THE SILK

Silk comes from an insect larvae called mulberry silkworm.
It is the material of the cocoon before the worm became a butterfly.

It is a protein fiber wich can be used to make textiles. The silk fiber can be woven on a loom.


The silk moth lays the eggs on a special paper. The silkworm eat fresh muberry leaves. After 35 days the caterpillar is prepared to build the cocoon. It uses liquid silk and nedd 2-3 days to finish the cocoon. The fiber is about 1 mile long. To take the silk the caterpillars were killed. The silk farmers boil the cocoon.









The main producers of silk are now China, India, Uzbekistan, Brasil, Iran, Thailandia, Vietnam, Korea, Romania y Japan.


History:

The first person to wear silk was the chinese emperor at 1500 b.c.
At this time only the Emperor and his family were allowed to use silk.

The first examples of silk found were from 3630 b.c.

Because of his shimmery it was very appreciated and with the time the silk get very famous in all the world. The tissue obtained is very soft, light and beautiful.