Inside my Fabric Book: Silk

As I mentioned in my previous post I got a start on my Fabric Book, one of my New Years Resolutions. I mentioned near the end of last year my useless fabric knowledge and it seemed, based on your comments,  that I was not alone. So this week I implemented my plan and started my Fabric Book.

Here is my first page:

Hand writing out the facts I have collected from my sewing books and online is the best way for me to retain what I have learn’t about each fabric type and it makes an easy reference for me to go back to. I stitched in a little snippet of fabric  for added touchy-feely-ness.

I thought as I fill up my book I would share my pages with you and we can all learn together. I can’t promise any order or regularity to these posts since I’ll just be adding them as I use or buy new fabric but I’ve created a category so you can look them up later on.

Silk

Women striking and preparing silk, painting by Emperor Huizong of Song, early 12th century.

• Strongest natural fibre – a steel filament the same diameter will break first
• Used in China since 27^th century BC
• Delicate in appearance, it’s triangular prism-like structure gives it the shimmering appearance
• Absorbent, crease resistant, holds in body heat
• Hand-wash or dry-clean only, dries quickly
• Iron garments inside out on low setting
• Weakened by sunlight and perspiration
• Protein fibre and usually burns readily, not necessarily with a steady flame, smells like burning hair
• Thread should ball up and turn to ash when lit. Ash is crispy/brittle, easily crumbled
• Thread should not continue to burn after flame is removed

The main silk roads between 500 B.C. and 500 A.D

I’ll be keeping the definitions in my book short and succinct but if you’d like to learn a bit more about the history of silk the images above link to an interesting Wikipedia article.

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