Royal blue & black two-tone Thai silk enlarged 1,000% is background

Silk FAQ 1:
What is Thai silk?

Silk is the natural filament produced by the salivary glands of silkworms which are a type of moth that feeds on the mulberry bush. Silkworms are caterpillars, not worms. They spin their cocoons using a complex set of mechanisms within their bodies when they change from larva in to pupa. Thai silk is produced by Thai caterpillars raised on Thai mulberry leaves by Thai weavers in Thailand, primarily on the Korat Plateau in the country's northeast region. Chaiyaphum is just north of Korat province.

Raw silk is bumpy and irregular. The completed cocoon is pulled from the mulberry bush and placed in a vat of boiling water, which separates the silk thread of the cocoon from the caterpillar inside.

The silk from Thailand's caterpillars varies in color from light gold to very light green. A cocoon is comprised of one thread that is 500-1,500 meters long. A single filament is too thin to use alone so many are combined to make a thicker, more practical yarn.

Our weavers wash these raw silk threads, bleach them, then soak them in vats of hot dyes. Afterwards, they wash the silk thread again, stretch it, and put it through a final dying process. When that is finished, they wind the threads onto spools or drums in preparation for weaving using traditional hand operated looms. See our Weavers Photo Tour!