Learn about Silk
A BRIEF HISTORY OF SILK
Silk is a natural fabric of animal origin. Unlike linen or cotton, which are of vegetable origin.
Silk comes from the cocoon of the silkworm. The silk thread is unbroken and extremely strong, almost comparable to steel.
Rare and precious, silk has enchanted men from the day of its discovery to the present day. It is a wonderful fabric to work with and today I would like to share with you my knowledge. I did some research for this article I hope you will like it!
The legend
The discovery of silk lies in the story of a Chinese princess.
Once upon a time, there was a kingdom full of mulberry trees. The king loved these trees. He would spend hours watching the great leaves move slowly in the wind. But soon he noticed that the trees were not doing so well. The leaves were all being eaten by a mysterious insect.
The king was a busy man, so he sent the princess to watch over the trees. The princess sat under a tree with a cup of tea, waiting to see who was responsible for the disaster. After a few moments, something fell into her cup, and when she took it out, the cocoon unravelled into a silken thread.
Chinese silk remained a well-kept secret for more than 2000 years. Anyone who tried to steal silkworms, cocoons or even eggs was put to death!
How silk came to Europe
China traded with the rest of the world via what is now known as the Silk Road. It crossed deserts and mountains to connect Asia with Europe and bring the precious materials to the West.
For a long time, only China knew the secret of silk. It was a state secret and anyone caught with silkworms could be sentenced to death.
It remain so until two monks managed to bring back stolen silkworms, hiding them in their walking sticks, to the Eastern Roman Empire. Dangerous undertaking that could have cost them their lives.
However, even with the worms, it took almost 1000 years before the country of Sicily really mastered silk making and produced it for the rest of Europe.
In France, silk flourished during the reign of Charles the 8th. The king planted mulberry trees in the south of France and encouraged the development of silk factories, particularly in Lyon. Around 1850, French silk reached a good level and Lyon became a famous place for silk.
Edo Japan saved the French silk factories by sending silkworms. The silk blight was killing all the silkworms and thanks to Japan, France was able to continue production until Louis Pasteur found a cure and the silkworm was saved.
Today
Today, China remains the world leader in the silk industry, controlling 90% of the world’s production. But silk accounts for only 0.2% of the world's textile fibres. In fact, it is still rare and much more difficult and time-consuming than other textiles.
How to make silk?
The eggs of the silkworm are placed on grids in hot rooms and the heat causes the eggs to hatch. The worms are then raised and fed mulberry leaves. They eat a lot of leaves before they can form their cocoons. The worms produce a continuous thread that will form their cocoon, when the cocoon is done they are suffocated by heat and the extraction of the silk thread can begin.
The cocoons are placed in water to dissolve the glue and a unique thread is taken from each cocoon.
The thread can be up to 1000m long. About 10 threads are needed to make raw silk, a strong and thick thread that can be used for weaving.
Silkworms cannot survive in the wild.
It takes 6000 silkworms and 200kg of mulberry leaves to produce 1kg of silk.
Today, silkworms are no longer bred in Europe and luxury brands usually use silk from Brazil, where the quality guarantee is better than in China.
Worm ready for cocooning.
Main characteristics
Drapes nicely
Strong fiber
Poor heat conductor
Good for dyes
Wrinkle resistant
What is silk used for usually?
Trimmings
Lingerie (underwear)
Wedding dress
Shirt
Gloves
Scarves
Bed sheet
Pants
Coat
Bag
Hat
Baby clothes
Conclusion
With many applications in the clothing industry, silk is also used in medicine and researches are underway to expand the uses to other fields.
The story from the Chinese princess to our use today is truly amazing. I hope you’ve learn something interesting here!
Please let me know in the comments if you are using silk in your creations.
Lucky sewing!