Silk Fibers |
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From: Susan Carlson When I mentioned I was working on a silk on silk (40 ct) brooch) there were gasps in the crowd. Actually I have cross stitched on 40 ct. raw linen from Nordic Needle before so did not think it would be much different. BUT the threads are super thin!! There are a few tips for working with silk gauze I learned at SOCS this yr:
[1] Use a dark (black or dark blue) napkin or cloth behind your work.
[2] Have a great light source
[3] Use a sharp needle
[4] Use magnification if you need it
[5] Sort your silks in envelopes to keep subtle colors separated
[6] Try to work one color at a time (do a large area first) and plot your traveling before you stitch-no traveling allowed; it shows through the silk.
[7] Color in the chart with a similar color to the silk. This way there is less miscounting; you don't want to rip it on silk.
[8] Keep your hands VERY clean. It is not recommended to wash silks in any project.
Stitching on silk gauze goes much quicker than regular cross stitch because you are making half an "x" (you are actually doing the tent stitch). I was working with A Soie's Soie d'Alger silk thread. When working from Left to right, you make your half cross from Top Right to Bottom Left. When working from Right to Left, you make your half cross Bottom Left to Top Right.
Where do I get my resources you ask? This project was a kit from a class that I took at the Spirit of Cross Stitch Festival in Valley Forge. It was a Crossed Wing Collection and the quality is excellent. I bought an extra piece of silk gauze to try another pattern when I am done with the brooch. Want to know what I like best about silk on silk projects? You get an heirloom quality piece that will last for generations. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed.
Crossed Wong Collection
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From Stitcher's World magazine
Filament silks are created from long, continuous strands as they are unwound from cocoons. They have a very high sheen.
Spun silks are made of shorter fibers. They come from broken cocoons or the beginning and end of cocoons. This gives them a creamier luster.
Kreinik's Silk Serica is a filament silk and is used just as it comes off the spool.
Kreinik's Silk Mori is a spun silk that comes in strands of six threads, which can be separated easily by holding the strand between the thumb and forefinger of one hand while gently pulling on a single thread with the other hand.
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From: Dawn Draheim >Anne Gwin wrote:
Kreinik has 8 different kinds of silk floss, of varying weights and textures and amount of sheen. (I took both of the Kreinik classes at SOXS Austin...I thought they were a great value, you get so much cool pretty fibers to play with! :) ) They're of two main types: spun and filament (filament has a greater amount of lustre).
Spun:
Soie d'Alger -- 7 ply, easily divided, comes in 416 colors
Soie Noppee -- a single, thick strand; comes in 52 colors
Filament:
Soie Gobelin -- 2 ply, easily divided (each strand is twisted), available in 82 colors
Soie Perlee -- 3 ply, easily divided (each strand is twisted), available in 52 colors
Soie Platte -- no ply, also called 'flat' silk because it's completely without twist, *very* high lustre, availalbe in 52 colors
Ping Ling -- 6 ply, can be separated but individual strands have only a small amount of twist, available in 112 colors.
In class we got a reel or skein of each floss and got to play with each of them a bit. I liked the Mori and d'Alger the best, I think, but Perlee and Gobelin were also lovely to work with. The only one that I had trouble with was Platte but I think it's the sort of thing that you'd need to practice with before you'd be comfortable using it.
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From: kimble5@juno.com
I've seen so many things on silk recently that I thought I might throw this in. It was from an article in "The Cross Stitcher" of August 1991.
"Silk differs from cotton in that it possesses greater strength - 1.4 times as strong as steel of the same diameter - and a translucency that absorbs and reflects light, giving the finished product a beautiful, shimmering lustre. Silk also has 3 times more yardage per pound than cotton of equal diameter. Because of its smooth surface, silk flows easily through Aida, Canvas or any other fabric you choose to work with, and adds lustre unsurpassed by any other fiber. Completed projects gain an immediate heirloom quality to be saved by generations of loving families or friends.
Silk is easier to use than cotton because it is "smooth" whereas cotton is "fuzzy" due to differing cellular structures. Silk remains lustrous and strong, while cotton loses its lustre and strength over time. In fact, archeologists found that silk in China, buried in tombs for 3000 years, was the only fiber that remained intact and recognizable. Also, in Sweden, while dredging a channel in the harbor where an old warehouse had burned, black silk skeins buried under mud for 27 years were discovered. After washing, they found that the color, strength and lustre still remained.
