What Is Silk Cloth Weaving?

Silk cloth is used in a variety of industries.

Weaving is the process of interlacing horizontal and vertical strings of various fabrics, including silk, cotton or linen. The silk threads used in weaving derive from the prepared cocoons of moths, or threads produced by spiders. Weaving silk fabrics was invented by the Chinese and is still predominately performed in Asian countries where the silk worms originate. They can be used for a variety of garments, for furniture and for certain equipment, including parachutes and bulletproof vests.

History

Silk was discovered in China.

According to Chinese mythology, silk was discovered by accident around 2700 B.C. when an empress investigated the decline of mulberry trees and discovered that small white worms were eating the trees. The empress collected some of the cocoons containing the perpetrators and dropped one of them into warm water whereupon it unraveled. When the empress tried to remove the cocoon, she discovered that it consisted of one very long, continuous thread that could be used for weaving without prior spinning. Silk production remained a Chinese secret until the 6th century A.D. when Eastern monks, in an act of industrial espionage, smuggled silk worms to Byzantine. Even though silk production and weaving spread throughout Europe, the majority of the trade is still performed in Asia today, with China and India as the major exporting countries.

Types

The cocoons of 1000 moths produces the silk for one shirt.

There are approximately 70 different silk moth species, but only four are of a commercial value for the weaving of silk cloth. The dominant silk type derives from the mulberry silk which is mainly produced in China. Tasar silk comes from silkworms feeding on herb plants and oaks natural to the Asian region and muga silk is produced from worms feeding on a som or soalu tree. Eri silk is made from the cocoons of worms eating castor leaves. After feeding on their preferred diet, the worms spin a cocoon which is harvested and soaked to remove the sticky substance that binds the threads.

Fabrics

The characteristics of Jacquard silk are woven patterns.

Silk can be woven into a large variety of cloth. Chiffon and China Silk are the most common fabrics and they are among the more affordable garments. Crepe de Chine, woven with twisted silk threads, is recognizable through its knobby surface. Charmeuse has a satin shine and is mostly known for its use in women's underwear. Dupioni is a stiff silk commonly used in ball gowns while Shantung silk traditionally has been made from silk threads with irregularities that create a rougher surface. Woven silk that have patterns are called Jacquard while Noil is made from recycled silk waste products and looks similar to cotton.

Spider Silk

Threads made by spiders can be woven into cloth.

Threads produced by spiders contain silk and are woven into cloth called gossamer. Unlike silk worms, spiders cannot be farmed as they have cannibalistic tendencies and will kill each other when kept in confined spaces, which limits the use of the threads for commercial purposes. Spider silk is considerably stronger than most man-made textiles and produced with little or no effect on the environment. While silk cloth made from cocoons are used in fashion, the woven fabrics from spider silk are tested in engineering to develop industrial goods, including seat belts, nettings or even panels in the boat building and automobile trades.

References

• Georgia College and State University; The Art and History of Weaving; Susan C. Wylly; 2001
• Stanford University: BYZANTINE SILK; Smuggling and Espionage in the 6th Century CE; Dr. Patrick Hunt; 2011
• Indian Silk: Silk
• Magical Silk: Types of Silk Fabric
• Vintage Design Studio: Glossary
• University of Bristol: Spider Silk
• Science Daily; How Spiders Create Silk Threads: Lowering pH Regulates Spider’s Silk Production, Researchers Find; 05/17/10
• University of Bristol: Application of Spider Silk
• Treenway Silks: Secrets of Silk

Resources

• New York Times; Gossamer Silk, From Spiders Spun; Randy Kennedy; 09/22/09
• Engin Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Engineering Properties of Spider Silk; Ko, Kawabata, Inoue, Niwa, Fossey, Song