Guetermann only produces spun silk, whereas Pipers and Bart & Francis both sell reeled silk and spun silk.
In silk production cocoons are softened in hot water and then skilled hands find the ends of the silk fibre which is then reeled of in a continuous length (about one Km or longer) and then bunches of those filaments are twisted together to make a length of thread. This is reeled silk, filament silk, nett silk, gloss silk. A firm twist for organzine, a medium twist for 'ordinary' sewing and minimal twist for embroidery floss. Any damaged cocoons, broken filaments etc are used to make spun silk in which short lengths of silk filament are spun together in a similar way to cotton spinning to make spun silk. Reeled silk is very shiny and slippery, and very strong, sometimes too strong for stitching seams. Spun silk is soft and matt and generally better for use in a sewing machine. If you are not sure whether a silk thread is reeled or spun look at it with a magnifying lens; you can see the tiny ends of the filaments all along the thread whereas reeled silk (that isn't damaged) is smooth and glossy. Schappe silk is spun silk which has had the natural sercin gum removed (by fermentation). Brenda On 5 Mar 2012, at 14:01, Sue Babbs wrote: > I heartily agree with Joepie's comments on Piper's silks - also no connection > to or interest in Piper's silks. The only Guttermann silk which I have seen > in recent years has been matt, so looks more like cotton. My favorite > Piper's silk is the twisted gloss silk, which has a wonderful shine to it, > and you can get gimp thicknesses to go with it, if that is a consideration. > > I don't know how fine a thread you are looking for, but Bart & Francis also > carry a wonderful range: > http://www.bart-francis.be/index.php?action=home&lang=EN Brenda in Allhallows www.brendapaternoster.co.uk - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003/albums/most-recent
