WoW TBC Classic Tailoring Guide: Sets, Gold, and 1–375 Leveling

Tailoring in The Burning Crusade Classic isn’t just “the cloth armor profession.” It’s a full gearing pathway, a reputation-fueled economy engine, and—if you choose the right specialization—a long-term advantage that can carry you through multiple raid tiers.

In TBC Classic, Tailoring shines for three big reasons:

• Powerful crafted sets that are tailor-only (Spellfire, Frozen Shadoweave, Primal Mooncloth) and start mattering the moment you hit 70.
• Epic crafted sets that remain relevant for a long time (Spellstrike and Whitemend), with set bonuses that reward you for keeping Tailoring.
• High-demand consumable-style crafts like spellthreads (leg enchants) and bags that always sell when priced smart.

If you want Tailoring to feel “worth it,” treat it like a strategy profession: pick a specialization that matches your class/spec goals, plan your cooldowns early, and understand which crafts actually move on your server’s economy.

Why Tailoring Is a Top-Tier Profession in TBC Classic

Tailoring is uniquely friendly to leveling characters and fresh 70s because it doesn’t require a gathering profession to function. Cloth drops while you quest, run dungeons, and farm reputations. That means you can level Tailoring naturally while progressing your character.

Tailoring is strongest for:

• DPS casters (Mage, Warlock, Shadow Priest) chasing early spell hit/haste/spell power breakpoints.
• Healers (Priest especially, plus other healers who can wear cloth) who value mana regen while casting and strong +healing itemization.
• Players who like gold-making systems (cooldowns, reputation patterns, bag markets, crafting services).

Tailoring gives you value at every stage:

• While leveling: easy gear upgrades and consistent vendor trash crafting.
• At 70 (pre-raid): crafted sets and spellthreads become huge power spikes.
• In the long game: specialization cloth cooldowns and rare pattern crafts stay profitable if you stay organized.

How Tailoring Works in TBC Classic (And What Changes in Outland)

At its core, Tailoring is a conversion profession:

1. You loot cloth from humanoids.
2. You turn cloth into bolts.
3. You use bolts + thread + specialty materials to craft gear, bags, and enhancements.

TBC adds several mechanics that matter a lot:

• Netherweave Cloth becomes the backbone of Outland crafting. You’ll craft huge quantities of Bolt of Netherweave early, and those bolts stay useful forever because almost every Outland recipe consumes them.
• Bolt of Imbued Netherweave becomes a major crafting “gate.” It requires Arcane Dust and must be crafted at a Mana Loom, which is a key crafting station for tailors in Shattrath.
• Specialty cloth appears: Spellcloth, Shadowcloth, and Primal Mooncloth. These are the “cooldown” crafts that power many high-end tailoring recipes.
• Specializations become real commitments. Your specialization affects what tailor-only epics you can craft and even which tailor-only set you can wear.

If you’re coming from Classic Era, think of TBC Tailoring as “Tailoring + cooldowns + reputations + specialization identity.”

Outland Tailoring Materials You Must Understand

You’ll hear a lot of Tailoring talk that sounds complicated, but most of it boils down to a few material categories.

Core cloth and bolts

• Netherweave Cloth → Bolt of Netherweave (your main craft loop)
• Bolt of Netherweave + Arcane Dust → Bolt of Imbued Netherweave (crafted at a Mana Loom)

Threads and vendor mats

• Rune Thread is a constant requirement at higher levels. Always keep a stack.
• Dyes/threads at lower levels add up more than people expect—budget for them if you’re leveling fast.

Dungeon/heroic “gate” materials

• Some endgame crafts require items that encourage dungeon running (and crafting services):
• Primal Nether shows up in several iconic epic crafts and spellthreads.
• This means Tailoring can be “cheap to level” but “expensive to finish” if your goals include the top epics early.

Primal elements and specialty mats

• The high-end sets often use combinations of:
• Primal Fire / Primal Mana / Primal Shadow / Primal Water / Primal Life
• Netherweb Spider Silk (a recurring bottleneck for many tailoring epics)

If you’re serious about Tailoring, you don’t just farm “cloth.” You farm the entire ecosystem: primals, silks, and the dungeon materials tied to your best recipes.

Specialty Cloth Cooldowns: Spellcloth, Shadowcloth, and Primal Mooncloth

TBC Tailoring’s signature mechanic is specialty cloth. These crafts are powerful because they’re:

• Time-limited (cooldowns)
• Location-restricted
• Heavily demanded by best-in-slot craft lists

The important rule: each specialty cloth has its own cooldown

Spellcloth, Shadowcloth, and Primal Mooncloth each run on a cooldown cycle (often treated as “every ~4 days,” commonly described as 3 days 20 hours). This matters because it creates real scarcity and turns organization into profit.

