About Silk: Mini-Series with Karen Selk Video Download

From the irresistible luster of cultivated silk to the natural colors and textures of wild silks, knowing more about them can help you choose the right one for your project. 

For more than four decades, Karen Selk has traveled the silk roads connecting villages in rural India to large-scale textile processors to fiber artists around the globe. After founding Treenway Silks in 1977, she became a go-to resource for those who weave, spin, and stitch with silk.

Karen joined SOAR (Spin Off Autumn Retreat) in 2022 as an instructor and keynote speaker, and afterward, she sat down with us to talk a bit about silk. From peduncle to peace silk, grading to gassed finishes, you won’t want to miss this chance to hear Karen Selk on silk.

In this mini-series, you’ll learn:

• How reeled and spun silks are processed
• Why different grades of silk produce different textile effects 
• What peduncle silk is and how it came into recent production 
• Where tussah silks are grown and how they vary

This course is ideal for anyone interested in exploring different silk fibers or threads, whether you are new to silk or looking to expand your understanding of the cultivated and wild silks available today. 

Along with video instruction, this video course includes two of Karen's in-depth resources on silk to aid in your journey to understanding silk. 

To watch the first episode for free, visit the course page on our streaming video site. 

Karen Selk is the founder of Treenway Silks and the author of In Search of Wild Silk. A textile artist, educator, traveler, researcher, and writer, her main focus for the past 45 years in all those pursuits has been silk.  How silk is “raised” and processed, how different cultures work with silk, and how she can work with silk as an artist and educator to show its amazing qualities and share her love affair with this miraculous fiber.

Running time: 23 minutes

Instructor: Karen Selk