[Sca-cooks] OT- question about cutting silk/slick synthetics.

[Bj/Jane Tremaine]

I live in San Diego and one of the smaller chains of fabric stores has a
polyester fabric they call china silk and it is not silk.  I looks like
silk, feals like silk but he colors were not right and when I checked the
fabric content it was 100% poly.

AS to sewing or cutting slippery fabric. Use very sharp sizzors pin do death
for cutting.  For sewing ut old pattern paper between the two layers of silk
and tear it out later. My mothers trick.

Jana


----- Original Message -----
From: <lilinah at earthlink.net>
To: <SCA-Cooks at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2004 11:06 AM
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OT- question about cutting silk/slick synthetics.


> Stefan wrote:
> >In a second message, giving permission to post her messages, she added:
> >  > The fabric is slippery.  They call it china silk,
> >  > but after doing some further investigating today I found out it is
not silk
> >  > at all but a synthetic.  It melts when burned and won't rip.  A
friend
> >  > mentioned that she was surprised they would use silk b/c it spots
when
> >  > rained on and the band does perform in the rain.  The same
principles,
> >  > however,  would apply in cutting any slippery fabric.
>
> Aargh! This is just wrong! ALL the China silk i've found is actually
> SILK! Passing this message around will do a disservice to people who
> read it.
>
> Instead, i would recommend that anyone purchasing fabric read the end
> of the cardboard bolt carefully in the fabric store. Some items i've
> seen advertised as "linen" at lower end fabric chain stores turn out
> to be linen blends or linen-look polyester.
>
> So one should check for anything advertised as "silky" to make sure it's
silk.
>
> When in doubt, get a snippet - most stores will make tiny sample cuts
> about 1-/2 to 1 inch wide and a couple inches long - and go outside
> the store and give it a burn test.
>
> But i will reiterate again what i have already said before - all the
> China silk i've found is really silk. The author is WRONG  to say
> that china silk is synthetic - perhaps what she found is, but such a
> blanket statement is false and misleading.
>
> Anahita
> Who has real silk China silk in a number of colors to use as garment
> lining, as well as some silk-like rayon lining fabric - which is
> man-made/artificial, but not synthetic - and therefore won't melt
> either, but burns like cotton or linen
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