Golden Orb Spider Silk Cape



This image is from the V&A library
Detail of the embroidery on the cape

A friend at work, knowing my interest in textiles and embroidery showed me a news item about the golden orb spider silk cape now on show at the V&A.

Here is a link to a short piece in the V&A film library showing how the cape was made.

V&A - The Golden Orb Spider Silk Cape

The colour is the natural colour of the spider silk.  The embroidery is stunning and took 6,000 hours.  I have to make a trip to the V&A to see this.

The emblem for my blog is a spider, and I use a spider's web for my moniker on ravelry, even one of my earliest blogs was about weaving with spider silk.
Spider silk

I have no particular fascination with spiders, but I do love the classic spider's web. For me it represents the way that one thought, idea or design can radiate outwards to many others and all the way there are links and crossovers.  There exists a beautiful pattern of ideas, human creativity and links to the natural world.