Real silk brocade!! Now what?

My dear sweetie went to China without me. But he brought back two lengths of truly gorgeous brocade.

However, he said that one shopkeeper said something on the way out about needing to "cure" the brocade in cold water. Can anyone offer me any insight, here?

Thanks so much.

Reply to
marianne
Loading thread data ...

No. Contact Dharma Trading and ask: they might know! And then tell us

- curiosity is a virtue in the quilt group! ;)

Reply to
Kate XXXXXX

I like Kate's suggestion of asking Dharma Trading. I was also thinking that perhaps he meant you will need to either preshrink the silk OR use something to set the color. HMMM -- interesting -- please let us know what you find out, OK??

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

formatting link

Reply to
Tia Mary

I don't know, however my favorite silk "store",

formatting link
lists an 800 phone number: (800) 722-7455or you can e-mail them at:silks@ thaisilks.com Share if you get the information, please?

Beverly

Reply to
BEI Design

Possibly pre-washing?

Certain silks can be hand-washed or even by machine on the gentle cycle, thus pre-washing the fabric before running up your project would remove sizing, allow for shrinkage, and remove excess dyes; however IIRC silk brocade normally is dry clean only.

Candide

Reply to
Candide

I recall that my mother always used common cooking salt in water to set dye in fabric likely to bleed colour. I use a lot of silk fabric and always wash it before sewing to preshrink it but have never bothered about the salt. I just wash it and if colour comes out, I keep rinsing till the rinse water is clear. I wash all fabric before sewing even those that say dry clean only.

Reply to
FarmI

Thanks to all ... I"ll let you know what I find out!

Marianne

Reply to
marianne

I haven't heard back from Thai Silks or Dharma Trading. But...

I ran into Brenda Clough, who is a fine science fiction and fantasy writer and knows her fabrics and is Chinese American. And she suggested that I either just leave it to my dressmaker (this stuff is so nice that I'm not sure I trust my own sewing skills) or cut out a piece and try washing it myself. As it happened, one of the pieces, a green and blue with fuschia medallions, didn't change much at all, but the other, a red and gold with a floral weave, is clearly heavily treated with some kind of size, and will need careful handling.

Again, thanks for all your help and suggestions.

Reply to
marianne

InspirePoint website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.