Welcome to Silk Stories! Silk is an integral part of Indian culture and is the source of employment income for hundreds of thousands of farmers, producers and weavers. Over the coming weeks I will be sharing different perspectives from this amazing industry. But first things first.
According to legend, silk fiber was first discovered in China by Queen Xi Ling Shi when a silk cocoon fell from a mulberry tree into her cup of hot tea and started to unravel. Since that time, silk has captured the imagination of the world. Known as the queen of textiles, it has long been associated with beauty, sensuality and elegance.
In the creation of silk, the silkworm is the "star of the show". An average mulberry silk cocoon is about the size of a peanut shell and contains one long contiguous strand of raw silk filament that measures about 1,000 yards! The following short video illustrates how a cocoon is actually made.