I've read that lace made with silk is softer and drapes better than cotton
lace. Since I want to make lace for dolls house dolls' costumes, a softer
lace would be better. Can anyone tell me if silk is difficult to work with?
I'm a beginner and was wondering if it's slippery or difficult to control.
Which type of silk works best - spun, floss, filament?
The softness of thread produced from any fibre depends so much on how it is spun. Think of silk organdy fabric, which is very stiff - not because it is starched but because of the way the thread is spun and how the organdy is woven. Then think of the finest soft silks and how soft they are. Both silk, but very different.
For handling - silk has its own mind. The filaments easily catch on themselves, on any roughness (even the most minute snags can tangle silk) and it is sometimes more difficult to fasten off because the silk sometimes wants to undo itself from your knots. These problems are the most pronounced with filament silk, and the least problem will be with spun silk.
Despite the problems in handling silk, it is also stronger than cotton, so you have less problem with accidental breakage. For a beginner wanting to use silk, I think Pipers spun silk would be a good choice. The Spun Silk 210/2 would be a good size for the miniature lace patterns I have seen, though it is very fine. You might want to start with their 140/2 and a slightly larger pattern until you get used to it.
By the way, you can see Pipers' comparison chart at http://www.pipers-silks.com/products.html
There is something else I'd like to mention: making miniature lace means making lace without being able to see it. The pinheads fill the work area and you cannot see the lace until the finished work emerges from the back of the pins. As you're a beginner, you might find this very frustrating as you have no idea what mistakes you've made until it's too late to fix them. You might want to think about making a pattern in a larger size until you know it, and then tackling your miniature one.
Hope this helps.
Adele North Vancouver, BC (west coast of Canada)
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