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From: Brenda Voss You have the option between spun silks (similar to cotton floss in that it has a "direction") and filament silks (which are one long filament of silk from the cocoon and have exceptional sheen) in the silk arsenal. I am most familiar with the Kreinik threads so I can tell you that their Silk Mori is spun and Silk Serica is filament. I also have a bit of Ping Ling which is filament. Spun silk strands should be separated and recombined just like cotton. Filament strands can be used right off the reel if you wish or can be separated.
Silk looks delicate but is actually a very strong fiber. Short lengths are used to maintain maximum sheen. I keep my silk dry at all times and make certain hands are clean. I use gauze mounted in mat board so I don't have to touch the fabric/fibers as much. I am becoming quite addicted to silk and think the only real downside is there aren't enough colors...yet!
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From: DWaybri367@aol.com
An article in Just CrossStitch 6/98 called, "The Beauty of Silk Threads by Kreinik Manufacturing" indicates that silk threads will outlast cotton and synthetic threads, making them ideal for heirlooms pieces.
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From: Ellysmith1@aol.com
Although silk is a very strong fiber it is extremely vulnerable. It is an animal fiber composed of protein which can be deteriorated by strong alkalis. In high humidity these fibers can absorb about 20 percent of their weight in water, and when wet, they lose strength. It is the most sensitive of all natural fibers to sunlight. Air pollution can take a terrible toll on it. The sunlight accelerates decomposition, while even the oxygen in the atmosphere causes fibers to lose strength and eventually be destroyed. Silk is also a poor conductor of electricity, especially at low humidity. It builds up static charges quickly. Silk decomposes in rot producing conditions such as moisture.
Cotton is a cellulose fiber, a plant fiber, and unlike silk, it has an excellent longevity record, but it can be damaged under certain conditions prolonged exposure to strong daylight will cause yellowing in bleached or very white cotton fabrics. Cotton has strong resistance to alkalies and weak resistance to acids. It is much strong when wet and will disintegrate when overbleached. Lastly, silk is very susceptible to moths and carpet beetles whereas cotton and linen textiles are not generally consumed by insects.
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From: Dorsey Not always, it depends on the thickness of the silk and the count of the fabric and weather or not you like a heavy coverage on a lighter coverage.
There are 3 thickness of silk thread that I personally have used. Caron and Needle Necessities are the same thickness. YLI silk is about half the thickness of Caron and Needle Necessities, so you would need to use twice as many strands. YLI's 100 diner silk is about the same thickness as #8 PERL cotton, so you would only use 1 strand for 28 count--for example.
So here's a very general guide line for using silk on 28 count fabric:
Carson: 2 strands
One other note here--I use a needle one size smaller than normal when stitching with silk. For example on 28 count fabric I use a # 10 John James blunt tab. Needle. Or I use a # 28 needle. It may cause me to have to thread each strand individually, but I find that because there is less area in the eye for the thread to travel and wear -- the thread doesn't fray and wear.
I can stitch using an 18" length of silk thread, no fraying. Also I do not wet my silk floss before I stitch. I don't find a need for this. Others do, and silk can be wetted--but I find this unnecessary.
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How To Stitch With Silk
Kreinik Mfg. Co., Inc. in Parkersburg, West Virginia, offers stranded silks in over 300 vibrant colors. It is recommended that you order enough of each color for your project to obtain the same dye lot. To ensure lasting beauty if your piece becomes soiled, have it dry cleaned. Do not wet block any silk work. If you are using silk for highlights only, do all other areas first, block the work, and then complete the canvas with the silk. This process also applies to highlighting over any other yarn.
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From: Ruth Ann I love to stitch with silk. Silk comes in 12-ply strands. You will need to separate each strand and use how ever many strand the patterns calls for two or three strand on linen. For the best effect use a laying tool to keep the strand flat. This helps keep it from twisting as you work with it. (I just like my projects to lay flat and not twist, but you do not have to use this tool.) A tapestry needle will work fine for a laying tool. I found that working with silk is a lot like working with DMC floss, only that it will fray easier.
