Silky Worms

Nothing beats the softness and touch of real silk….but do you know how to figure out good quality silk?

Silk is one of the main industries throughout Vietnam. For over 300 years, the people of the Champa tribe were leaders in silk making. They sent their products to Europe and other parts of Asia via the “silk sea road”. Sadly, artisan silk work declined in popularity as other synthetic blends were created and the industry nearly came to a halt. Luckily, the government in Hoi An recognized the importance of this history and restored the Hoi An Silk Village to it’s traditional self and it is now a major tourist attraction.

We rode our bikes to the village and were warmly greeted by our guide Fu. We sipped on mulberry juice and she shared with us the history of the silk trade in Vietnam.

Our tour started in a room dedicated to the different traditional outfits of the Vietnamese. The silk outfits were all very beautiful and it was interesting to see the differences between the North and South tribes – again, each with their own dress, language and distinct culture.

Nothern tribes

Fancy embellishments

Handpainting

Embroidery

Traditional dress

Traditional dress

One thing we found interesting was that brides could show their emotions for their wedding dresses by choosing a particular colour: yellow dresses represent joy, while red represents luck.

From there we wandered through a mulberry tree garden where we could see the cocoons of the silkworms. We also tried the mulberries – they were quite sweet and delicious:)

Mulberry Tree with silkworm cocoons

Close up of silkworm cocoon

Our guide Fu explaining the different types of mulberry trees.

We then went to see the baby silkworms which would increase to their full grown size within 3 days of feeding on shredded mulberry leaves.

Silkworm eggs

Baby silkworms – 3 days old

Then we saw the full grown worms who were munching away on larger leaves.

Adult silkworms

Cool closeup!

Fu taught us the life cycle of the silkworm which is very similar to a butterfly:

When the worms spin their cocoons (either yellow or white) in the mulberry trees outside, or on the large frames inside, they are collected by the workers.

Silkworm cocoons in frames

White silkworm cocoons

Yellow silkworm cocoons

The next step is to boil the cocoon to get rid of the pupas and start spinning the silk threads on the spinning wheels. We learned that the longer the boiling of the cocoons, the softer the thread and smoother the silk.

Boiling the cocoons

Spinning the threads

We also learned that the silkworm pupas can be eaten and many Vietnamese eat them regularly. In fact Mikhaila was the brave one and sampled one on behalf of our team. She said it tasted just like potatoes:) The rest of us decided to take her word for it!

We then went on to see how the threads were used with traditional looms. For example, there was a combination of silk and cotton, silk and polyester and silk and silk.

Silk threads

Silk threads dyed with natural colours

It was amazing to see the artisans working at the traditional looms creating some beautiful pieces. Their hands were nimble and they worked the different types of looms with ease.

Artisans looming silk the traditional way

This lady works sitting down all day with the loom on her lap!

We all had a chance to try the looms and we honestly found it to be quite difficult. We could not  imagine doing that for 40+ hours a week!

This is hard work!

We need one of these at our house!

Silk looming

After learning all about the silk making process, we went into the silk shop where they proceeded to teach us how to recognize real silk versus silk blends. Fu had us feel different swatches of silk to see the difference between raw silk, 100% silk, and blends of silk. Then we did the lighter test and observed that burning either raw or 100% silk resulted in ash that burned off quickly and crumbled, whereas synthetic blends would just melt and keep burning.

Silk fabrics ready to be made into new products!

Gorgeous varieties!

The silk test – if it burns and turns to ash – it’s amazing quality!

We really learned a lot from our visit and have now added silkworm farming to our plans when we return home.

Most importantly, we were now armed with some information when we went silk shopping. Just like all the other places we have done some major purchases (Turkish rugs and Indian bedspreads), negotiating was part of the package. Since we knew how to recognize good silk, we could tell if the shopkeepers were being honest with us in terms of price and quality.  Eventually, we found a shop keeper who was honest about the quality of their silk and was willing to negotiate a fair price.

The real silk!

Ties anyone?

Lucky for us, we were able to pick up “a few” souvenirs to remind us of our wonderful time in Hoi An.