Stitchqueries: Do You Still Recommend Silkweaver Fabrics?

This post was hard for me to write because I supported the original Silkweaver Fabrics so strongly, but here it is.

I noticed when you post photos of projects you mention that some of your fabric was “original Silkweavers” and I’ve seen so many ladies in Facebook groups complaining about not receiving orders and having issues with things. I was wondering do you still recommend Silkweaver as a fabric resource?

Original Silkweavers I never had a single problem with an order, they were fast, the fabric was amazing, and I even joined two fabric of the month clubs for long periods of time. They were once upon a time hands down my favorite fabric supplier, my stash was (and still is) made up of much of their beautifully created fabric, and I frequently recommended them here at Stitching the Night Away, on our old forums, and in the weekly newsletters.

Unfortunately it feels like since Zweigart bought them and took over, everything has gone down the drain and the customer service hasn’t been exactly nice. I think that maybe Zweigart was so used to selling prepackaged standard fabrics that they weren’t as prepared for the individual care and attention a hand-dyed product would need in the long term, so the Silkweaver brand has suffered.

I stopped ordering from them a few years ago after some poorly handled customer service and ordering issues that myself and some other stitching friends experienced with little to no response to service inquiries. While it’s my understanding that these issues are slowly improving, they’re certainly still not up to the amazing service level that the original brand had and I frequently see people wondering out loud in stitching groups if their orders will ever arrive or if they’ll get a response to their inquiry.

So, at the end of the day, while Zweigart still manufacturers excellent quality base fabric in mass production, I don’t necessarily recommend Silkweaver, especially if you’re looking to start a project right away. These days I have much better customer experiences buying my hand-dyed fabrics from small independent dyers, Etsy sellers, and small brands like Picture This Plus or Stephanie’s, and 123stitch.com has some hand-dyed selections in their inventory as well. And for our UK friends, many of the stitchers I talk with highly recommend Polstitches.

I’m always on the lookout for new independent sellers as well, so if you happen to get your hands on some great fabric, let me know about it! Leave a comment below, email me, or share the info on Facebook.

Happy Stitching