Sicilienne.—A Mohair of heavy weight.
Silence Cloth.—A heavy all-cotton backed fabric, used to cover the table under the linen cloth, to withstand heat or to prevent damage to the finish of the table. Made in widths from 54 to 64 inches. The fabric is a double fabric, reversible, and made from coarse yarns; it is also known as Table Felting.
Silesia.—A cotton fabric woven with a twill or sateen weave, usually printed in stripes and highly finished. The high finish found in this class of fabric is often a "Beetle" finish imparted to the fabric after weaving by subjecting it to a rapid succession of elastic blows from a series of hammers whilst the fabric is wound upon a cast-iron beam. Generally woven as a three-shaft twill from single 30's to 40's in warp and filling so as to produce a 45-degree right-hand twill. Silesia is essentially a tailoring fabric used for linings. A variety of yarn-dyed striped Silesia is also on the market.
Silk Beaver.—Silk Beaver is a pile fabric woven so as to imitate the prepared fur of the beaver. Like many other fabrics of this style the pile is all silk and the foundation cloth or back is all cotton. This fabric appears to be dyed invariably a rich brown, and this differentiates it from such similar fabrics as Silk Seal, which are dyed black. The quality of Silk Beaver depends upon the depth and closeness of pile. If looked at from behind, the pile threads will distinctly show as small shiny spots where they are bound into the back. The closer these little silk dots are to each other the heavier the pile and the better the quality. The value prior to 1914 ranged from 5s. to 12s. per yard but has since increased. The pile may have a length of as much as half an inch in the best grades. Generally framed in lengths of from 30 to 33 yards. As this is bulky material when framed, the landed cost in the East is greatly increased. Average width, 48 to 50 inches.
Silk Gingham.—This class of fabric is similar to Gingham, Madras, Madras Gingham, Zephyr, etc., except that the fabric contains more or less silk in the filling. It sometimes happens that through inadvertence such material is found described simply as a Gingham, hence the presence of silk should be looked for in goods so described.
Silk Mull.—Like Mull, this fabric is a plain-woven, soft-finished material, but is made from cotton warp and silk filling and is generally finished undyed. Silk Mull is finer in texture than Cotton Mull. The silk filling used in this fabric is raw silk, viz., tram silk.
Silk Pongee.—A light-weight fabric made of the silk produced by wild silkworms that feed on oak leaves.