Characteristics of Silk 

It is only natural for silks to have some irregularities; this is the nature of 100% silk fabric.  Surface variations in silk are to be expected and are desirable.  Silk, after all, is a natural fiber, and variations in the weave of silk fabrics are characteristics of the fabric and are in no way to be considered defective.  The Sueded or Sand-washed silks have been washed and treated using special techniques for the final results.  The gentle shading and slight creases are characteristics of this method and are in no way to be considered as defective, but add to the luxury of a fine silk fabric.  

Sensuous Silk

For over 4,000 years, this sleek, sensuous cloth derived from a member of the caterpillar family has held the position as the “Queen of Textiles”.  It has been woven into luxurious tapestries, rugs, garments, and accessories for centuries.

There are two types of “silk worms” (as they are called).  The commercial or cultivated worm feeds on a diet of Mulberry leaves, producing the finest, silkiest fibers.  This specialized diet creates employment for thousands of workers.  The mulberry trees must be cared for, the leaves plucked, chopped and almost spoon-fed to the young larvae every few hours.  The trees are then pruned and sprayed for the next season’s crop.  The Japanese have developed a food substitute by mixing mulberry leaves, soybeans and cornstarch.  This could increase production and cut down extensively on labor costs.  IT TAKES 8,000 WORMS CONSUMING APPROXIMATELY 350 POUNDS OF MULBERRY LEAVES TO SUPPLY ENOUGH SILK FOR 10 BLOUSES!

There are over 500 species of wild silk worms which feast on oak and other leaves, fending for themselves.  The Tussah worm is considerably larger than the domestic variety, sometimes growing to six inches in length, producing an egg-sized cocoon.  China produces some 80% of the world’s Tussah silk.  The Assam Valley in India produces a golden colored Tussah which cannot be reeled off the cocoon as with other silks, but instead spun like cotton or wool.

Unusual eating machines, cultivated silk worms increase their body size 10,000 times in their 25 to 28 day life.  They moult four times in this period.  After a final moulting they find a place and begin cocooning.  They extrude a semi-liquid mixture of protein and a gummy substance called sericin.  This liquid silk is extracted at a rate of about a foot a minute, becoming when exposed to the air, the fiber that enshrouds them from the outside in, forming the cocoon.