Mawata Silk Hankies

Not THAT kind of hankie! Mawata have been used for centuries to create wonderfully warm underclothes by Japanese craftsmen. These days they are more commonly used to add luster to wet felting projects or for easy knitting; no need to spin the fiber first!

Mawata, also known as Silk Hankies, are made with a single silk cocoon that has been cooked in a degumming solution, had the pupae removed and the fiber carefully stretched out onto a square frame. They are painstakingly processed by hand, one square at time. These mawata are not dyed, have not had been bleached or optically whitened so they will not look perfectly white and that's okay, we appreciate and respect the natural beauty of these. They are so natural, they go straight from the degumming pot to you.

As this is a natural product, amount of silk per hankie will vary slightly and the occasional caterpillar skin might sneak in. No two are the same.

Packages come in 25 grams (roughly 10 hankies).

Wide variety of use including paper making (silk fusion), stretched and used for knitting without having to spin, needle felting, wet felting, stitched onto fabric or spun into thread.