Silk Fabric

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The Origins of Silk Fabric

The source of silk fabric in China was a highly guarded secret for centuries. Visitors were told the fiber came from the bark of trees, but in actuality it comes from caterpillars. The process and secret were finally shared (stolen, really). Since then, the growing of the "worms" and production of this fiber (called sericulture) has become a huge industry in several countries. It is a natural filament fiber, unwound from cocoons, in long continuous strands.

Silkworms aren’t actually worms, they are caterpillars that grow into moths, if allowed to live their full life cycle. The eggs are incubated for about 30 days, and once hatched; the tiny worms are fed a diet of mulberry leaves until they mature to full size (about 3 inches long). The fully grown caterpillar then surrounds itself with a cocoon. Several days later, the majority of cocoons are heated or boiled, so that the cocoon can be unwound to reveal the filament. (Some are left to mature, so they can lay the next eggs). The cocoons vary in size, and if unbroken, will contain about 300-1,500 yards of filament.

The long, unbroken filaments are so fine that it takes up to 20 separate cocoons to produce a single fiber strand, which is then spun with a second fiber strand (or more) to get a usable strand for the fabric weaving. The finest quality fabrics are made from these long fibers.

The luxury fiber

Silk fabric is considered by most sewers to be a luxury fabric, with a lustrous, slippery feel. But there are weaves and varieties that have very different properties. It can be stiff, heavy weight, non lustrous, have nibs, or can be very sheer, supple, and have intense colors and prints. There are many synthetic fabrics made to imitate the wonderful properties of silk fabric, and it is often blended with other fibers to keep the cost down.

Broken fibers (from matured worms that have broken out of the cocoon to lay eggs), waste fibers and poorer quality cocoon parts are used to make silk fabric that is “spun” or “raw”. Douppioni is made with a double thread (from two caterpillars that spin a double cocoon together), which makes a thick and thin type of fiber.

Tussah is not cultivated, and is made from caterpillars that feed on oak trees. Fabric names such as pongee, and shantung are tussah – the fabric is not lustrous, and has a coarse and irregular surface.

How to care for Silk

This fabric can be dry cleaned or handwashed. Since dry cleaning is expensive and not a very environmental friendly process, hand washing is preferable, if the colors are not too intense.

It is best to try hand washing a small piece of your fabric first, to see if the dyes will run. If they do, you can try rinsing repeatedly in cold water until the water is clear. However, do not agitate the fabric, as this will cause it to shrink.

When you hand wash your fabric, use lukewarm water and very mild soap, such as Woolite, or something made for washing "delicates". Gently squeeze the fabric, then rinse in cool water. Roll in a towel, and hang (to prevent wrinkles) until almost dry.

If the fabric gets wrinkled, it can be pressed with a "silk" setting on the iron, on the wrong side of the fabric. Using steam may cause spots.

One of the nicest characteristics of silk is that hand washing seems to renew the fibers - making the fabric seem softer to the skin.

We have some terrific silk prints in our
online fabric store.

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