> >Although, even if what I've got is actually 100% silk, I have to > >say--I'm not thrilled with it. It doesn't look or feel very > >luxurious, has a short pile, and doesn't have much sheen at all.
The silk velvet I handled from the 1880s has a very short pile as well. In fact it looked and felt just like a good quality cotton velveteen (washed and dried to soften.) I couldn't tell which direction the pile ran in the sample though as it was made up into a cap. I saw a documentary about Shakespeare at the same time and a bolt of crimson silk velvet was rolled on a table which again was low sheen, fairly stiff to the hand and again looked like a good quality velveteen on screen. They were showing fabric because Shakespeare got a certain amount of red fabric as did other people for some purpose (James' Coronation I think) they were showing what the various fabrics could have been, they thought it likely he got wool though rather than the silk velvet. Needless to say I prefer velveteen I can get to the "silk" velvet I can get for dress before the early 20thC. > I haven't found a source of 100% silk velvet in England that I can > afford. What sells as silk velvet here has a rayon or viscose pile, > and a 18% silk ground. It burns like 100% silk, and looks like it, > but it is rather limp, without the body that silk velvet from earlier > times has. That's what the vast majority of what is sold actually is all around the world. If you can make burnout patterns, it's not pure silk. In fact the pile is a cellulose fibre.1 > Could you remind me of the bleach test, as I would like to test my > silk/viscose piece for fun. Just put a small piece in straight bleach. The silk will totally dissolve, the cellulose fibres will remain. At least after the first few hours. It'll break down eventually. Michaela de Bruce http://costumes.glittersweet.com -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.392 / Virus Database: 268.5.4/332 - Release Date: 4/05/2006 _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
