A recent newspaper in the UK ranted about the "slaughtering" of silkworms to produce silk. This inspired the following blog post, as we travel in Thailand and Laos visiting women's weaving groups, many of them producing their own silk organically.
Occasionally people ask us whether silkworms are killed to produce silk. Our answer is “no, but…”
Killing the worm, which is actually a caterpillar, would defeat the purpose. Caterpillars spin the cocoons that provide the filaments which comprise silk thread. But cocoons contain pupae and, when cocoons are boiled to loosen the gum that holds the filaments together, the pupae are cooked much the same as an egg is boiled. And, just as a boiled egg will never become a chicken, a boiled pupa will never become a moth.
Read this blog entry on
TAMMACHAT's blog. And visit
TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles to learn more about our passion and work with handwoven, naturally dyed textiles that support rural women in Thailand and Laos through fair trade.
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