More about Margilan Silk

Some More Information on Margilan Silk

I have been discussing the use of Margilan silk with Lena Archbold (https://www.lenaarchbold.co.uk/margilan-silk) and she has had some different experiences than I.  She purchases her silk directly from one of the factories in Margilan. When the fabric comes from that factory, the open weave textile is called Rarefied. So, when I divided the open weave fabrics from Margilan into two different types - Sparse (rarefied) and Scrim, I must have gotten some Margilan from another source. When I have purchased the Sparse (rarefied) from different vendors, it has consistently acted differently than the fabric called Scrim that I purchased on Etsy. It is possible that what I purchased called Scrim is the same as the Rarefied coming from the Soviet Era factory in Margilan. The mystery continues!! But it shows that you need to be consistent about whom you buy your fabric from and to do experiments with the fabric you've purchased. I have uses in felting for all 4 of the types of Margilan I have found, which makes me happy! 

I am working right now on a blog post showing some of my experiments with color overlay. I had pictures of the resulting fabrics, but they were accidentally erased from my iPad before I could download them into my regular computer. I will try to get more photos soon and to put up the results of the color experiments. It is amazing how the open weave Margilan silk changes the color of the wool it is placed on.  Felting is forever fascinating to me, even after felting for more than 40 years!

Marvelous Margilan (Silk, That Is)

Experimenting with Margilan

For several years, feltmakers around the globe have been working with some wonderful fabrics from Uzbekistan. I have really loved these materials, but it was getting very confusing for me to buy and use them, because every vendor seemed to have a different name for them. As an artist, I like to have some consistency with my materials so that I can design with them and be able to predict the results for the felts I am making.

Some background: 
Most of these fabrics come from a city called Margilan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margilan) in the Fergana Valley of Eastern Uzbekistan. According to the wikipedia article:
"The town is the location of Uzbekistan’s largest traditional silk factory, the Yodgorlik Silk Factory. Employing over 2,000 workers, everything is done in the traditional manner, for an annual output of some 250,000 square meters of highly premium silk cloth. The neighboring Margilan Silk Factory employs 15,000 workers using modern machinery, and produces some 22 million square meters per year. It is uncertain when the secrets of silk production came to the Fergana Valley, but certainly, Margilan has been active in the industry since ancient times"

Yodgorlik Silk Factory - https://orexca.com/yodgorlik_factory.shtml
https://www.advantour.com/uzbekistan/margilan/silk-factory.htm

I believe that the more modern factory is the one left from the Soviet era.  I cannot confirm its name. I have also heard that weaving silk fabric is a cottage industry in the area, so some of these fabrics might be coming from home industry as well as the factories. This might explain why there are so many different widths, densities, and types of woven silk fabric.

Much of the silk that is woven here is a very dense, brightly patterned type of warp ikat satin weave that is used for garments and wall hangings. This fabric is called khan-atlas (Khan's Silk). You can see many examples of this fabric by Googling khan-atlas or look here on Etsy for SultanShop which has many examples for sale: https://www.etsy.com/sg-en/listing/640312017/vintage-handmade-100-silk-ikat-khan

Here is an example from their shop.

However, this fabric would be too dense for the lamination technique I and many other feltmakers like to use. This technique (also called nuno) is where layers of wool fiber are felted onto a layer of a thin fabric such as a gauze. The fabric adds stability to the felt so that the felter can lay out very thin layers of wool fiber and still have a strong cloth. The spaces between the warps and wefts of the cloth must be open enough that the wool fiber can travel through it as the fiber migrates in the process of becoming felt. When the fibers travel through the cloth, they capture it and it becomes entangled with the fiber on the surface of the felt.

But the silk weavers of Margilan also make a very open weave silk fabric that was originally used for helping preserve and repair antique icons and other type of art. The story is that a contemporary Russian feltmaker from Kazakhstan saw this fabric and realized its potential for use in feltmaking. (Edited note from Lena Archbold: "The felter's name is Elena Agapove and her business name is Lady Craft. https://www.livemaster.ru/ladycraft" )

This fabric became very popular with many different Russian feltmakers and eventually it made its way to the market place so that other feltmakers around the world could also use it.  But the sheer silk Margilan silk fabrics that are sold are not consistent. Often they are just called Margilan or Uzbek silk gauze, but there are different densities available.

For several years, I had been using the Margilan on the surface of my laminated felts in order to add sheen because these silk fabrics are exceptionally shiny. Because I use a variety of fabrics on the surface of my felts, the variety of densities didn't frustrate me at that time. Then by coincidence, I took two online workshops and purchased an instructional video where the Margilan silk was used*.  Because I was using even more of it and using it in different ways than I had previously, the inconsistencies in the product from various vendors was quite frustrating. So I decided to do some experiments and purchased the silk from different vendors to do some comparisons.

*The online classes were with Katia Mokeyeva (https://www.feuer-und-wasser.com/online-classes) The first was "Dramatic Surface and Fiber Bas-Relief" and the second was "Structural and Textural Surfaces for Fiber Artists". The video tutorial was from Maria Gladchenko (http://www.tvfelt.com/shop/artfelt/en/artfelt). It was titled "Art Felt Stole and Bolero". 

