Mulberry Silk farm
Trip Start
Jun 28, 2009
1
26
61
Trip End
Jan 06, 2010
Muang Phônsavan, Xiangkhoang, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Monday, September 14, 2009
Had an amazing day today on tour around Phonsavan! We saw first hand where silk comes from! We witnessed every process from picking the silk worm caterpillars from the leaf of the Mulberry Bushes to weaving the silk threads on a Loom and dying the silk with Mulberries. Adele even Gave it a go. The photos here show the step by step process! It was fascinating!
First our guide took us to see the caterpillars being hand picked in the fields. The caterpillars are taken to the Silk worm nursery. Here they feed and are nurtured on Mulberry leaves and begin to spin their yellow cocoons of silk. A Group of women then boil the cocoons and reel thread by hand. The silk is then processed and dyed with natural dyes from fruits and berries.
The silk when ready is spun on a traditional loom.
The trip was much more interesting than it sounds and I will absolutely be inflicting this blog as a lesson on my next class!
Love ye all
Lucy and Adele
