Also called Schappe. Short silk threads that are spun together to form a longer filament; a lower quality silk. As per classification by the Central Silk Board Act, spun silk is obtained from:
/ Pierced cocoons, the result of moths that have emerged from their cocoons, breaking the cocoon strands.
/ Double cocoons or dupion, which result when two silkworms have nested together and spun the cocoon jointly. Some dupion cocoons can also be reeled.
/ Floss, or fluff, brushed from cocoons before reeling.
/ Friese, the coarse and uneven silk fibre at the beginning and end of each cocoon.
/ Silk waste or scrap waste left over from machine reeling.
Spun silk has a characteristic shiny look but not the lustre of reeled silk. It has less strength and elasticity than reeled silk but otherwise shares similar merits with ‘real’ silk. It can look fuzzy after much wear because of the short silk strands it is spun from. The common, heavier spun silk yarns are Matka, Ghicha, Katia.