Location requirements (this is where many tailors waste time)

• Spellcloth: crafted in Netherstorm.
• Shadowcloth: crafted at the Altar of Shadows in Shadowmoon Valley.
• Primal Mooncloth: crafted at an Outland Moonwell (several exist; the key is knowing an easy, safe one for your routine).

What this means for your weekly plan

If you’re leveling Tailoring with endgame goals, start thinking early:

• Which cloth does your future gear require?
• How many cooldown cycles are you willing to wait?
• Are you building a single main tailor, or multiple alts to multiply cooldown output?

A single character doing cooldowns is steady progress. Two or three tailors doing cooldowns becomes a full crafting business.

Tailoring Specializations in TBC Classic (Mooncloth, Shadoweave, Spellfire)

Once you reach Tailoring 350 and character level 60, you can choose one specialization. This is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make with Tailoring because it shapes your gear options and your daily/weekly money routine.

The two biggest specialization benefits

1. Bonus cloth output: Any tailor with the required skill can craft Primal Mooncloth/Shadowcloth/Spellcloth, but specializing lets you produce two pieces of your specialization cloth from one set of materials.
2. Tailor-only epic 3-piece set: Each specialization unlocks a powerful, themed epic set that only that specialization can craft and use.

Mooncloth Tailoring (Primal Mooncloth focus)

Mooncloth specialization is the healer path. It’s best known for the Primal Mooncloth set:

• Primal Mooncloth Shoulders
• Primal Mooncloth Robe
• Primal Mooncloth Belt
• Set bonus: Allows 5% of your mana regeneration to continue while casting (a big deal for healers who value longevity).

This is especially attractive for healers who want a reliable regen baseline early in progression, and it’s a strong identity specialization if your goal is “always be useful in raids.”

Shadoweave Tailoring (Shadowcloth focus)

Shadoweave specialization is the shadow/frost damage path. It unlocks Frozen Shadoweave:

• Frozen Shadoweave Shoulders
• Frozen Shadoweave Robe
• Frozen Shadoweave Boots
• Set bonus: Your Frost and Shadow damage spells heal you for 2% of the damage they deal.

This set bonus has real solo value (sustain while farming), and the itemization is attractive to shadow and frost-focused casters.

Spellfire Tailoring (Spellcloth focus)

Spellfire specialization is the fire/arcane damage path. It unlocks Wrath of Spellfire:

• Spellfire Robe
• Spellfire Gloves
• Spellfire Belt
• Set bonus: Increases spell damage by up to 7% of your total Intellect.

That set bonus is why Spellfire becomes a headline choice for many casters early on: it scales with a stat you naturally stack, and it stays relevant longer than most people expect.

Specialization quests (what you actually do)

All three specialization quest starters are located close together in Shattrath (Lower City).

• Mooncloth specialization: you travel to an Outland Moonwell (often associated with Cenarion areas), open the provided supplies, and create a sample using the quest item.
• Shadoweave specialization: you travel to the Altar of Shadows in Shadowmoon Valley and use the quest item there.
• Spellfire specialization: you use a beacon in Netherstorm to summon and defeat a nether-wraith, then return with proof.

Switching specializations (the reality check)

You can change specializations later, but treat it as a real cost and a real consequence:

• Switching costs gold, and
• Unlearning a specialization can disable your ability to use specialization-locked items until you re-spec.

So don’t pick based on vibes. Pick based on what you’ll actually craft, wear, and sell.

The Big Crafted Sets: What’s Worth Making (and for Who)

Tailoring’s reputation comes from its gear. If you only care about gold, you can ignore the “wearable” side—but most players choose Tailoring because the gear is a shortcut to performance.

Spellstrike Infusion (2-piece epic set)

Spellstrike is one of the most famous tailoring crafts in TBC because it’s usable by many caster DPS specs and remains valuable deep into progression.

• Pieces: Spellstrike Hood and Spellstrike Pants
• Set bonus: Chance on harmful spell hits to increase spell damage by 92 for 10 seconds
• Important: The set bonus requires Tailoring (350) to activate, which is why some players keep Tailoring longer than planned.

Spellstrike also has a practical advantage: it can fit into many gearing paths because the bonus is generic and procs off spell damage gameplay.

Whitemend Wisdom (2-piece epic set)

Whitemend targets healers who want intellect scaling:

• Pieces: Whitemend Hood and Whitemend Pants
• Set bonus: Increases spell power by up to 10% of your total Intellect
• Like Spellstrike, the set bonus requires Tailoring (350).

