Piper's Silk - A Gift from Alaska!
I've wanted to try Piper's silk for a while. My first comparison of flat silks, followed a while later by a second comparison including Japanese Silk, garnered some interest, and a very kind lady from Alaska sent me a couple cops of Piper's silk to try out.
Piper's silk comes in cops (or spools) of 80 meters. It is a completely flat filament silk, much finer than the Japanese silk from the Japanese Embroidery Center. To get a "thicker" coverage with this silk, you would double or triple the strands in your needle, which is a lot easier than trying to get a finer thread by splitting the strands of Japanese silk. Size-wise, this seems to compare with one strand of Chinese silk like Eterna, but I will do an in-depth photo comparison of all the silks to determine if this is actually the case.
Marilyn from Alaska recommended the Helen M. Stevens site to me when I was taking a look at embroidery designers, as well as putting me back on to trying out Piper's silk. I was a bit daunted by their long turn-around times on orders (up to 28 days!) coupled with the fact that Piper's silk comes from England. After browsing Helen's site, I jumped over to Fritillary, where you can purchase embroidery-related merchandise that reflects the work of Helen Stevens. Low 'n behold, at Fritillary, Helen carries the same type of silk that Piper's produces, which, through her company, is called True Embroideries Sleave Silk. I placed an order, and eagerly await its arrival.
In the meantime, though, through the generosity of a kind reader, I have had a chance to try out Piper's silk, and.... I like it! I'll write up a comparison of it with the Japanese silk, Eterna, and Au Ver a Soie's Soie Ovale soon, giving you some close ups so you can see how they differ.
Thanks heaps, Marilyn!!
Piper's silk comes in cops (or spools) of 80 meters. It is a completely flat filament silk, much finer than the Japanese silk from the Japanese Embroidery Center. To get a "thicker" coverage with this silk, you would double or triple the strands in your needle, which is a lot easier than trying to get a finer thread by splitting the strands of Japanese silk. Size-wise, this seems to compare with one strand of Chinese silk like Eterna, but I will do an in-depth photo comparison of all the silks to determine if this is actually the case.
Marilyn from Alaska recommended the Helen M. Stevens site to me when I was taking a look at embroidery designers, as well as putting me back on to trying out Piper's silk. I was a bit daunted by their long turn-around times on orders (up to 28 days!) coupled with the fact that Piper's silk comes from England. After browsing Helen's site, I jumped over to Fritillary, where you can purchase embroidery-related merchandise that reflects the work of Helen Stevens. Low 'n behold, at Fritillary, Helen carries the same type of silk that Piper's produces, which, through her company, is called True Embroideries Sleave Silk. I placed an order, and eagerly await its arrival.
In the meantime, though, through the generosity of a kind reader, I have had a chance to try out Piper's silk, and.... I like it! I'll write up a comparison of it with the Japanese silk, Eterna, and Au Ver a Soie's Soie Ovale soon, giving you some close ups so you can see how they differ.
Thanks heaps, Marilyn!!
Labels: embroidery resources, silk
Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, March 17, 2007
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I am traveling to London and looking for shops carrying Piper's silks as well as other embroidery supplies.
Anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks
Hi! If you contact Helen Stevens through her website: http://www.helenmstevens.co.uk/index.shtml or through her other website fritillary at http://www.fritillary.co.uk/ you should be able to find out where they are located. I believe they have a "real" shop, but I'm not certain! Her silks are Pipers, only under her label. They're great!!
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