Spiderstitch

Images of "Spiderstitch" from Kaja Reichardt and Kristina Tochilko on unsplash.

A long flowing dress, seemingly held together only by ethereal force. A suit that seems to fit perfectly on its wearer. Both are made possible by a tiny creature; whose byproduct fuels the fashion industry: the Silken Spider.

Spiderstitch is a unique material, in that it doesn't provide any benefit to the arachnids that spin webs out of it; it is a material that exclusively can be used on clothing and fabric. This would make no sense evolutionarily, but we turn to The Many Eyed Swarm, we can see that this is just the byproduct of their experimentation around evolution and genetics.

Physical properties

Adhesivity

Spiderstitch's main trait is of course, stickiness, the thing that makes it so valuable. When applied to fabric, Spiderstitch is almost impossible to remove entirely; this would be incredibly annoying if found in the wild, but incredibly useful when used as stitching.

Spiderstitch has to be stored by itself in any store that sells it; the material is somewhat sticky when applied to itself, but no more than a roll of tape. This makes it easy to store sheets in mass, and to pull off a piece that someone needs.

Texture

At the touch, Spiderstitch is a soft material, often described as similar to fine cotton or velvet. This is one of its attractive qualities to the fashion industry as it can blend in seamlessly with fine fabrics.

Origins

Invention

The Spider itself was invented sometime around 3400 BM by The Many Eyed Swarm. The creature was largely discarded due to lack of practicality in hunting; however it was kept in a small archive.

Later, closer to 1000 BM the species was re-investigated by researchers in Hell. They discovered its tendency to stick to their clothing and began to investigate the practical application of this property. It wasn't until they spoke with some designers and weaver that they discovered its potential use for fashion. After that point the usage of the material began to spread across Hell.

Deitic War

During the Deitic war, a select few preserved these precious creatures. When the forces of Hell invaded Terra, they had these spiders with them, thus they came to earth.

By the time the war ended, the creatures were largely found in one region: The Khanate.

Modern history

Since then the manufacturing of Spiderstitch is a secret reserved to the khanates. This is a large portion of the Khanates' export, and it is imported almost globally. There have been a multitude of attempts to reproduce the material none of which have been nearly as successful.

Usage

] Spiderstitch is primarily used in the fashion industry, and thus, this section focuses on that, but it can be used for high end fabric products of any kind with similar techniques as described here.

Trade and Distribution

Market

The khanates have remarkably developed a somewhat stable coalition around spiderstitch, and they all share one law, originating from the first Khanate:

Spiderstitch manufacturing is to be taught from one master to one apprentice in an unbroken chain. Attempting to share the secret of Spiderstitch is equal to treason punishable by death. Attempting to steal the secret of spiderstitch is equal to espionage, and punishable by death. There will be no more than the amount The Khan allows.

— Laws of The First Great Khan.

The unofficial coalition ensures that every country involved profits through the artificial scarcity and inflated price created.

Storage

The most efficient way to store spiderstitch is in large sheets. It is often shipped as such, in isolated containers with long stacked sheets. In shops it is often stored on a roll, with the same sheets simply being made circular.

An example of the rolls Spiderstitch is often sold on.

Spiderstitch is always stored as far away as possible from other fabrics. In fabric shops there is often an entire room just dedicated to storing the sticky fabric.

Laws and regulations

The sale of spiderstitch without a license from the khanate it was acquired from is a crime in almost every country that buys spiderstitch. The khanates require extradition and legal enforcement treaties to export any given country spiderstitch

This is not to say there isn't a healthy black market. Throughout the world there are both legal and illegal imports that are not sanctioned by the Khanates. There is a tight knit black market for taking the excess that isn't sold and selling it to those who are inclined to getting a better price.

Fashion industry

In the fashion industry Spiderstitch is used as a replacement for traditional seams and stiches. The material can be applied between two pieces of fabric in low amounts to connect them almost invisibly.

Above image of Spiderstitch, stored of course far away from any fabric

Type: Organic textile

Value: Typical price range for a good year can be up to 1700 khan for a square inch

Rarity: Artifically scarce