Whitemend is a “math set.” If you stack intellect and value flexible scaling, the bonus can feel amazing. If you’re chasing more specialized healing stats, you may treat it as a stepping stone.

Primal Mooncloth (3-piece specialization epic set)

Best for healers who value regen while casting:

• Set bonus: 5% of mana regeneration continues while casting
• Tailor-only and specialization-locked.

Frozen Shadoweave (3-piece specialization epic set)

Best for shadow/frost damage profiles and solo sustain:

• Set bonus: Frost and Shadow damage heals you for 2% of damage dealt
• Tailor-only and specialization-locked.

Wrath of Spellfire (3-piece specialization epic set)

Best for fire/arcane damage profiles and scaling with intellect:

• Set bonus: Spell damage increases by up to 7% of your Intellect
• Tailor-only and specialization-locked.

Spellthreads: Tailoring’s “Always Sells” Craft

Spellthreads are one of the most reliable Tailoring markets in TBC Classic because they behave like a permanent upgrade. Players replace gear, but they still need new leg enchants every time they upgrade.

There are four core spellthreads in TBC, and they’re tied to Shattrath faction choice:

The Scryers spellthreads

• Mystic Spellthread (damage-focused, easier to access)
• Runic Spellthread (stronger, reputation-gated, and requires higher-end materials)

The Aldor spellthreads

• Silver Spellthread (damage-focused, easier to access)
• Golden Spellthread (stronger, higher reputation requirement, higher material cost)

The key takeaway isn’t “which is best,” but this:

• If you want to craft and sell the full spellthread lineup yourself, you’ll need help from another tailor on the opposite faction, because your character chooses Aldor or Scryers.

Why spellthreads are amazing for gold

• They’re tradeable, so you can sell them repeatedly.
• Demand rises during raid progression because people upgrade gear constantly.
• They create crafting relationships: guilds often keep “the spellthread tailor” close.

If you want consistent sales instead of jackpot crafts, spellthreads are a Tailoring cornerstone.

Bags and Utility Crafts (Underrated Gold and Quality of Life)

Tailors often overlook bags because “everyone can get bags,” but in TBC Classic, bag markets are about pricing tiers and convenience.

Reliable bag crafts

• Netherweave Bag: a very common early-Outland bag choice.
• Imbued Netherweave Bag: a higher slot count option that can sell well when priced reasonably.
• Primal Mooncloth Bag: a premium 20-slot bag, often limited by cooldown cloth availability.
• Ebon Shadowbag: another premium 20-slot option, tied to Shadowcloth.

Special-purpose bag: Spellfire Bag

Spellfire Bag is not “just a bag.” It’s an Enchanting bag with 28 slots, which makes it a niche premium product for enchanters and players hoarding enchanting mats. Niche markets can be extremely profitable if you’re one of the only tailors supplying them.

Utility item: Netherweave Net

Net-style utility crafts are the kind of thing that sells when PvP activity rises or when players want extra control tools while leveling and farming. Even if you don’t mass-produce it, it’s worth remembering as a “quick craft” that can surprise you with sales during the right weeks.

Best Profession Pairings with Tailoring

Tailoring doesn’t need a gathering partner, so you pair it based on your goals:

Tailoring + Enchanting (the classic power pairing)

This pairing is popular for a reason:

• You craft cloth items while leveling Tailoring.
• You disenchant the items instead of vendoring them.
• You turn “wasted crafts” into Arcane Dust, essences, and shards to fund future leveling and crafting.

It’s one of the smoothest “self-sufficient” profession ecosystems in the entire expansion.

Tailoring + a gathering profession (for gold-first players)

If your goal is “be rich early,” pairing Tailoring with a gathering profession can make sense:

• Gather while you level and farm your primals/silks.
• Use Tailoring cooldowns as your long-term profit engine.

Tailoring + Jewelcrafting/Blacksmithing/Leatherworking

This is less about synergy and more about account strategy (alts). If you run multiple crafting professions across characters, Tailoring cooldown cloth becomes a cross-profession currency because so many crafted pieces rely on it.

Tailoring 1–375 Leveling Guide (Fast, Practical, and Low-Waste)

This path is designed to be fast and practical. Skill-ups can vary depending on recipe color luck, so think of counts as “close targets,” not perfect math.

