Spiderclothes?

As I observed this orb web spider comfortably relaxing in its silky nest I wondered if the thread the spider weaves is much different from that of the silk worm. Actually both spiders and silkworms produce silk that is among the strongest materials in nature...the fact that it is stronger than steel gives you an idea of how strong! The silkworm thread is thicker (up to 10 times) than that of the spider, yet the spider silk is stronger than that of the silkworm. So why has man only learnt to harvest the silkworm silk? Well imagine trying to farm spiders, some of which are territorial and will fight any spiders that approach them! Not an easy task at all. In addition, whereas the silkworm spins a mile-long silkthread  into a cocoon, the spider makes a much shorter thread each time. Does that mean it cannot be harvested? Not at all, it just means you need a lot of patience, planning, creativity and well, let's admit it, madness, to manage. And it has been done. Once.  In 2009 an 11-foot-long, brilliantly golden-hued cloth, was exhibited at the American Museum of Natural History. It was the first recorded example of textile made entirely from the silk of spiders. An interesting article in the NY Times explains how  a British art historian and textile expert together with an American fashion designer  cleverly used Madagascar golden orb spiders for this project. Anyone want yo try?