Kimono Silk is a 100-weight Japanese filament silk thread from Superior Threads. Because it is so exceptionally fine, it seems to disappear into the fabric. I know many people love to use silk thread for hand appliqué, so I was a little surprised when I saw our assignment for Lesson 110 of Superior University. We would be using it to add decorative quilting to a small clutch purse.
My kit included a spool of gold-colored Kimono Silk thread, so I chose a plain rusty-red fabric for the outside of the purse and a gold-and-red print for the lining.
I layered the two fabrics with Soft & Stable polyester foam, then I used one of my favorite machine quilting tricks: quilting around the motifs in the fabric. Because the print fabric would end up being the back and I wanted the gold thread to be on the front, the Kimono Silk was wound onto the bobbin. The results were spectacular!
To complete my purse, I added a gold cord and button closure and a gold braid strap.
I agree with Superior’s claim that Kimono Silk thread works wonderfully for quilting. It has a naturally lustrous sheen and is smooth and virtually lint-free. It is available in 80 colors and two spool sizes: 220 yards and 1,090 yards. There are also six-spool packs in color groupings such as neutral, fall, spring, summer and winter. I will definitely be quilting with it again and trying it for hand appliqué as well.
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