A decade ago Claudia Chase, Mirrix’s founder, decided to learn how to paint silk. Little did she know the epic journey that would take her on. Since then she has painted kilos and kilos of silk. She has modified her methods over time and upgraded her tools to make the silk painting dance seamless. One thing you will notice with this hand-painted silk is that the rich dye completely covers the silk. The hand-painted nature means that even bobbins from the same skein will not be identical. They will contain the same colors, just not always in the same place.

This rare and gorgeous Gima silk tape (also known as Straw Silk) is composed of seven strands of mulberry silk combined to create a flat ribbon-like structure. We imported this silk from a factory in Japan that produces it. Gima means “like linen,” called so because this striking yarn has the crisp feel of linen. As you use it, it softens up slightly but always retains a nice body. It takes dye beautifully and is an absolute pleasure with which to weave. We have used it for: weaving, embroidery, needlepoint (14 or 18 mesh canvas), kumohimo, crochet and knitting.

All dye lots are limited to a maximum of 45 bobbins. Although we do not exactly repeat dye lots, we do try to recreate our fan favorites. If you are planning to need a certain number of bobbins to finish a piece, we suggest purchasing what you need up front because eventually any given color way will run out.

Each Gima Silk Bobbin holds 12 yards of silk

Weaving Materials