Silk Thread/Cord/Yarn

[spectre6000]

I have some silk thread that's slightly thinner than 3-cord linen (which I also have on hand along with similar thicknesses of polyester and nylon). Maybe a little thicker than #138 polyester. It looks and feels great. I talked to the local industrial sewing machine place, and the guy I talked to said machines should have no issues with it, but that he's never actually seen such thread in use (or at all). It's also worth noting he's a textbook salesman of the say-anything school. Is there any reason I can't find anything about silk being used to sew leather outside of rare decorative applications? Is it just cost, or is there any physical/mechanical reason no one uses it?

[fivewayswelshcobs]

Silk is naturally very strong for its weight. I do know that silk thread is used on some high quality light goods, ie wallets, purses and some bags so I guess that it's use would depend on the thread you have and what you want to use it for. I have used it a few times but most of my work is too heavy for silk. Hope this helps

[spectre6000]

Too heavy how?

[fivewayswelshcobs]

23 hours ago, spectre6000 said:

Too heavy how?

Heavy horse harness, I'm using 6 cord linen thread.

[spectre6000]

The stuff I have here is equivalent to about size 277 thread (0.60mm), and heavier is available. If it's a matter of perceived availability or perceived cost, that would make sense, but I can't find anything suggesting any other reasons it's not commonly used. Admittedly, I'm grasping at straws for those reasons... It doesn't seem to be in most people's consciousness in the first place beyond rare and fleeting examples of decorative embroidery-type stuff on the sort of high end stuff where decorative embroidery type stuff is a thing. 

[fivewayswelshcobs]

 In the UK I would have thought that leather workers would have used what was available locally , ie linen thread . I must admit that I have never thought of machining with it but then again my first thought is always hand stitching. Last year I had been looking for a good weight of silk thread for doing some wallets but struggled to find what I wanted and then got side tracked back to the harness. Most leather workers are creatures of habit and following tradition - .me included but I did a course with Val Micheal at Tetbury and she uses silk threads.