Thread: cost of silk bumming you out?

I know there's a handful of silk dyers on here and we've watched the prices rise over the past decade..

but wanted to share that I was recently quoted 6.87 per yard from various Thailand and Indonesian sources, and you have to buy a minimum (usually a bolt)..then pay shipping, customs, bank fee..

So I think I'm pretty happy with our american sources of silk..they buy in huge bulk so we don't have to :)

I had to raise my veil prices recently. I am a very small-time dyer compared to some of you silk juggernauts out there and the raw materials prices are hitting me pretty hard.

I just placed an order, so yeah, it is bumming me out. I haven't raised my prices yet, but current silk prices have shaved down what I'm paying myself for the artistic labor. It sucks but I don't think in this economy very many people will pay more than $50 for a 3 yard veil.

I was looking at my order history from my supplier and prices have almost doubled since 2008.

Denver Fabrics is having a silks sale. I don't know if you would be able to use any of their silk as I only use them for apparel, but they also sell by the bolt and I've been really happy with their stuff. It just so happened they sent me a notice and i was just browsing some Habotai this morning.

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sucks huh? the prices of silk go up yet the average retail price for a silk veil drops..but I know both of you pretty well and you can both stand behind quality work.

I'm personally uncomfortable charging more than $49 for a silk veil unless it's custom or hand painted. Cuts into profit but I also keep a very low overhead , I don't have to pay warehouse space, assistants, and I don't keep a lot of stock. For this reason I've considerably slowed down on wholesale because wholesale is supposed to be about 50% off retail yet to make a veil for $25..even though I love doing it..is silly considering the cost to make them. I'm actually enjoying stocking boutiques with high end wearable art items ..it's not that bellydancers don't appreciate a silk veil but when I can sell a small scarf for $65 to a tourist versus $44 for a large silk dance veil..it's just funny. Many people don't understand that habotai is a cheaper silk than say charmeuse and why the higher price silks are true luxury items.

Well. I heard thru the grapevine someone is increasing their silk prices to $60 a veil.
Good luck with that. Unless you're Shibori Borealis who makes immaculate intricate designs it seems a bit steep. $60 is what I paid 12 years ago for a rainbow silk veil from Unicorn Bellydance Supplies .

Has anyone purchased 8mm silk from dharma lately? Do they still have that raw selvage problem?

Yup I know about Denver fabrics thanks for posting..

Circa 1997 when I started dancing, I remember silk veils ran about $80 each at a belly dance boutique in Salt Lake City, UT. And that was for a fairly ugly one with muted hippy-style tie-dye. At that time, 6mm habotai was about $2/yard.

Originally Posted by jesennia

Has anyone purchased 8mm silk from dharma lately? Do they still have that raw selvage problem?

Last bolt of 8mm I bought had that crazy selvage still. Makes me nuts! That was about 4 or 5 months ago, though.

Originally Posted by tigerb

Last bolt of 8mm I bought had that crazy selvage still. Makes me nuts! That was about 4 or 5 months ago, though.

bummer..you'd think enough of us are buying and requesting silk so that they'd change that but maybe the bulk of their customers are buying it for sewing and not just rip and dye.