Hand Woven Silks & Cottons of Thailand

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Thai silk is considered on of the the finest fabrics in the world.

Silk fabric is created mainly by Silkworm Moths called Bombyx Mori. These larvae are fed on

 Mulberry leaves to produce the only natural fiber that is a filament fiber. This means that it can be one long continuous fiber if the conditions are products needed for manufacture are endless. The worm secretes a protein like substance when it enters its pupa stage of life. This protein is called Sericin and it is wrapped around the worm in a cocoon for protection. The most common method of harvesting Silk is to immerse the pupa in worm water and then cold water to soften the gum-like protein. The silk filament can then be refined and processed ready to be wound into skeins and then woven into various silk fabrics.

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There are four types of Thai Silk: Brocaded, Dupioni, Mudmee and Plain Weave. The following Thai silk pieces are all of the first three types...there are no plain weaves here.

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Brocaded Thai silk is a weave that gives the fabric an embossed or raised quality. The fabric is not at all smooth, but is raised in a manner that creates a pattern in and of itself.

Weaving brocaded silk requires the most expertise and patience of all the various silk weaves.  A “sarong bolt” ,1 1/2 meters or 4' 11", of quality brocaded Thai silk may take a weaver up to a month to produce.

 

Dupioni silk intentionally has many fabric knots, bumps, nots, bulges and “fatties” which give the fabric great textile character. These fabric inconsistencies are called slubs and are crucial to recognizing authentic Thai silk from its counterfeits .

Classic dupioni silk is woven from silk yarns made from the dupion silk cocoon. A dupion silk cocoon is where two silkworms often jointed together inhabit a single cocoon.  Dupion cocoons produce a very rough silk filament and so yarns made with dupion are rough and uneven.

Weaving with this “rough” silk yarn will yield a wonderfully textures fabric we call dupioni.

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Thai Mudmee weaving,called  Ikat weaving elsewhere,is done on old wood looms.

All Mudmee, which means tied together, fabric has a design or pattern on it...it is never a solid.

Standard woven fabric patterns are created by using different colors on both the horizontal ,weft yarns,and vertical, warp yarns, threads on a loom. The weaver can then create a desired fabric pattern from the multi-colored threads that her loom has been strung with. 

Mudmee weaving creates a fabric pattern in a wholly different way. Mudmee weaving creates a pattern with only a single thread ,almost always a horizontal weft yarn.

Mudmee yarn prior is repeatedly dyed different colors, depending on how many colors are desired for the pattern.

The exact areas of a thread that are to be dyed a certain color, are controlled by a tie-dying method. These ties prevent the dye from affecting the thread underneath them, just like simply tie-dying does.

By this method, a skilled mudmee artisan,not always the weaver, can create dyed patterns for a single weft thread. The pattern is then revealed as the vertical and horizontal threads are woven together.

Mudmee threads are not tied and dyed individually. Mudmee patterns are almost always patterns that repeat themselves across a bolt of fabric. Therefore, the mudmee thread is carefully looped across a surface or board that is proportional to the desired width of the fabric. The pattern maker then will tie together a group of threads at precise intervals to create and replicate the desired mudmee patter.

Mudmee originated Isaan,in Northeast Thailand.Mudmee weaving is the oldest form of pattern weaving in Thailand and dates back approximately 3,000 years when sericulture ,silk production,was first introduced to this area.There are hundreds, if not thousands of mudmee fabric designs. In the past, each  weaving village in Isaan would have their own patterns unique to a specific village. Mudmee fabric can be either silk or cotton.

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Plain weave Thai silk is a smooth ,not soft, textured fabric, unlike brocaded silk. Shimmering, an attribute for which Thai silk is famous, is usually easily seen in plain weaves. Undulate the fabric slowly and you’ll see it changing colors. This effect is done by using different colored silk yarns for the vertical ,the warp,and horizontal ,the weft....from mythailand.blog

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We sleep, but the loom of life never stops, and the pattern which was weaving when the sun went down is weaving when it comes up in the morning...Henry Ward Beecher