Silk Weaving Studio

I came here to get some craft inspiration with a different medium I have always been curious about, however, never took the plunge straight up. Lady was very helpful and friendly and the shop was well organized.

After having breakfast at Granville Market, I decided to stroll around the market to find shops selling handmade items. I found a lovely soap shop and the Silk weaving Studio. There were three women working on large looms making products to sell in the store. The stock was somewhat depleted so I had to look carefully for something I could take home to wear. Luckily I found two lovely scarfs by one of the artists that were not too pricey. I bought them, she wrapped them beautifully and I left the shop very happy with my purchase. I can’t wait to wear them with my jackets and coats this fall and winter. If you want something special from Vancouver that is not made overseas, I highly recommend this store. Also, the staff is very helpful.

What a neat little place! The studio is tucked away in a very quiet corner near the marina, though it was pretty easy to find due to all of the directional signs. My trip here was very informative as their store is set up so that people with no knowledge of silk or weaving can learn about it easily. There were a couple of live silk worms they had on display, and even silk cocoons for you to buy and take home to collect your own silk.
There are weavers working on looms throughout the day, so you can watch them as you browse the beautiful items for sale. Along with various articles of clothing like shawls, scarves, hats, and vests, they also sell skeins of yarn and patterns for home use. The two women working when I went there were both very friendly and they answered my questions about their craft, which is amazing since they probably get asked the same ones all day, every day.
Be prepared to spend a lot of money if you intend to purchase from here, as an article as simple as a scarf can be as much as $ 200. It is important to understand that this is due to the quality of the imported silk, the dyes used and the extremely labour-​intensive artist’s process of hand-​dyeing and loom weaving.
If you are on the island, it is worth a visit.

Our textiles class had a field trip to Granville Island this afternoon, and one of our stops was at the Silk Weaving Studio, after just having learned a few things about Silk and Silk Worms in class.
I was really really thrilled to see a loom in real life. which makes ME sound really interesting, I’m sure. There are ladies working at the looms as customers browse the studio and it’s quite fascinating to watch. I wanted to give it a shot myself, but there are signs on all the looms saying not to touch them. They were totally cool with me hovering over them like a creep to watch them work though.
The rest of the studio is filled with various silk woven garments and other things that are absolutely gorgeous with very very informative tags on them. And I was shocked (in a good way) to see that they actually had live Silk Worms! There were a few glass aquariums around with the various stages of the worms, and a little plate with a fat little guy eating some Mulberry leaves! SO COOL.
You can also buy hardened Silk Worm cocoons at the front counter. They are (I think) 25 cents each, or 5 for $ 1.

The Silk Weaving Studio has a beautiful selection of silk products, from finished pieces to yarn. I choose two 100% silk skeins while I was there and am very excited to start knitting them. My only complaint was that it was a little pricey.

If you love silk, you’ll love this place. When you enter on the left, there’s a silk worm terrarium where you can see the little guys in action. The main display area of the store is finished products (woven and felted), but they sell it from cocoon to clothing. Unfortunately they don’t sell fabric, which is my only complaint.
They have the silk fibre on its own and mixed with other natural fibres, as well as a colorful selection of silk yarns. They even have silk elastic, which I had never even heard of before I visited the shop.
If you only go to one store to buy silk-​related products in your lifetime, go here.
But I think the best part of the shop is the giant looms that sit in the display area, where you can usually see staff members weaving the silk into fabric.