When the silk filament is ready to be removed from the cocoon, the filaments are carefully unwound from several cocoons at once to create a single strand of silk. A cocoon can contain a mile or more of filament. The outer portion is usually brushed off as floss, and the fibre near the inside does not "reel" well, so it is the middle portion which can be reeled in one continuous thread.

The strands are then wound together creating a silk yarn. The weight of the yarn will vary depending on the number of strands used.

Wild Silk

Wild silk comes from cocoons produced by silkworms living in a natural environment. Tussah Silk is produced in this manner, and is generally darker in colour than cultivated silks. Duppioni, another wild silk is produced when two silkworms spin cocoons that are joined together.