Most people agree that silk originated in China, possibly starting thousands of years before the birth of Christ. The seemingly most plausible story of its origin concerns an emperor's wife and some cocoon dunking. Si Lin Chi was asked by husband Huang Ti to observe and study the destructive worms that for centuries had been a pest - they destroyed the leaves of mulberry trees that were cultivated for berries. According to the legend, the empress dropped a cocoon in hot tea and discovered that the cocoon was made from a long, continuous fiber. Her discovery gave her the title of "Goddess and Patroness of the Silkworm".
The methods of securing silk and weaving fabrics from it were held secret by the Chinese for nearly two thousand years. Alexander the Great was credited with discovering it in India during the Third Century B.C., though for centuries afterward Westerners could only import this mysterious new fabric. It was among the Chinese a capital offense to reveal the secrets of the trade or to export the eggs from which the worms were hatched, but that didn't stop two priests from smuggling some eggs in the hollows of their bamboo staffs and bringing them to Constantinople in 555 A.D. However, silk continued to be imported from Asia, as silk production in Europe was fraught with disaster and danger. Attempts to raise silkworms consistently failed, due to the difficulty of growing healthy mulberry trees. Even today, while many efforts have been made to produce silk in the United States and Europe, most raw silk still comes from China, Japan, Bengal, and other Asian countries, where labor is cheap, and the requisite Bombyx mori and mulberry leaves are plentiful.
Most commercial silk is produced by the larvae of the moth known as Bombyx mori. The insect, through the ages of human culture, has become thoroughly domesticated. So far as is known, the common silkworm does not exist in a wild state, and is as much a domestic animal as the Jersey cow or cocker spaniel. The best silkworms are those which feed on the leaves of the white mulberry tree, and go through their changes but once a year. The life history of the silkworm is like that of the whole moth family. The female, after coming from the cocoon, only lives three days to a week and lays 400 to 500 eggs. When the larvae hatch, they immediately start eating and molt about four times in 2 months. At their largest, they are about three inches long and are then ready to spin their cocoons, which takes three to six days. When they emerge from the cocoons, a month has elapsed, and the female moths will start this short cycle again with egg-laying.
Raw silk: baled skein silk yarn is lusterless and harsh in texture
since it still retains a large percentage of the gum-like sericin from the
glands of the silkworm. It is untreated, hence the classification "raw".
Organzine silk: A single cocoon can yield an
amazing 500 to 1000 yards of silk, depending on its size. The finest quality silk comes from the middle section of this long filament, because this is the part that is the most consistent and uniform in thickness.
Spun silk: this is made from
the broken filaments resulting from the moth's emergence from the cocoon;
these are spun into a continuous length fiber.
Tram silk: has the least twist
and consequently a higher luster, and this makes the resulting textile quite
shiny.
Bourette: more leftover silk, this time from the remains
of the spun silk operation. This type is used for weaving damask because
its dullness contrasts nicely with the shinier organzine variety.
Doppione:
made from the filaments of two cocoons that were intertwined due
to some friendliness on the part of the larvae (or not). The filaments are so
intertwined that it is impossible for them to be evenly reeled, resulting
in an uneven and nubby yarn. This kind is often confused with raw silk,
but unlike raw silk its lusterlessness is not caused by retention of gum.
Bombazine: fine-woven fabric with a silk warp and worsted weft.
Brocade:
lavish fabric with a raised design and a jacquard weave that often has gold
or silver threads woven in.
Chiffon: light, very thin and transparent fabric
made of tightly twisted yarns, sheerer than voile.
Crepe de chine: raw silk
that has a crinkled texture in the weave.
Damask: fabric with a figured
pattern which is part of the weave and is self-colored, meaning that the
design is woven, not printed.
Georgette (or Crepe Georgette): sheer, highly
creped fabric.
Organdy (or Organza): very lightweight and sheer fabric typically
used in evening dresses.
Shantung: fabric named for the province of China
from which it originated, it is traditionally a hand-loomed silk that is
soft and slightly textured, as uneven yarns are used for weaving it.
Tulle:
lightweight mesh.
Velvet: closely woven fabric with a short, dense pile
which produces a soft, rich texture. Silk velvet is the softest of the velvets.
Voile: semi-sheer fabric made of tightly twisted yarns.
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