I would like to know what is what is the best fabric for silks? I have experimented, but I would like professional opinions.

Matthias

Um... I used silk once. Turned out ok for an opaque purple mostly squarish silk for coins.

:)

Actually, I'm looking too. Being fairly new to all of this, I was surprised at how many different types of silk fabric I found. I just made a Charlie Miller Egg Bag from black China Silk and it turned out pretty well, but the sales clerk in the store (Mill End) couldn't tell me the weight of the fabric. Also, the colors were very limited.

From what I understand 6 mome and 8 mome are probably the best for general use, but my question would be, where is the best place to find this stuff. I don't mind dying white fabric, but all I could find were dark colors.

Richard Hughes is an expert on this and if you want to bypass the learning curve and want excellent stuff for professional use, you might want to check with him.

Thanks,
Richard

Short answer, Silk!

You could try Dharma Trading Co. at Dharmatrading.com they are located in San Rafael, California.

They have Silk Habotai (China silk) in many weights (5-8-10-12-16 up to 35mm) along with the dyes and inks for coloring. The prices are good. Its finding someone that can work with silk that is more difficult. My wife has been a seamstress for thirty years and still finds it challenging to sew.

ChrisG

I will also tell you that silk is not the easiest thing to dye. Colors that Dharma Trading lists clearly says color will not appear the same on silk.

Richard

Silk is the best substitute for silk!

The real question is:

Is this to be used as the production or just to hide the item(s) to be produced?

If it is the production, you want to use the lightest silk your skills will allow you to use. You can get it all the way down to 3 momme but 5 momme is the limit for most of us. Load space is also the consideration.

If the purpose is to hide a load or action, remember that historically a table napkin was used. There, silk is just a pretty option for linen, cotton and other fabrics. Nothing is as colorful under the lights as silk. I use other fabrics in my shows for Zombie cloths, heavy duty blendos, and stiffer bags. But they are utility props visible to the audience from the start of the act. They are not flashy productions or surprises in themselves. Nothing else hangs and floats like real silk. Sometimes that is very good. Depending on the application and the magician's skills, that can also be a disaster.

The real essence and limiting factor is the amount of opaqueness and rigidness required for that magician to succeed. Loads can always be made smaller, less colorful and less surprising. Working toward using real diaphanous silk is certainly a worthy goal. It is a thing of beauty to achieve for your audience. Life's a journey. (Aren't you glad yours has magic?)

Enjoy!

Bob
The Amazed Wiz

I prefer the China silk but I know people that like the Japanese silk. China silk has been used for years. It is a personal preference and also based on the application.

Richard

I have several large bolts of 36" white 6 momme bleached unhemmed Habutai silk from Japan that Dad ordered many years ago. This is the same silk that all of our 6 momme products were made from. I sell pieces of it to magicians interested in doing their own thing. Contact me if you or anyone else is interested in more information.

This is top notch silk guys. Go for it if you want to play learning how to do this silk business. Habouti is one of the best silk weaves made.

You will still have to hem it but you will have a lifetime silk when you are done.

Richard

I use silk that I get from Indian stores in my area. They are nice and thin, but also very strong. The lady at the store can hem them for me, so I don't have to worry about doing it myself. If I can't get to the Indian store, I go to JoAnn fabrics and find some silk to use.

-Shalin

I use just regular silks from my magic shop but I am sure a tuxedo hank would also do very well. But you will need a large TT.