The Age Old Traditional Craft of Silk Production

The residents of traditional silk villages are still producing exquisite silks, although both the techniques and quality have changed in some cases, there are still many arrears where the age old methods are still used.

The process of weaving silk all begins with the raising of silkworms or sericulture as it is called, this is a skillful endeavour involving  the incubation of  tiny silkworm moth eggs.  From the eggs hatches worms which are placed on a layer of finely chopped mulberry leaves.   The worms eat the leaves continuously for six weeks during which time they grow very fat .  The newly hatched silkworm multiplies its own weight 10,000 times within one month.  While they are growing they are kept on trays that are stacked one on top of the other and must be protected from loud noises, drafts, and strong smells.

At the end of the growing period, the silk worm is ready to spin it’s cocoon, it takes eight or nine days  for the silkworm to complete the cocoon during which time they must be keep dry and warm.  The cocoon is all important as it the basis for the raw silk thread which is woven into silk cloth

The complete cocoons are then gathered and boiled or treated in ovens to prepare them for the first step in the process. The silk fibre is obtained from the cocoons by a delicate process known as reeling or filature . After the cocoons have been cleaned of the sticky substance that holds the filament in place,  the fine thread is taken from four to eight cocoons, twisted and combined with a number of other similarly twisted filaments to make a  thread that is wound onto a reel. The resulting thread, called raw silk, consists of up to 48 individual silk fibres.  As each cocoon is unwound it is replaced with another, making a continuous extremely long fibres.

The next step in the process is what is know as throwing, this is the twisting of one or more of the raw silk threads into a strand  strong  enough for weaving.  There are four different types of silk thread that can be produced  :

Organzine :  is the thread made by giving the raw silk thread a preliminary twist in one    direction and then twisting two or these threads together in the opposite direction

Crepe :  is similar to organzine but is twisted to a much greater extent

Tram :  is made by twisting two or more raw silk threads in one direction

Thrown singles :  are individual raw silk threads that are twisted in only one direction, the number of turns depending on the quality of the thread desired. Generally the organzine thread is used for the warp threads of the silk and the ram threads for the weft or filling.  Crepe thread  is used in the weaving of characteristic crinkly fabrics and single thread is used for sheer fabrics such as chiffon

Once the silk thread is spun it is ready for the weavers to do their magic and produce the exotic cloth we can use for so many luxurious items.  Silk is ideal for clothing, it is soft to the touch and keeps us warm in the cold and cool in the heat.  The soft drape of silk also lends itself to the most opulent draperies and other soft furnishings such as bed covers and cushions

There is no doubt that silk is an amazing fabric and to think that each cocoon only produces a small amount of usable silk - it takes about 5,500 silkworms to product 1 kg/2.2 lb of raw silk –  that is a lot of silkworms needed for one blouse.

Do You Know How To Identify Pure Silk?

Modern technology allows for the manufacture of synthetic fibre that can closely resemble silk, well in appearance anyway.  Some are so “good” that it is difficult to know the difference simply by look and touch. It can be difficult even for an experienced draper to judge silk from man made fibre.

However there is a way to identify silk, the flame test.  Take a small piece of the fabric,  a few fibres will do, and place them close to a flame, they will not burn only smolder and ball to a black, crispy ash and will smell like burning hair.  The synthetic fibre will recoil from the flame and will continue to burn rapidly when moved away from the flame.  A hard, dark ball appears at the end of the fibres and the smell  is like burnt plastic.

Silk will preserve its special quality for many years if worn and laundered with care.  Silk should be dry cleaned or gently washed by hand only - it is important to read the care label to know which is recommended.

You will find some of the most exotic and beautiful silk the world has to offer is exported from Vietnam.  However silk is not the only quality fabric available, there is an array of fabrics ranging from simple cottons through the spectrum to high end silks, velvets and brocades. 

You can read more about  textiles and if you are wanting to go offshore to purchase fabric suitable for your particular application, contact us, you will be amazed at the price and quality.

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