Mosaic Experiments
I was able to ascertain that there are currently 4 types of Margilan silk available for feltmakers.
1. Sparse (also called rarefied) which is the most open weave and after felting it resembles a lacy textile. The holes are large enough that I would be reluctant to use this as a background for mosaic felting techniques on garments.
2. Scrim which is a little denser. It also opens up after felting into a lacy structure, but the holes are smaller than the sparse silk and the fabric seems to be more stable than the sparse. Update: When the Rarefied is from the Soviet Era factory in Margilan, it is like the scrim I have purchased in the USA on Etsy.
3. Gauze which resembles the Chinese silk gauze sold by various vendors such as Dharma Trading Company or Thai Silks. But the Margilan gauze has larger warps and wefts and it is much shinier than the Chinese gauze.
4. Excelsior which is a more densely woven fabric that resembles 5 mommee silk paj or habotai.

I used the techniques I learned from the video of Maria Gladchenko to make four mosaic felt samples, each one on one of the four Margilan types. With this method of felting, the artist first makes a decorated pre-felt. I used 19 micron merino wool and decorated the surfaces of the wool layers with viscose fiber. Then I cut up the pre-felts and spread them apart to put breaks between the designs. (Fractured Images)  I put these cut up pre-felts onto a fabric base made from one of the types of Margilan silk fabric that I found.

1. Sparse
2. Scrim
3. Gauze
4. Excelsior

1. Sparse Fabric Study and Detail 

Notice that the holes in the background are pretty large, up to the size of the fingernail on my little finger.

2. Scrim Study and Detail. 

The detail shows that even though there are a few larger holes, most of them are smaller and the fabric would be more secure for wearables. 

3. Gauze Study and Detail 

This detail shows that there are much smaller holes.

4. Excelsior Study and Detail 

This background is very dense but still flexible. 

Here are some items I made using the Mosaic Felt technique with Margilan Scrim as a base: 

Roses, a Wall Hanging with Detail, Pat Spark copyright 2019

 Rose Scarf with Detail, Pat Spark copyright 2019

Rose Shawl with Detail, Pat Spark copyright 2019 

I purchased the Margilan I used from the following vendors:

1. Sparse (Rarefied)
RaisaFelt -   www.etsy.com/shop/RaisaFelt
Living Felt - http://feltingsupplies.livingfelt.com/Margilan-Silk-Fabric--Rarefied-Uzbek-Silk-35_p_1310.html
SilkForFelting -  https://www.etsy.com/shop/SilkForFelting

2. Scrim (Also called Rarefied when it comes from the Soviet Era Factory in Margilan.)

Katia Mokeyeva (Fabric I used in the Mosaic Felt Items above.) https://www.feuer-und-wasser.com/margilan-silk 

GaliBaba -https://www.etsy.com/shop/GaliBaba

Lena Archbold - https://www.lenaarchbold.co.uk/margilan-silk 

3. Gauze
Living Felt -http://feltingsupplies.livingfelt.com/Silk-Gauze-Fabric--Uzbek-Silk-35_p_1311.html

GaliBaba -https://www.etsy.com/shop/GaliBaba   

4. Excelsior

Living Felt -http://feltingsupplies.livingfelt.com/Silk-Excelsior-Fabric--Uzbek-Silk-35-_p_1370.html

SilkForFelting -  https://www.etsy.com/shop/SilkForFelting 
Lena Archbold - https://www.lenaarchbold.co.uk/margilan-silk  

Lena Archbold also has another type of Margilan - Organza. It is available here: https://www.lenaarchbold.co.uk/margilan-silk  

Giving Credit

I have been asked to give credit for the botanical printing basic concepts post I made a couple days ago. In the post, I tried to distill the information pertaining to this subject that I have gotten from my own studio work and from other sources. I tried to make it very universal and get to the succinct basics. For more in depth information, it is important to experiment and keep track of your results. Or you can shorten that process and take a class or read some of the ebooks or other publications that are available. But I am happy to list my influence sources.

I must credit my first natural dyeing experiences to my mother, Lottie Spark. It was common practice in our household to overdye a stained cotton garment with tea or coffee.  At Easter time, we dyed our eggs with coffee, tea and onion skins. We made a special Easter egg tree with blown out eggs decorated as people from around the world- using various amounts of dye to get a variety of skin colors. Using these substantive dyes was natural for me. Of course, I didn't know they were substantive- my Mom just said they were the dyes that stayed well on the eggs (or the fabric).

In the 60's, I was a Crafts Major in undergraduate school (Western Washington University), so I did many textile courses. My teacher, Mary Bottomly McIntyre was and still is a huge influence on my approach to dyeing and other textile techniques. We studied many surface design techniques-block printing, screen printing, embroidery and various types of resist- tied, stitched, clamped, knotted, and waxed. We used both synthetic and natural dyes. That, along with the constructed textile classes of weaving, gave me an incredible base of knowledge to build on. I still use two books from that time period: Tie and Dye as a Present Day Craft by Anne Maille and Design on Fabrics by Meda Parker Johnston and Glen Kaufman.

