Chinese Silk
How silk is made and the history of the luxurious material.
History
Silk was first developed in ancient China around 3500 BCE and was originally designed for an empress named Leizu. Silk was made for emperors to give as gifts or to keep as as sign of importance. But quickly spread to other places in china and eventually into the rest of Asia then slowly around the rest of the world.
How It Is Made
A) They sort the cocoons by colour, size, shape and texture as these affect the quality of the silk.
B) Heat and cool silk to remove the sticky substance called silk gum or sericin.
C) Unwind the filament from the cocoon to make 300-600 meters.
D) Silk is reeled into skeins, which are packed in bundles called 'books' then shipped around the world.