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Thank you, everyone! For leaving the loveliest comments on my last post. I have not been able to reply to each and everyone; for that I am remiss.

Hi friends! Let’ start at the top. I have two daughters; one has somewhat wavy hair (Daughter #1), and the other (Daughter #2) has a head full of tight-ish curls. That, despite the fact that my husband and I were born with poker straight hair. Well, both our families have members who were blessed with curly hair, and that is where our girls got their waves and tight-ish curls. The girl with the tight-ish curls grew up with me trying to manage her hair, and it was the bane of her existence until she grew up and learned to manage them beautifully. So, this post is dedicated to her and all women and girls who are blessed with really, really tight curls.

Ms Tight-ish Curls informed me that a smooth silk pillow is what she wants to sleep on; as she do some African-American women. Well, I have now made a pearl gray silk charmeuse, standard size pillowcase. Is charmeuse too slippery to sew? Not in my experience. I just used pins to hold the seams together inside the seam allowance, since the charmeuse showed pin-marks. French seams are a good option for piecing it together. The pattern used: oh please. If you must know, I used the dimensions of an existing standard pillowcase.

Besides the luxury, there’s science behind a preference for smooth silk pillows, Black women preferring a silk pillow to anything else. My African American friends, will you chime in here, please? Have you always used silk pillows? Did your Mom and Grandma use them? Here is a link which may explain the science behind the advantages of a smooth-as-silk pillow.

https://www.sittingprettyhalohair.com/blogs/news/3-science-based-reasons-why-you-should-be-using-silk-pillow-cases#

When they say silk pillow, it better be a smooth textured silk i.e silk charmeuse or satin. It doesn’t even have to be real silk! Polyester satin works well, too. It’s all about the smoothness and slipperiness. So, do not use duppioni, crepe, or any slubby textured silk. And… give up cotton and linen pillowcases; compared to the silk satin or charmeuse, your hair gets knotted up as you move around, which may be the reason you wake up with matted or knotted hair. With the silk, your hair glides around without being scrunched by your movements.

It’s good for your skin, too. The cotton has been treated with various chemicals in the manufacturing process while the silk has not (Huh. I’ll take their word for it but some research is needed on my part.). Therefore, a silky smooth pillow is also good for your skin. (Now they tell me)

Until the next post, have a good spring season and some great sleeps on a luxurious, silky pillow. —- Samina