Rough shopping list (plan ahead)

If you want to buy materials in advance, these are commonly used approximate totals for 1–375 speed leveling:

• Linen Cloth: ~204
• Wool Cloth: ~135
• Silk Cloth: ~804
• Mageweave Cloth: ~470
• Runecloth: ~940
• Plus a choice of extra materials around the late 200s (varies by recipe path)
• Netherweave Cloth: ~2976
• Arcane Dust: ~204
• Knothide Leather: ~10
• Netherweb Spider Silk: ~34 (can be less if you use lucky dungeon-drop recipes)

1–75 (Linen phase)

• Make Bolt of Linen Cloth until you’re comfortable in the early range.
• Craft Linen Belts for steady skill-ups.
• Finish with Reinforced Linen Cape to push to 75.

Tip: Don’t overcraft bolts early. Make what you need, then move on—your bag space matters.

75–125 (Wool transition)

• Make Bolt of Woolen Cloth to build a base.
• Craft Simple Kilt if you need skill-ups.
• Use Double-stitched Woolen Shoulders to push toward 125.

125–205 (Silk and Mageweave climb)

This is where Tailoring feels “real” because you start rotating recipes:

• Bolt of Silk Cloth is your core conversion.
• Azure Silk Hood and Silk Headband bridge the mid-silk range.
• Formal White Shirt is a classic short push recipe.
• Bolt of Mageweave begins your late-classic cloth loop.
• Crimson Silk Vest is a common finishing recipe for this bracket.

Tip: Shirts can be great because they’re simple—just remember they also consume vendor materials like dye/bleach.

205–300 (Runecloth era)

This is the long classic stretch:

• Crimson Silk Pantaloons can start the bracket if you have spare silk supplies.
• Orange Mageweave Shirt is a quick bump option.
• Black Mageweave Gloves and Black Mageweave Headband are staple crafts here.
• Bolt of Runecloth becomes the new core conversion.
• Runecloth Belt commonly carries you through the 260s.
• The final push to 300 often uses one of several options depending on what’s cheapest on your server:
• Brightcloth-style cloaks
• Runecloth gloves routes
• Enchanting-dust routes if you’re pairing with Enchanting

Tip: This is where many players burn gold by crafting the “right guide recipe” even when their Auction House is screaming for a different one. If one recipe’s materials spike in price, switch to another that gives similar skill progress.

300–325 (Outland start: Netherweave bolts)

Once you train Master Tailoring in Outland, the fastest early push is:

• Bolt of Netherweave (a lot of them)

You will use these bolts later anyway, so this is one of the least wasteful parts of the entire profession.

325–340 (Imbued Netherweave and the Mana Loom)

This bracket introduces your first real Outland crafting “system”:

• Craft Bolt of Imbued Netherweave using:
• Bolts of Netherweave
• Arcane Dust
• And a Mana Loom crafting station

This step is important because Imbued Netherweave becomes a backbone material for cooldown cloth and high-end crafts.

340–350 (Practical gear crafts)

A common path here is:

• Netherweave Boots (often using Knothide Leather)
• Netherweave Tunic or similar armor crafts

Tip: This range is a great moment to check your server market. Sometimes the items you craft actually sell to leveling players or fresh 70s instead of being vendor/disenchant fuel.

350–375 (Finishing Tailoring like a professional)

This is where many tailors slow down because recipes turn yellow/green and skill-ups become less guaranteed. Your best finish depends on what patterns you can access.

Common approaches include:

• Arcanoweave Boots style routes (often popular when available)
• Imbued Netherweave Tunic style routes (more material-heavy, but accessible if you have the right reputation/pattern access)
• Any efficient yellow-to-green pattern you can reliably craft in bulk

Tip: The “best” 360–375 recipe is often the one you can craft repeatedly without fighting scarcity (Arcane Dust price spikes, spider silk shortages, etc.). Don’t be stubborn—be adaptive.

Gold-Making with Tailoring (Realistic Strategies That Work)

Tailoring gold is not one single trick—it’s a toolbox. Use the parts that fit your schedule.

Strategy 1: Cooldown cloth as your weekly paycheck

If you do nothing else, do your cooldowns consistently.

• Specialty cloth is always needed for something: sets, bags, and high-end crafts.
• Consistency beats “big farm days” because time gates are the whole point.

Strategy 2: Spellthreads as repeatable sales

Spellthreads sell best when:

• New raid tiers open (gear upgrades = enchant demand)
• Your server’s raiding population spikes
• You can offer fast crafting and reliable supply

If you can become “the spellthread tailor” in your guild/community, you’ll see steady income.

Strategy 3: Bags as volume sales (with smart pricing)

Bags sell when they feel affordable.

• Low and mid-tier bags are often higher-volume.
• Premium bags are slower but higher-margin—especially if your server has limited supply.

