spun+silk

Yarn spun from waste silk unsuitable for throwing.

See Silk Yarn Counts.

This is a large export trade. The yarn is obtained from silk waste, under which inferior cocoons and waste from reeling raw silk are included. It is spun in 65's, 71's singles, and 135's and 120's two-fold for export. Other counts are used locally for Fugi and other fabrics. It is graded in two varieties, Honneri and Hanneri.

Silk yarns are composed of a number of silk filaments twisted together, usually 8 to 12 to form a thread. The filaments have a natural coating of gum which gives strength and elasticity, but reduces lustre. The gum must be boiled off if lustre is wanted, which may be done either in the yarn state or when woven in cloth. Silk yarns are divided into two classes, " thrown silk" and " spun silk," the first being yarns that are made by the processes of reeling and throwing, and the second consisting of yarns spun from waste silk. Thrown Silk, or Net Silk comprises organzine and tram yarns, organzine being made from the most perfect cocoons and used for warps. Tram is made from the inferior cocoons and used as weft. All silk contains a proportion of natural gum, and the amount of gum removed give rise to the following terms: - Boiled-off Silk - Yarn which has had all the gum removed, and has the highest sheen (see Boiled-off). Hard Silk - Yarn that has not undergone any boiling-off process. Ecru Silk - Yarn boiled to remove about 3 per cent to 5 per cent of the gum by light washing in lukewarm water. Souple Silk - Yarn boiled to remove about one-sixth of the gum. Bengal Silk - See Bengal Silk. Berlin Silk - A silk yarn made for fancy hand work. It is produced by doubling from 4 to 8 twisted singles grege by a right-hand twist; then again doubling three of these with a left-hand twist. The thread is very round, smooth, and hard, also known as cordon-net. Blond Silk - A special silk yarn made by doubling three grege threads left-hand twist, then doubling three of these together with right-hand twist. Brights - Silk which has been entirely de-gummed in the skein and then dyed. Bourette, Bourrette Yarn - A low grade of silk yarn made from the waste produced by schappe spinning. Canton Silk - See Canton Silk. Chiffon Twist - Single raw silk threads, 50 or more turns per inch. Used for chiffons, crepe-de-chines, etc. Crepe-de-Chine - Hard twist tram silk, about 40 to 70 turns per inch. Made from 3 to 5 raw silk ends. Usually woven as weft. Crepe Georgette - Hard twist raw silk usually made from two threads 13/15 deniers, 50 or more turns, both right and left twist, used for crepe georgettes as warp and weft. Crepe Twist - This is tram silk hard twisted, having from 30 to 100 turns per inch. Used for making fabrics of a crepe character both all silk and mixtures. Cordonnet Silk - See Berlin Silk; also under Cordonnet. Eri Silk - A raw silk obtained from the wild silkworm " Attacus ricini." Flock Silk - A general term used to indicate silk yarns made from the outer uneven parts of the cocoon. Floss Silk - Used principally for embroidery purposes. It is a thrown silk and made by doubling two thick raw singles with right-hand twist together with a left-hand twist. Galette Silk - A coarse silk yarn made from waste. Grenadine Silk - Organzine silk with a large number of turns per inch. Jaspe Silk - Silk warps printed in the hank. Ombre Silk - Skein dyed yarn in a gradation of shades, which run in sequence of depth of colour, varying from five up to forty shades. Schappe Silk - A spun silk yarn which is made from silk degummed by the maceration process used on the Continent (see Schappe Silk). Soie Ondee - See Soie Ondee. Silk Yarns - In addition to the foregoing yarns see under the following terms for further silk yarns: - Cable, Cevennes, Chappe, Chine, Clochepeid, Crocheting, Crue (see Ecru), Cuite Cusier, Cusirino, Degummed, Docken, Doup-pion. Ecru, Embroidery, Etschingo, Filature, Filature a 1'Europeune, Filet, Florette, Fringe, Goffered, Grege, Gum Hainin, Hard, Kahing, Knitting, Lousy, Marabout, Maybasch, Melange, Mele, Mi-cuit, Minchcw, Nett, Noil, Organzine, Ouvrees, Oval, Pearlina, Pel, Pelo, Poie, Pure dye Silk, Raw (see Grege), Re-reels, Retorse, Senegal, Sewing, Simonita, Soft Singles, Soie Ondee, Souple, Spun, Steeped, Strafilato, Stumba, Thrown, Tors San File, Tram, Tramette, Tsatlees, Tussah, Twist, Washed, Zaguri.

A silk fabric made in Japan of spun silk warp and thrown silk weft. It handles soft, has more lustre than Fugi silk, washes well and is cheaper. The fabric is sold by weight.

Silk noils may be divided into two major divisions, i.e., Schappe noils, produced on the Continent, and English noils. The broad difference is that whereas the former are not free from the natural gum of the silkworm, the latter have the gum fully discharged. Owing to the difference of the processes of which they are the outcome, the English noil is whiter and longer than the schappe noil. The English noil in its turn is of two kinds "long" and "exhaust." The long noil is the simple by-product of the flat-dressing frame, and the exhaust (or short) noil has been recombed and is more " neppy " than the material from which it came. All silk noils, long or short, schappe or English, may be divided into " white " and " tussah " according as they are the produce of one kind of silk or the other. The white has many sub-divisions (" China " and " Italian," " Steam," etc.) and the tussah may be light or dark brown according as its origin is Chinese or Indian waste silk. These noils, after spinning, appear as noil yarns, which are useful among other purposes as striping yarn for cheap tweeds. They are also useful substitutes for " spun " silk at three to four times the price. Noils are used in the production of fancy effects by Continental spinners of the so-called " imitation " yarns. And in Yorkshire silk noils are periodically required by costume and dress tweed makers for procuring " knop " or snowflake effects in cheap woollens. For this purpose the " short " or " exhaust " noil is preferable to the " long " and in some circumstances the short or re-combed noil fetches a higher price than the intrinsically better noil containing the long fibre.

