Craft Focus - Feb/Mar (Issue 71)

Zweigart has been trading for more than 140 years – how did the company start? It was founded in 1877 by Paul Zweigart and Julius Sawitzki. The official name is Zweigart & Sawitzki, although the trading brand has always been Zweigart. The first products were home textiles and needlework fabric that we still manufacture today, making us the oldest and most experienced manufacturer in the field of weaves for embroidery purposes. Talk us through Zweigart’s products. We offer a broad choice of specialised embroidery fabrics, including our renowned Aida and Evenweave brands. We also produce premium linens such as Belfast 32ct, which is available in a number of different shades. Our materials are known for being straight and square, providing stitchers with a perfect result every time. How often does the company launch new lines? We release two collections each year, in spring and autumn. This follows our philosophy of bringing innovation to the market at the best quality level. We are constantly adding new and up-to-date colours to our range, as well as popular prints. Stylish fabrics with ideas to match are developed at our in-house atelier in order to pick up and match current trends. Do you exhibit at any trade shows? We attend two major shows – CHSI Stitches in the UK and h+h Cologne in Germany. The former is very important as it helps us to stay in touch with our broad customer base in the UK and provides an opportunity to introduce new items and present our latest fabric innovations. h+h Cologne is also a key date for the creative textile industry. How would you advise a retailer who is interested in stocking your products? We would recommend starting with standard items like Aida, with a small selection of Evenweave fabrics. We offer goods by the metre in small qualities as well as ready- cut pieces, which are an attractive option for start-ups. To complement this, we also provide a lovely selection of A5 needlework books featuring embroidery ideas and projects for beginners right through to professionals. Do you have any significant new launches on the horizon? We will be releasing new and exciting speckle prints across the Murano 32ct and Aida 18ct ranges. We also have an ideas book for spring, featuring on-trend projects with fabric colours to match, as well as another run of our popular designer’s editions. The exciting new ‘stitch & stamp’ collection will also be available in 2019. Do you have any trend predictions for this year? Stitchers are using finer fabrics than in the past in order to achieve greater embroidery detail. Combined crafts are also becoming popular, including sewing projects coupled with embroidery. Contemporary needlework for modern interiors is also going to be big over the coming months. How do you expect Zweigart to develop in future? We have strengthened our position and now work with customers in more than 70 countries; we plan to maintain this position. The outlook for the company is very positive, particularly as we are one of the few quality producers left in this field. Zweigart has produced go-to embroidery fabrics for more than 140 years. Sales director Bastian Wollmann reveals what’s coming up next for the prestigious German manufacturer Blank canvas Zweigart zweigart.de craft focus 125 profile