A strong approach is to keep two price tiers listed:

• One “fast sale” price to keep gold flowing
• One “profit” price for the buyers who don’t want to wait

Strategy 4: Crafting services (your mats vs their mats)

High-end Tailoring often becomes a service business:

• Players bring mats (especially Primal Nether-requiring crafts)
• You provide the pattern and the craft
• You charge a crafting fee or negotiate a tip

Be visible in chat, be clear about requirements, and build a reputation for fast crafting.

Practical Rules for Tailoring in TBC Classic (Avoid the Common Traps)

• Pick your specialization based on your endgame plan, not what “sounds cool.” Switching later costs gold and can interrupt your ability to use specialization-locked gear.
• Start cooldown habits early. Even if you’re not ready to craft your full set, building cloth inventory early is the difference between “week one ready” and “maybe next month.”
• Know your crafting locations and set a routine:
• Netherstorm for Spellcloth
• Altar of Shadows for Shadowcloth
• A safe Moonwell route for Primal Mooncloth
• Don’t ignore Netherweb Spider Silk. It bottlenecks multiple high-value recipes. Buy it when it’s cheap; craft when it’s expensive.
• If you’re Tailoring + Enchanting, treat crafted greens as materials, not trash. Your real profit is often the dust/essence outcome, not the vendor price.
• Always track your Auction House reality. Leveling and gold-making guides can’t see your server’s prices—your market decides what’s “best.”

BoostRoom: Faster Tailoring Progress Without the Grind Wall

If your Tailoring goals are tied to endgame power (Spellstrike, Whitemend, specialization sets, spellthreads, or rare patterns), the slowest parts are usually not the sewing—they’re the farming and access requirements.

BoostRoom can help you skip the time sinks that block Tailoring progress, such as:

• Heroic dungeon runs for materials tied to high-end crafting goals
• Reputation grinds (Aldor/Scryers) to unlock the spellthread patterns you want to sell or use
• Dungeon farming for specific pattern drops when your server’s supply is scarce
• Efficient primals and key material farming routes through structured runs

If your plan is “craft the set early, enchant it, and raid now,” the fastest Tailoring path is the one that removes the bottlenecks.

FAQ

Do I need Tailoring to wear Tailoring epics?

Specialization sets (Primal Mooncloth, Frozen Shadoweave, Spellfire) are tailor-only and specialization-locked. Some other tailoring epics can be worn without being a tailor, but their set bonuses may require Tailoring.

Why do people keep Tailoring even after they craft their gear?

Because some set bonuses require Tailoring to activate, and because cooldown cloth and spellthreads remain profitable long after you’re “done gearing.”

Which Tailoring specialization is best overall?

There isn’t a single best. Spellfire is famous for caster DPS scaling, Mooncloth is highly valuable for healers who want regen while casting, and Shadoweave is strong for shadow/frost damage profiles and solo sustain.

Can I craft all three specialty cloths without specializing?

You can craft specialty cloth with the required skill, but specialization increases your output for that cloth (commonly producing two cloth per craft) and unlocks the tailor-only epic set for that specialization.

Where do I craft Spellcloth, Shadowcloth, and Primal Mooncloth?

Spellcloth is crafted in Netherstorm, Shadowcloth is crafted at the Altar of Shadows in Shadowmoon Valley, and Primal Mooncloth is crafted at Outland Moonwells.

How long does it take to craft a full specialization set?

It depends on how many cooldown cycles you can produce (one tailor vs multiple alts), whether you buy cloth from others, and how quickly you can acquire primals and spider silk. Planning matters more than raw farming.

What’s the most reliable Tailoring gold-maker?

For many servers it’s a mix of cooldown cloth and spellthreads. Bags can be reliable too, but margins depend heavily on your realm economy.

Is Tailoring worth it if I’m not a cloth wearer?

It can be, if you’re focused on gold (cooldowns, bags, spellthreads) and have a plan. If you want direct character power, Tailoring is strongest on cloth classes and healers.

Should I pair Tailoring with Enchanting?

If you want a smooth leveling experience and the ability to convert crafted items into dust/essences, yes—it’s one of the most efficient profession pairings in TBC Classic.

What’s a Mana Loom and why do I care?

A Mana Loom is a crafting station required for making Bolt of Imbued Netherweave, a key material used in many Outland tailoring crafts and specialty cloth recipes.

Do spellthreads sell even late in the expansion?

Yes. As long as players replace gear, they need fresh leg enchants, and spellthreads remain a steady market.

What’s the best way to “finish” Tailoring from 360 to 375?

Use the most cost-stable recipe you can craft in bulk on your server. The “best” recipe changes with your Auction House prices and which patterns you have access to.