"When that 'little black dress' is not enough ... SHANGRILA!"

Shawls and Capes
Most shawls are either large squares or large rectangles. Please visit SILK VELVET DEVORE for our unique selection of inhouse designed rectangular shawls. Another type of rectangular shawl that may be worn as a shoulder cape is our Pashmina, named for the fine material of which it is made.

Pashmina is the finest quality Cashmere wool in the world, which comes only from Kashmir and Tibet. It is the undercoat of the Capra Hircus Goat, which lives at high altitudes in the Himalayan Mountain. This animal produces fine wool to insolate itself from the freezing temperatures. The Pashmina fiber is only 10-14 microns thick, which is about 1/5 the thickness of a human hair. A goat produces 80-100 grams of wool fiber a year, and it takes the wool of three to four goats to produce one 36x80 shawl. When the Capra sheds it's coat this luxurious pashmina wool is gather and hand loomed with silk, which adds durability and sheen to the fabric.

Pashmina have been woven into shawls and stoles for centuries old tradition of Kashmiri artisans. People fall in love with it because of its extraordinary softness, warmth and long life. Most of the world's Pashmina shawls and stoles are woven on hand looms together with silk in the Kashmir Valley.

We offer a wide range of shawls in various compositions: 100% pure Pashmina, 70% Pashmina and 30% Silk and 50/50% blend.

A cape does not close in front. It only covers the shoulders and is usually wider than a rectangular shawl.

The Devore "Amarna Shawl" is our own unique design for a shoulder cape. The "Amarna Shawl" also hangs elegantly down on one side in both the front and back, resembling the graceful capes worn elite women of 18th dynasty New Kingdom Egypt, at the time of king Tutankhamun. It is vary similar in design concept to the Quechquemitl, a prehistoric Mexican garment. By contrast, Ponchos have a 16" neck opening and Ruanas are unseamed all the way down the front half of the piece.

Ruana	Poncho	Quechquemitl

Please visit SILK VELVET DEVORE for our unique selection of inhouse designed rectangular shawls.

Devore or burnout (fabric etch), describes a process of chemically destroying a component of a composite fabric. The burnout or devore style used to be called broderie chimique in Europe because it can be used to the give effect of machine embroidery, which is achieved by chemical means. Normally the burnout technique uses protein-cellulose or synthetic-cellulose composite fibres especially constructed for this purpose. The technique described here refers to burning-out of cellulosic fibres, such as cotton, linen, viscose from composite blends. Cellulose is decomposed by acid, and printing on Chemical Salts that develop mild acids with the application of dry heat can destroy cellulosic fibres. Most commonly used chemical is Sodium Bisulfate, which develops mild sulphuric acid when heated (using dry iron). The burnout technique is not restricted solely to composite fabrics - it can be used on pure cellulosic. This can be combined with either embroidery or sewing, or printed/painted acrylic binders to keep the fabric from fraying. If fabric is very thick only the surface will be in contact with burnout paste. This can be used for relief effects on velvets and velour. If the back of the velvet is synthetic or protein, the pile can be totally removed by printing the burnout on the back of the fabric. Burnout can be resisted with Bicarbonate of Soda or Soda Ash in paste solution. RECIPE: Make a printing paste using 20gr DR-33 powder in 1 litre of water. Let stand for a couple of hours. DR-33 thickener is more stable to addition of wide range of chemicals than Manutex. It is easily dissolved in cold water requiring only a relatively short swelling time (1-2 hours max.) Mix: 200gr sodium bisulfate in 120ml cold water. Add: 50gr glycerine, stir until nearly dissolved. Add: 630gr printing paste Total 1 litre devore paste The consistency of the finished paste may be adjusted to required thickness with the addition of water. The burnout process can be used to remove fabric areas enclosed by machine stitches of a non-cellulosic thread.