One of the things I wanted to take the kids to was a silk factory. Funny enough, the materials I’m using to homeschool actually talked about silk in Asia and how silk is made. So I was able to tie a trip to Thai Silk Village into an educational opportunity as well.
The actual factory consists of a room where they explain the whole process. We got to see silkworms in every stage – silk moths with their eggs, new worms eating mulberry leaves, worms making cocoons, worms in their cocoons and the empty cocoons after the butterflies had flown away.
Silkworms from the egg thru cocoon stages
Silkworms eating mulberry leaves and growing
Silkworms
Silkworms making their cocoons
Beckett holding cocoons
They first soak the cocoons in boiling water then stretch the cocoon fibers out. Then they dye the silk threads. The threads are then woven into cloth and then made into garments.
Boiling the cocoons and turning them into thread
Weaving the dyed threads into cloth
Making cloth
After viewing each step in the process, we browsed the gift shop that had many beautiful silk garments.
Logistics:
Thai Silk Village – www.thaisilkvillage.com
Located about 20 minutes East of Chiang Mai old city
Cost: Free