The Suzhou Silk Factory - How Silk Is Made…
We visited the Suzhou Silk Factory and I learned how silk is made. First the workers collect and feed leaves to a bunch of silk spinning caterpillars (see pictures 1 and 2 below). Then they wait for the caterpillars to spin a cocoon in a bamboo rack. Once the caterpillar’s cocoons have been completed they give the completed cocoons to another worker. This worker first soaks the cocoon in water and then opens it up and takes the butterfly larva out of the cocoon. Then the worker takes the silk cocoon and stretches it over a bamboo piece that has been bent over into the shape of a bridge. The worker keeps draping more and more stretched cocoons over the bamboo piece, as many as she can fit. Then she takes all of the stretched cocoon silk pieces to the next group of people and they hang it out to dry. Once the silk has dried 5 people grab a side of the silk piece and stretch it out and then drape it over a bed sized board to create a silk blanket that the factory sells to stores, and then the stores sell the silk blankets to custumers.
Me, my brother Lucas, my mom and a few students all got to stretch out a silk piece together, to see how soft and strong it is.
