The Art of Sari Skirts

Meet the Makers in Jaipur

Woman owned & family operated since 2008.

Darn Good Yarn has worked with talented artisans in India for over 14 years. We focus on providing employment in areas where a lot of women face discrimination.

A woman, smiling with four girls, taking a group selfie

Our Values

Darn Good Yarn was founded in 2008 by Nicole Snow. Our brand is built by special stories of hard work, love, and creativity. From the artisan to the person who packs our orders, we are inspired to deliver high-quality eco-friendly products. In addition to being earth friendly and people friendly, we are on a mission to make you Feel Darn Good, Do Darn Good and Be Darn Good®.

The lifeblood behind Darn Good Yarn is our global community of talented artisans. Around the world, Darn Good Yarn employs people who have been marginalized or mistreated by society. With our co-ops, these artisans can find sustainable, safe, fair, and year-round employment to support themselves and their families.You can learn more about our artisans by clicking here.

A woman sewing with vibrant fabric, promoting fair trade and sustainability

Our Impact

Our empowerment comes from creating a safe employment environment and giving women steady employment to support their families.

Solutions for Small Businesses

Darn Good Yarn has pioneered a 3PL solution tailored for socially conscious entrepreneurs seeking to create positive change. Our platform empowers like-minded business owners to amplify their impact on both the world and their customers. Click this link to discover more about our comprehensive services and join the movement towards sustainable and impactful commerce. Learn More>

Behind the Seams

Crafting Darn Good Yarn Skirts in Jaipur

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Be Darn Good®

Hi my name is Nicole Snow and I'm the owner and CEO of Darn Good Yarn. Darn Good Yarn was started to create fair and sustainable jobs for artisans around the globe. At the same time we want to help you cultivate the globally conscious lifestyle through the art you create and the life that you live.

I invite you to join the change and spread the joy. Our main production areas are in Bhagalpur, India and the surrounding villages. It's an area where many people are stuck without work or working jobs that are unhealthy and don't support general well-being. Darn Good Yarn gives these artisans an opportunity to provide for themselves and their families. Darn Good Yarn utilizes a method for making our product that comes from recycling and reclaiming saris by having a collective of artisans gather manufacturing remnants and seconds of sari material, the material is then torn by hand and sewn together creating the extraordinary yarns and ribbons that are the base for your darn good yarn items.

This work empowers the individuals we hire to have a purpose in life, provide for the families, and create a better future for generations to follow. So, I know a lot of you loved Darn Good Yarns ribbon and I wanted to show you this is where it starts. These are sari scraps, and I know some of you always ask whats the width length and I always tell you it's hand torn. And then after that it gets sewn and sometimes you might dye it but other times you guys would like it multicolored and thisis the project where it all starts. Darn Good Yarn is not willing to accept things the way they are just because they are.

Through our work in India we've saved more than a hundred thousand pounds of textile waste from heading into landfills and rivers. Not only that we've created safe and sustainable jobs more than 300 artisans in the poorest regions of India. When you're sitting at home knitting and creating, try to take a moment to recognize the journey that this yarn has gone on. Think of all the people whose hands have touched this. It's really incredible to think about. You are helping families thrive literally on the other side of the world.

Darn Good Yarn is more than a brand. Darn Good Yarn provides you with a chance to give the gift of change while sharing friendship and love with those around you. We believe in spreading joy at home and abroad by giving everyone a darn good chance at experiencing joy through creating. I want to thank you for taking this journey with me today and I also want to thank you because your purchase of Darn Good Yarn impact people's lives around the globe in a way that truly makes a difference. We believe in the power of community and connections join the change spread the joy

When I was a little girl, my mom set up a crafting space in my basement. Equipped with a desk, art supplies and my imagination, this was where I went to escape. As I grew and life went up and down like it always does, crafting was my retreat from the everyday. It was the place where I really felt like I was home. I was with myself. I was with my thoughts. Things felt unified.

When I started Darn Good Yarn, I didn’t have a grand plan. I was interested in fueling that spark from my childhood. I had no idea what it was to become. I really didn’t think it would be much of anything. “Darn Good Yarn” was actually a joke between my friend Beth and me. Darn Good Yarn started from two boxes of recycled silk yarn that I stored in a corner of our spare bedroom. I soon learned that the people who make this yarn needed a better way to make a better living. They needed sustainability and safety in their day-to-day jobs. Falling back on my college education and experience in the Air Force, I realized that I could potentially bridge that gap and provide them with opportunity for a better life.

I made it my mission to show the world just how important these fun and quirky yarns are. It takes a special person to love their unique qualities. Darn Good Yarn isn’t your run-of-the-mill yarn. There are special stories of hard work, love and creativity wrapped into everything you find at Darn Good Yarn. From the artisan to the person who packs our orders, Darn Good Yarn is fueled by infusing Good into all parts of our business. From our warehouse to our employee benefit programs, our goal is to create a better world by caring and doing things the slightly harder way. In a world of short-cuts and cookie cutter experiences, we believe that when you slow down in order to build that this creates more sustainability and stronger communities.

I’m excited. Darn Good Yarn is celebrating fourteen years of business this year. While we’re very much a small business our “can do, make it happen” attitude has helped us save over a million pounds of material waste and help create hundreds of sustainable jobs.

During our 14 years, I found myself thinking back to the love of the “escape” and that feeling I get when I get my creative juices flowing. Now as a mom of an active and wonderful little girl, my traditional craft time has been cut down. So, now I’m on a quest to have that creative escape spill over and paint my everyday life. And I’m going to bring that to you! We are working to bring you products that inspire, are fun and have a great story to tell too.

Thank you for joining me on this crazy and fun adventure into my secret world that is Darn Good Yarn.

Starting at love,
Nicole

Our Beginnings

Nicole started "Darn Good Yarn" on accident. What started out as a side hustle in her guest bedroom and two boxes of recycled silk yarn has exploded into a world-wide company working to better the lives of our global community. Since the small beginning, we have grown into a strong and steady powerful business that stands to create a positive impact on the world.

Our Team & Community

Nicole, our accidental CEO as she calls herself, has gathered a strong core team of creative and empathetic people to grow Darn Good Yarn. What used to be a solo gig now is a company that employs 15+ people in Upstate NY alone! You can meet our team here!

Our customers are an important part of our community as well! We love our customers and are in awe everyday of their empathy, support, and kindness not only to our artisans, but to each other. We have built a close knit community for people to safely express their creativity! Click on one (or all) of groups down below and join the ever-growing community of like-minded friends.

Our Mission

Start at love means being compassionate with the intent to make a positive change in the universe. We believe the application of starting at love with everything we all do leads to a happier world.

Darn Good Yarn and its subsidiaries, commit to doing good in the world by operating a business with a foundation in the tenets of the triple bottom line framework.

Our goals are to:

Support sustainable and fair jobs around the globe through ethical sourcing, and working with producers and organizations that have similar goals.
Source products that promote job creation for individuals who are marginalized and under-served so that they can provide food, education and healthcare for their families. We also comply with warehousing and distribution models that provide safe employment to disadvantaged populations, including adults with developmental disabilities.
Work with our suppliers, producers, and organizations to find all opportunities to serve the workers and artisans involved in our company, and to continually improve their safe and humane working environments.
Focus on sourcing products and developing supply chains that benefit disadvantaged populations, including people groups that face issues of gender, caste, racial discrimination. We also seek to employ disabled individuals and veterans.
Focus on sourcing products that have a reclaimed or recycled element integrated into their regular production process, whenever this is commercially feasible.