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Silk & rayon mix | Silk & linne mix | Gabardine wool | Raw silk | Pure wool ]

Thai Silk  

No one knows when textiles were first woven in Northeast Thailand. A tantalizing find of some ancient silk threads from an excavation at Ban Chiang, an obscure hamlet in the Northeast, has been interpreted by some archaeologists as evidence that silk was produced in the area 3,000 years ago. This view is controversial.

Sculpture and decorations from the Mon Dvaravati era (6th to 9th century) depict a great variety of woven garments. The textiles shown in the stucco statuary could have been imported, but seem more likely to have been domestic products.

When the Thai people began to infiltrate the area around one thousand years ago, they probably brought with them from southern China skills in sericulture (raising silkworms and harvesting the threads of the cocoons) and weaving which had been practiced in China since antiquity.

Certainly the silks of the Northeast, with their shimmering iridescent colors and nubby texture, have been a traditional folk craft there for hundreds of years. Village women raise their own silkworms and spin and dye the threads, then weave the fabric on primitive hand looms. It is painstaking and labor intensive work. It can take the combined threads hand teased from 8,000 or more cocoons to make enough silk for a single dress. The dazzling and vivid cloth the rural women create has been a prized possession of the Thai nobility throughout the history of the kingdom. Some colors and weaves were reserved only for the King and a few top ranking noblemen. When Thai silk was first introduced to Europeans, by a Thai diplomatic mission sent by King Narai to the court of Louis XIV, it caused a sensation.

Silk production declined after cheaper mass produced textiles from Europe, China and Japan began to be imported into Thailand in large quantities in the 19th century. In rural areas the traditional craft techniques were maintained, but it wasn't until after World War II that an American named Jim Thompson saw the commercial possibilities. Through a combination of dedication, luck and clever marketing, he was able to revive the craft, and turn it into the thriving industry it is today.

Cotton

Cotton is a soft fiber that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant (Gossypium spp.), a shrub native to the tropical and subtropical regions of both the Old World and the New World. The fiber is most often spun into thread and used to make a soft, breathable textile, which is the most widely used natural-fiber cloth in clothing today. The English name descends from the Arabic word qutun, meaning cotton fiber.

 Cotton fiber (once processed to remove seeds and traces of wax, protein, etc.) consists of nearly pure cellulose, a natural polymer. Cotton production is very efficient, in the sense that, ten percent or less of the weight is lost in subsequent processing to convert the raw cotton bolls into pure fiber. The cellulose is arranged in a way that gives cotton fibers a high degree of strength, durability, and absorbency. Each fiber is made up of twenty to thirty layers of cellulose coiled in a neat series of natural springs. When the cotton boll (seed case) is opened the fibers dry into flat, twisted, ribbon-like shapes and become kinked together and interlocked. This interlocked form is ideal for spinning into a fine yarn.

Cashmere Wool

Cashmere wool is wool obtained from the Kashmir goat. The name derives from an archaic spelling of Kashmir. It is sometimes incorrectly applied to any extremely soft wool, similar to Champagne being used to describe any sparkling wine.

Cashmere is characterized as luxuriously soft, with high capability and loft. It is noted as providing a natural light-weight insulation without bulk. Cashmere is extremely warm (in order to serve its original purpose of protecting goats from cold mountain temperatures.) Fibers are highly adaptable and are easily constructed into fine or thick yarns, and light to heavy-weight fabrics. Appropriate for all climates, a high moisture content allows insulation properties to change with the relative humidity in the air.