By Capt. Hiram Benjamin Chunderford

SAN FRANCISCO -- The implosion of the dot-com industry has a silver lining for local garment manufacturers. Once driven from South of Market by high rents, sweatshops are returning to SoMa with a vengeance -- and are creating new jobs for out-of-work dot-commers.

The South of Market area has experienced a 40% increase in garment manufacturing since the summer of 2000, according to statistics from The City’s Small Business Bureau. The increase roughly corresponds to the collapse of the dot-com industry, as many firms are forced to lay off workers or even shut down due to financing woes.

The sweatshop resurgence comes at a fortuitous time for many laid-off dot-commers, many of whom are finding new careers in garment manufacturing. While the new jobs require new skills and a new attitude, most former Internet workers say they’re just happy to still be employed.

"It might not be my first career of choice, but these days you can’t be choosy," said Matthias Schaudenfreude, formerly director of engineering at now-defunct Internet firm CementMixer.com. "One day I’m developing B2B online supply-chain management solutions for the cement-mixing industry, now I’m making ‘I escaped from Alcatraz’ sweatshirts. Go figure that one."

Another ex-dot-commer, Misty Bartholomew, calculates that she has to make three pairs of karate slippers at $1 apiece to pay for her morning Caffé Vesuvius Maximo at Starbuck’s. It’s a far cry from her $110,000-a-year job as a marketing associate at SewerGrate.com, which went under in November after failing to secure a third round of financing.

Bartholomew has already given up her cell phone and Palm Pilot, and may also be forced to move from her $2,500-a-month Pacific Heights studio. Fortunately, she’s been offered a slot in an Outer Mission housing cooperative formed by other workers at her new firm, the Happy Smile Sewing Company.

On the positive side, Bartholomew appreciates the new structure offered at Happy Smile, where the workday starts promptly at 7:30 a.m. and ends at 7 p.m. A 15-minute lunch break helps break the monotony, she says. She also enjoys the historical ramifications of her work, as she helps revive a piece of San Francisco that many had thought was lost forever.

"The Garment District is back," Bartholomew said. "I feel like I’m a part of history being made."