See Denier. Spun silk counts are based on the 840 yards hank, as in cotton, but in folded yarns the finished count is used, not the single count, with the number of component threads placed after the actual count resulting from the doubling. Thus 40/2 has 40 hanks of 840 yards in i-lb. and is composed of two threads of 80's single. Dram System - The weight of 1,000 yards in drams gives the counts, thus if 1,000 yards weighs 6 drams it is known as " 6-dram silk." This is known as the Manchester method of thrown silk counting. Another system is the number of yards per ounce, thus 25,000 organzine or tram yarn means 25,000 yards per ounce, and is that used in Yorkshire. The expression 12/14 as applied to silk yarn counts means that the yarn is not lighter than 12 denier, nor heavier than 14 denier, the average being 13

Plain weave silk fabric dyed in all colours. Spun silk yarns are used and two-fold in the warp, single weft. Used for underwear and dresses.

The Silk Association of Great Britain and Ireland, Inc., has formulated the following definitions of " Silks ": - (1) Silk means the natural product of the silkworm, whether net, spun, or schappe silk. (2) Woven or knitted textiles and articles made therefrom. Silk goods may only be so called if they contain no other fibre than silk. They may be further qualified as pure silk goods if they contain no tin weighting and no added weight of any kind other than that which is an essential part of dyeing and finishing. (3) The word silk may be used for articles containing silk and other fibres provided it is clearly qualified, as for example, silk warp taffeta, silk warp poplin, silk pile velvet, silk mixture, silk union, etc. (4) Smallwares, certain smallwares containing silks in combination with other fibres (such as Paris bindings, gimps, eyeglass cords, etc.), have been by long established custom known as "silks." Only where there is a clear long established custom may they continue to be described as silk, otherwise the general principles set forth above will apply. The more generally known silk fabrics are as given below: - Armures - Barathea, Loisine, Natte, Ottoman, Roy ale. Repp. Figured Silks - Arras, Broche, Brocatelle, Brocades, Chevron, Chine warp prints. Cote-line, Damassin, Foulard, Lampas, Matelasse, Striped tabaret. Satins - Duchesse, Meteor, Mervelleux, Peau de Soie, Radyimar, Raadames, Radium, Satin mousseline. Satin messaline. Satin lus-mineaux. Satin charmeuse. Satin de Lyon, Satin chine. Satin lumiere, Soleil, Soie de Devil. Twills - Serge, Surah, Sarcenat. Velvet, or pile weaves - Terry velvet frese, Utrecht, Velours de nord. Velours de chiffon, Velours de sabre. Silk warp, wool weft - Bengaline, Cotele, Crepon, Irish poplin, Popeline, Poplinette, Sultane, Sicilienne, Velours Victoria, Veloa-tine. Silk warp, cotton weft - Moirette, Polonaise, Satins, Satinet, Striped linings. Taffetas, plain weaves - Bengaline de Soie, Epingle, Faille Francaise, Glace, Gros grain, Gros de Tours, Gros de Naples, Gros de Suez, Lustring, Pongee, Poult de Soie, Royale, Tabaret, Taffeta mousseline. Taffeta chiffon. Crepe de chine, Ninon, tulle, voile, Marquisette, Moire onde. Moire Faconne, Moire Francaise, Moire Antique.

A fabric woven from cotton warp and spun silk weft in plain weave. Usually dyed or white and used for underwear. One quality is 42-in. wide, 84 ends and 80 picks per inch, 2/100's cotton warp, 60/2 spun silk weft, or 100 denier acetate rayon weft. The cloth is also known as A. B. C. silk.

Spun silk obtained from silk waste and fully boiled off. It is used for manufacturing crepe-de-Chine in Kobe, Japan. It has more lustre and loses less when washed than other Japanese spun silks.

This is a silk yarn made from silk noil which is the short waste remaining after the production of spun silk. The yarns are much thicker and more knotty than other silks. The fabrics manufactured from the yam are rough and harsh to the handle and have no gloss, but are dull finished.

This is a spun silk yarn. More especially when made from stock which has been degummed by the schapping or maseration process, and is a silk waste. This term only applies to silk waste prepared as above. It is also known as " chappe " and " Florette." There are many qualities of which the better are used for embroidery and sewing silks and for warps, and the poorer for weft for combining with other fibres.

A low class of spun silk yam, produced by carding and spinning from the waste and noils, made in the manufacture of shappe, also from silk waste not suitable for shappe; also called Stumba.

The third and lowest grade of Italian carded spun silk (cascami). Used locally for stockings.

An Indian trade term for an inferior grade of spun silk obtained from faulty cocoons made by worms which became sick during the period of spinning.

A variety of crepe-de-Chine, made in Japan. It is made of spun silk yarns arid sold by weight.

The unreelable portions of silk cocoons, and waste from silk throwing mills, etc. It is spun into yarns of two entirely different characters. The waste silk is carefully combed on specially designed machines, each successive combing yielding shorter fibre length than the previous one. These drafts are spun, usually on ring frames, into high grade yarns. The very short waste or noils remaining when the best fibre has been used are spun into coarse counts on the woollen principle, and on the Continent this class of yarn is known as schappe silk.

A plain weave silk fabric, made in Manchuria of yarn spun from silk of local production. This quality is the best, other qualities are: Tung Shan SSU, made of Eastern Hills silk reeled in Wenteng and Ninghai, and Nanshan SSU or Southern Hills silk from the Chi-hsia and Ichon districts.

A silk yarn spun from inferior cocoons and silk spinners' waste. Used in the manufacture of velvets (see Schappe)