Tussah silk, a natural pale honey in color, is widely regarded as being a little easier to spin than bombyx silk. Cultivated from a different strain of moth than bombyx silk, ussah is incredibly fine, but just a little coarser than bombyx, and feels a bit less slippery.
Tussah also dyes beautifully with acid dyes or fiber reactive dyes. It tends to produce a slightly fuzzier yarn than bombyx, still with the same incredible strength, shine and softness. Most teachers recommend new silk spinners start with tussah before bombyx.
Use this silk when blending fibers in carding to produce shine and strength, or when wet or needle felting to produce design appeal.
