The ZUNGZA workshop sits inside the Van Phuc craft village in Ha Dong. In the morning, walking the lanes, you can still hear looms from a few houses, a steady sound that people here hear as background.
Silk is the fibre a silkworm makes when it builds its cocoon, reeled into thread and then woven into cloth. Van Phuc is a long-established weaving village in the Ha Dong area, known for silks with patterns raised against the ground, and the craft is still in the village today although the number of households working has changed a great deal.
The journey of a piece of silk
- Growing mulberry and raising silkworms: the worms eat mulberry leaves, and when ready they spin silk into a cocoon.
- Reeling: the cocoons are processed to draw a continuous silk filament, with several filaments combined into a thread that can be woven.
- Winding and warping: the thread is wound and set up as the warp on the loom.
- Weaving: the weft passes through the warp in a predetermined structure, and it is that structure which creates the pattern.
- Dyeing and finishing: dyeing, washing, pressing flat, and checking for faults.
Three ways to check a piece of silk yourself
The first is touch: mulberry silk feels cool at first and warms very quickly when held against the skin, while many synthetic fibres keep a cool or slightly plastic slipperiness. The second is looking at it under raking light: mulberry silk shifts its reflection with the angle of view rather than showing one even sheen. The third is squeezing it lightly in your palm and releasing: mulberry silk usually creases softly and gradually relaxes.
None of these three is conclusive proof, and the burn test is not something we recommend doing on goods you have not bought. If you need certainty, ask the seller about the composition and request the information in writing.
Why a craft village still has its craft
Working in Van Phuc, we have found that what keeps a craft alive is not only technique but the chain of work around it: the person who sets the warp, the person who repairs the loom, the dyer, the seller, and families where three generations know the same job. When one link in the chain is lost, the remaining links weaken with it. This is our observation from being in the village, not a study of craft villages.
A few questions you often send us
Is silk durable
Durable if used properly. Silk dislikes prolonged direct sun, bleaching agents and heavy friction. Hand wash in cool water with a gentle detergent, dry in the shade, and press at low heat through a cloth.
How do silk and satin differ
Silk refers to the material, mulberry filament, while satin refers to the weave and can be woven from many kinds of fibre. A piece of satin may be silk or it may be synthetic, so the name tells you nothing about the composition.
Does ZUNGZA make silk goods
At present we do not weave silk. We use silk cloth in some of our gift wrapping, and we work in this craft village because that is where the workshop stands.