By legend, silk was created around the year 2696 BC in Ancient China by the wife of the Yellow Emperor, Leizu.
"Leizu was actually enjoying a cup of tea in her imperial gardens when a cocoon fell into her tea. She noticed that when it unraveled, the cocoon was made from both strong and soft thread," says Katherine Renee, "After finding out how to combine the fibers into a thread, Leizu was on her way to creating the one of the most amazing fabric materials in the world."
Soon enough, a forest full of mulberry trees emerged for the silkworms to feed on, and Leizu had herself a production line.
You may wonder, 'How is silk even made?'
To make silk, a moth has to lay about 500 eggs before it dies. Baby worms will hatch from the eggs, and then they are fed mulberry leaves for a month until they've grown out. (In other words, we've got to get them fat before they can spin their cocoons.) Just like a spider will weave a web, silkworms will spin their cocoon. The cocoons will then be steamed and rinsed to continue the silk making process. It was custom in Ancient China to unwind the cocoons and combine them into silk threads by hand. After doing so, the threads are woven into cloth and are pounded to loosen the fibers of the silk material...and done!
Silk is a completely natural protein fiber. The quality of Happily MeCo Silk Fabric is so high because the silk fibers are arranged in a prism-like triangular form. Ever wondered why your silk scrunchie was shimmering? Well, the fibers in your silk scrunchie actually refract light at different angles that produce different colors, or the shimmering effect. If that wasn't already a good reason for why you should wear Happily MeCo, then you'll be mind-blown at the rest.
"Well, the fibers in your silk scrunchie actually refract light at different angles that produce different colors, or the shimmering effect."
Let's talk about sustainability. Happily MeCo is extremely Earth-Friendly! From the start of our process, we source our silk as designer remnants so we can bring you completely limited edition scrunchies.
The Happily MeCo Way:
- All Remnants are steamed and cleaned before the sewing process.
- Remnants are scraps of silk fabric (we're preventing more waste from being added to the landfills!)
- Each scrunchie is sewn with high-quality silk or cotton thread.
- Each scrunchie is hand-stitched at its closing seams.
- Domestically made in the USA & handmade.
- Biodegradable Scrunchies...read more below!
Biodegradable?
Did you know that silk is highly biodegradable? Due to its form as a natural protein fiber, silk can be broken down easier than many other materials. In fact, silk is so natural that it can be used as a biomaterial. Biomaterial is any substance that can be used to treat tissue, organs, or functions in the body. Silk is a prime biomaterial; it can be used as burn-wound dressings, films, membranes, and many more. However, "biomaterial" doesn't really have anything to do with biodegradability behavior. So, let's get on. According to the US Pharmacopeia, silk is classified as non-degradable. However, it is degradable after at least a year. Afterwards, the silk can continue to create useful compost instead of sticking around for 500 years like petroleum-based fabrics would.
Before anyone asks, NO, of course silk is NOT vegan. Worms have to excrete silk from their glands in order to make the cocoons.
Silk is labor intensive from the start of its production.
Happily MeCo puts the highest amount of care into your limited edition silk scrunchie.
By being environmentally conscious and friendly, we are on our way to saving the planet from the average 3.8 billion pounds produced from the textile industry.