Snags and pulls in silk
What changes on silk. Silk is a filament rather than a spun yarn, so a pull leaves a permanent shine line, and a pull near a seam is often seam slippage, which is structural damage.
The method for silk
- 1Look at where it is. Parallel thread gaps beside a seam are seam slippage, not a snag, and no amount of loop-pulling fixes that.
- 2For a genuine snag, work the loop through to the inside with a fine needle as you would on a knit.
- 3Expect a residual line. The filament has been stretched and silk records that as a change in sheen.
- 4Steam gently from the wrong side. It reduces the line and will not remove it.
- 5Do not spread the slack aggressively along the row; woven silk has no row to spread it into and you will distort the weave.
What ruins it
Do not use a snag needle with a coarse latch on fine silk, and never pull the loop out straight. Both convert a mark into a hole.
The general case, and what it costs you
The general method, the detection notes and what this does to a garment's resale value are on the snags and pulls page.
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