Fabric.com, a subsidiary of Amazon and a major player in the fabric by-the-yard space, is shutting down this year (2022) according to recent reports from the company. Amazon acquired the company in 2008 with the goal of expanding its craft and hobby material segment.
In a note published on its website, Fabric.com indicated that it would no longer sell products on its platform as of October 20, 2022. After more than 30 years of selling by-the-yard fabrics, its operations and service to consumers has officially ended. Without a doubt, the Fabric.com closing will be a huge ripple in the fabric market.
How Will This Affect Me?
The closure news involving one of the industry’s most prominent retailers has sent a ripple effect of concern around the web, as fabric designers, makers and vendors who relied on Fabric.com are asking questions about next steps.
Despite the unfortunate nature of this announcement, we are here to help!
Spoonflower is a global print-on-demand fabric, wallpaper, and home decor marketplace with over 1 million designs by Spoonflower Independent Artists from around the world. Spoonflower connects surface pattern design artists makers, DIY (Do It Yourself) hobbyists and enthusiasts, small business owners and interior designers in one marketplace, creating a one-of-a-kind community.
Why You Should Consider Joining the Spoonflower Community After the Fabric.com Closing
Spoonflower’s commitment to its values, which includes creativity, self-expression, quality, transparency, and authenticity is what makes it more than a brand: Spoonflower is a community that is constantly growing, and always welcoming new people. In addition to being a preeminent design Marketplace printed on-demand on fabric, wallpaper and home decor products, Spoonflower is an invaluable resource for all of you who want to transform your spaces through the power of personal self-expression and offers support in every phase of your creative journey.
Here are 5 Benefits Spoonflower Offers
Over 1 Million Designs Available to Print On-Demand on Two Dozen Fabrics
Spoonflower offers an incredible selection of fabric substrates, and you have the option to upload your own design which enables you to create anything you can imagine.
Our design Marketplace interface allows everyone from first-time explorers to DIY hobbyists to small business owners to choose from a variety of Spoonflower Independent Artists’ designs.
For those who choose to upload their own designs and launch their own shops on the platform, Spoonflower’s support team and its Artist community can also provide valuable feedback to inform and inspire creativity.
High Commission Earning
Since its inception in 2008, Spoonflower has always advocated for the development of its Artist community’s small business growth. As a Spoonflower seller, you will earn up to 15% royalty on the full retail price of the fabric, wallpaper or home decor product sold every time a customer purchases one of your designs. Additionally, you earn the full amount of the royalty during promotional sales.
For more information on our commission structure, check out our help center. Visit us help center for more information on our royalty structure.
Quick, On-Demand Printing
Spoonflower operates an on-demand printing model, reducing the need for massive warehouses or unnecessary shipping. We are also consistently targeting the shortest possible order fulfillment turnaround times.
You can choose from three shipping options during the checkout phase; standard delivery, rush service or guaranteed delivery.
Rigorous Quality Assurance Program
Spoonflower has stringent quality control programs that ensure you receive the exact design on the products who will go beyond to make sure you are delighted with every order you receive and every experience you have with Spoonflower.
For the best result, we recommend that you order a test swatch of your wallpaper and fabric design choices prior to making a large purchase.
Strict Commitment to Sustainability
Sustainability is a core value at the heart of our manufacturing. Our on-demand printing process is designed to minimize ink and fabric wastage. By not maintaining unnecessary warehouses or shipping lines, we additionally reduce our environmental impact.
Spoonflower also uses planet-friendly packaging specially designed by Spoonflower Independent Artists through our Design Challenges. Becoming part of the Spoonflower community means you too are supporting our efforts to protect the environment.
Wrapping Up
The news about the Fabric.com closing will lead to changes within the industry. However, Spoonflower is honored to provide a convenient alternative to vendors and customers. By joining our vibrant community of creatives, you have a reliable platform to expand your own design horizons, introduce someone new to the community or fuel your small business.
Please reach out with any questions. We are happy to start a conversation about how we can help.
I absolutely love Spoonflower, but it does not fulfill the chasm left by the demise of fabric.com. The standard apparel fabric available at fabric.com are not available on Spoonflower, and the price is at least double the price fabric.com offered. Spoonflower really is not an adequate replacement for fabric.com
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Laura. I’m glad to hear that you love Spoonflower!
I’d also say it depends on what you’d like to make, your budget, and your substrate wishes. We have over one million unique designs Fabric.com did not have, allowing makers to either buy fabric from us they can’t find anywhere or create their own designs if they don’t find what they need. Additionally, each purchase on Spoonflower supports an independent artist.
Regarding price, if you join our mailing list, you’ll also be made aware of sales, which bring the cost of fabric down, and if you need smaller amounts of fabric, you can get a number of designs on small fabric amounts using Fill-A-Yard.
We offer a range of fabric, yes, but as you note, not all fabrics that other places offer, and prices for textiles can range widely, like many industries, depending on a range of factors, from sourcing to shipping to material costs and more. But for many projects, with our 20+ substrates, unique designs, independent artists and option to create your own designs, we offer a place for sewists all of experiences to bring their creative ideas to life.
Thanks for being a valued part of our community! 🙂
Best,
Betsy
Spoonflower
I love Spoonflower and it’s s great for browsing, but when I’m looking for something in particular it is not a suitable replacement for fabric.com. There’s a ton of tag spamming so there’s always a ton of scrolling past things that are just wrong. Look at how much art deco fabric is also tagged art nouveau, for one example.
Hi Elizabeth, thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. Spoonflower’s Marketplace consists of over a million designs, all of which are user-generated. This means that they aren’t added by us, but rather by thousands of independent artists around the world. This allows anyone to create their own fabric, wallpaper and home decor and sell it to makers, consumers and designers globally, which we think is pretty wonderful! The nature of this model however is that artists are free to tag their designs as they like, provided the tags comply with our terms of service agreement. Realistically, sometimes that means the tags can be inaccurate, despite our best efforts to educate artists on how to properly tag. We understand this is not a great user experience for the shopper, and I can assure you that there is a team at Spoonflower working hard to improve this experience. We also have a talented team of curators, whose mission is to help our Marketplace feel a bit less overwhelming by hand-picking designs we think you’ll love, based on popular themes. You can check out a few of those here: https://www.spoonflower.com/themes
Warmly,
Theresa