— Silk worms

It takes about a month for us to raise 100,000 silk worms, each of whom produces a silk cocoon. We can only repeat the process about 4-6 times in a year, as we must stop production during the rainy season. The domesticated silk worms are very delicate and can only live in a carefully controlled environment. The silkworm house (photo at left) is specially designed to protect the silk worms from changes in temperature and humidity. Large wooden trays are prepared to hold the mulberry leaves and the silk worms while the worms are eating and growing. They do nothing else during the whole month.

We raise two species of native silk worms. One produces a cream colored silk, the other makes a bright yellow silk. Each harvest of cocoons produces 8-12 kilos of raw silk. About half of each harvest is used to produce silk fabric for sale. The other half is used for education, teaching additional villagers how to process and weave the silk. The sale of silk products currently supports about 20 local families. The numbers increase each year as more women learn the necessary skills.

— Silk processing

Once the cocoons are formed, the silk must be unwound. This is done by using boiling water to loosen the silk fibers, and the silk is collected. Each cocoon produces a single silk fiber about 800 meters long. Depending on the thickness of the fiber, 30 to 50 fibers are wound together to produce a silk thread. The whole process is done by hand. The silk yarn must then be cleaned, being sure that all extraneous material is removed. To soften and brighten the silk, it is boiled in a caustic solution. This solution is obtained by soaking rice straw ash in water. In the past, when silk was being made for the King, they burned a special grass to obtain the ashes for this process.

After the silk has been cleaned and softened, it is ready for weaving. Many of the local women produce beautiful scarves using just the two natural colors of silk produced on the farm. For greater variety, however, it is necessary to dye the silk. We use only natural, organic dyes that are produced here in Phoundindaeng Village.

— Natural dyes

Natural dyes are produced using teak leaves, indigo, pandanas, and other local plants. Each produces its own distinctive color, and each dye can produce a range of tones. Some dyes are used cold, others must be boiling hot. The photo at left shows silk yarn and finished silk scarves that have been dyed with indigo dye.

The dye-making process begins with the appropriate plant material. In this example, leaves from teak trees are being pounded to release the sap which produces a reddish colored dye. After the pounded leaves are soaked in hot water, the dye is taken up by the water, which is separated from the leaves. The silk is then soaked in the dye-water to transfer the color to the fabric or yarn. It takes a great deal of squeezing to work the dye into the fabric evenly and completely.

The final step is to set the dye with a mordant to keep it from running. In the case of the teak leaf dye, this is done with the juice of many limes. The acid in the limes lowers the pH of the dye, changing it so that it is insoluble and will not wash out of the fabric.

— Weaving

All of the weaving is done by women in the local village of Phoudindaeng. The looms are simple machines, built by local carpenters. At first, the women came to the farm to do the weaving on looms set up here. But now, they prefer to work at home (photo at left) where they can care for their families and work away from the distractions of the farm. At the present time, the women are making only silk scarves.

It takes about half a day to weave one silk scarf. The women like to work in the evening, after their children have gone to bed. Once the scarf is finished, she will bring it to the farm for sale. Some of the scarves are sold in their natural color, but others are dyed with our natural vegetable dyes. Each scarf is sold with a real silk cocoon.