In 1971 I went to school for 11 months at Stenebyskolan in Dals Långed, Sweden to have a more in-depth study of textiles. My teacher, Elsa Johanson, taught me patience and the language barrier (until I was able to learn Swedish) taught me to be a keen observer. Of importance to my dyeing knowledge was the dye experiments I did with lichens and the textile chemistry class.  I returned to the USA and taught adult educations classes in weaving, dyeing and spinning through two community colleges in the Tacoma, Washington area while I was applying to graduate schools. It was for these classes that I started my first attempts at finding the underlying structure of the textiles I was teaching-the basic concepts you could say. I was convinced then, and now that understanding the basics was the best way to learn something and make it your own. It was the best service I could do for my students. 

I went to the University of Washington from 1973-75 to get my MFA degree in Textile Design. My major professor, Richard Proctor was a strong influence on my understanding of color mixing. I had a one day consult with Gerhardt Knodel who asked me a very important question- Why was I doing my art? What was behind it? I took this to mean, what were the underlying reasons I was doing it and why had I chosen the materials I was working with? (At that time, it was the medium of tapestry.)  In addition, I did a special study on color by reading the book The Principles of Harmony and Contrast of Colors by Michel-Eugène Chevreul, who was the dye chemist at the Gobelin Tapestry Works in France in the 1800's. I also took another textile chemistry class, this time in English! One of the strongest influences on me in this time period however, was a one day dyeing workshop I took. Unfortunately, I can't remember the teacher's name, nor where I took the workshop, but she introduced the idea of color mixing using 6 primaries and black. This knowledge has stuck with me to this day.  It and the optical blending theories of Chevreul have formed the base of the color knowledge I bring to both my feltmaking and my dyeing.

During my years as an art professor (1975-1990), first at The Evergreen State College (Adjunct Professor) and then  at Oregon State University (Associate Professor), I traveled every summer to fiber conferences. Often I was there to teach a workshop, but I always attended the lectures on dyeing to keep up with the latest information since I taught dyeing classes at my university. It was sometime in this time period that I learned about the practice of using a carrier to bring a dye or additive to a fabric. I can't remember who was giving the lecture, but I filed the information away in my mind for future possibilities. I was able to take workshops with Michelle Wipplinger (owner of Earthues) on working with natural dye extracts, and with Linda Knutson (author of Synthetic Dyes for Natural Fibers) who showed us a great way of mixing colors so we could get exactly the hue we wanted. Another experience I had in this time period was to attend a post-graduate program in weaving education taught by Naomi Towner at Keene State University in New Hampshire. This program was for two summers and Naomi also taught from the standpoint that understanding the basic concepts of your medium would help you to design with that medium which reinforced my own theory.

When the University closed the craft program I was teaching in, I was out of a formal teaching job but I began to teach more and more felting and color theory workshops. I used synthetic dyes with the students. I wrote my first two books on feltmaking (Fundamentals of Feltmaking and Scandinavian-Style Feltmaking) and I continued to travel to various textile conferences around the world, teaching feltmaking and attending lectures on many different types of dyeing.  Eventually, I wrote two more books on feltmaking (Watercolor Felt Workbook and Making Faces) and many articles for magazines. I traveled to other countries to teach feltmaking and to learn a myriad of textile forms.

But as an artist, I was and am always looking for how things tie together. How is this particular technique really an extension of another technique?  What is the basic concept underneath them all?  As a teacher, it is how I can make sense of a complex subject so I can present it and as an artist, it is how I can really start to create works I feel are my own. 

When I began learning about botanical printing, I brought to it a huge prior knowledge of other dyeing techniques.  I enjoy the company of a class, so I decided to take workshops on the subject. Plus I learn best when I hear someone talk about the subject, especially as I age. But many times the things people were presenting in class were things I already knew or were just slight variations on other techniques.  There are two people who I think have had the greatest influence on my understanding of botanical printing. They are Pam DeGroot and Olga Kazanskaya. Pam introduced me to the technique and taught me how to make ferrous acetate water. She began me on this intellectual journey and I love her playful and accepting teaching style. Olga really opened up my understanding of using carriers to bring a dye, mordant or modifier to my prints.  And I love her understanding of the chemistry. In addition, I respond well to her more academic teaching style. Of course there are others I've learned things from as well. For instance, I first saw the idea of using leaves to discharge color in a class from Irit Dulman and I did my first steamed prints in her classes. She was also working with the carrier concept. Plus, she has many interesting variations in how she folds the fabrics and lays down the leaves for design. I picked up the trick of using a weight on the end of my cloth when I bundle it and using ferrous sulfate instead of ferrous acetate from a Kathy Hays video.  From Tash Wesp I have learned to play with the techniques and to think outside the box! To me she is the queen of working with cotton! From Pia Best-Reininghaus I learned how to get that amazing 3-D printing effect and best of all, how to use my serger! I am also learning about surface design techniques that use natural dyes from the ebooks of Kimberly Baxter Packwood. I thank them all.