaii and started making shirts for local breweries and surf shops, eventually landing a contract with the Pearl Harbor Memorial.  He expanded into a cabin in Kaneohe on O’ahu and started designing a t-shirt vending machine.  It was during the covid lockdown that  Adam made the decision to relocate operations back to the mainland, closer to family.

What is Next for Hewn?

It was twelve years ago when Worrell set his sights on creating cut and sewn apparel. “Seeing that initial vision becoming a reality envigorates me to make future goals in vertical integration.” Worrel wants to further the dirt-to-shirt movement by growing and milling his own cotton or hemp.

Click here to get your hands on your own FireBoard pocket-T as made by Hewn.

The FireBoard Labs team sporting new shirts handmade by Hewn a local apparel company specializing in cut-and-sewn garments from domestically grown and milled cotton. We opted for a unique pocket t-shirt with a contrasting pocket and stitching color.