I wash my projects after I finish with them. But, if you want to make sure that the dye does not run you can soak the thread in cold water before using it and let it dry.
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From: Dorsey Use a John James #10 blunt beading needle instead of a regular tabastry needle. The eye is smaller and thus the thread can't travel around the eye causing it to fray as much.
Use a non-greasy hand lotion befor you start stiting to make hands as smooth as possible---aging for snagging the threads. Utter cream is the one I use.
I don't recommend that you wrap your silk floss on a bobbin. But in stead store it in a plastic bag with the corner snipped off to allow air to circulate in the bag. I use the snipped corner to pull my floss out. And Silk floss comes in either 12 plys or 6. YLI is finer than most others but offers a different effect than some of the other silk threads. It's the one that comes in 6 ply. It works as equally well on evenweaves, linen and high count silk gauze. And on 40 count gauze I use 2 plys of thread so that will give you some ides of it's thickness. On 28 count linen or evenweave I use all 6 plys.
Contray to popular belief you can wash silk. I use cold water an Orvas for all my silk. VBG---yes even the gauze. And as yet I've never had a problem with the dyes running or gauze falling apart. And most of what I do on the gauze is hardanger work.
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From: Elizabeth Frank Use moderate to short lengths. Nothing longer than elbow to wrist.
Be careful of which end you thread on your needle. Spun silk (what theyuse in silk floss) has a direction to it. Grasp the end of a ply in one hand and the whole thread in the other and gently pull. If the ply comes out easily, thread that end in your needle. For this same reason, I don't like the results I get when I loop start silk. One side inevitably frays and shreds.
Don't try to squeeze that last stitch in with the tail of the thread. They eye of the needle rubs on the thread as you stitch so the thread up to about a mm down from the eye gets slightly worn. When you hold the completed piece up to the light, that last stitch will reflect the light differently that the rest of the stitches. If you are stitching anything like smyna's or eyelets, the effect is really noticeable.
Don't use the same needle for silk that you use for metallics. I usually just use a brand new needle when I stitch with silk. But then, I got through needles fairly quickly. The metallics abrade the inside of the eye of the needle. When you use it for silk after stitching with a metallic thread, the needle eye chews up the silk fibers.
Don't use old, tarnished needles with silk thread. The outside of the needle is slightly rough and will disturb the silk fibers of previous stitches. This is most noticeable with eyelets and causes fuzzy centers instead of a clean hole.
When stitching with silk, keep your hands clean and don't use hand creams before stitching. A lot of the oils in common hand creams leaves a film on the silk that dulls the sheen. A few that contain lanolin actually will yellow the silk.
Nothing destroys silk faster than bleach.
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From: Dorsey On 32 count if going over 2--I would use 2 strands of floss. If you using silk such as Carlons, Needle Necessities to that weight I again would use 2. If your using 1000 diner silk I would use 1. And for YLI silk I'd use 4 strands.
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From: Marilyn M. Shesko I'm a student of Japanese embroidery (see http://www.japaneseembroidery.com/ for information on instruction, examples of pieces, and a source for materials).
One of the things they teach us for situations where the silk has picked up a lot of static is to run the thread across your forehead. (You can't be wearing makeup on your forehead, obviously!) The slight amount of body oil immediately tames the silk.
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Silk Glossary
SPUN SILK is silk which comes from a pierced cocoon or one from which the moth has already emerged. Because of the way light reflects on the short fiber lengths, spun silk has a rich "creamy" lustre.
FILAMENT SILK comes from the unwinding of the cocoon and each ply may be up to or more than 1 mile long. This silk is very lustrous and many filaments are combined to make a single yarn.
MULBERRY SILK is another name for the silk produced by silkworms fed on the leaves of cultivated mulberry trees, as distinguished from wilk silk formed from silkworms feeding on oak and other leaves. This is a premium
silk and its natural color is cream.
TUSSAH SILK also called wild silk, comes from the cocoons of uncultivated silkworms, usually found in India and Northern China. It is less lustrous than mulberry silk and is coarser, tan in color and not easily bleached. However, it is stronger and more resistant to sunlight and chemicals than cultivated silk."
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Check out the Au ver a soie website to learn even more about caring for silk.
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