2 of the most available, affordable, commonly used silks are : Duponi (italian silks) and shantung (chinese silk) the duponi is a heavier (denser) silk with slubs running across the fabric- shantung is a lighter weight fabric with smaller-less evidant slubs...there are many (types) of silks, crepe de chine, many- with the main differences being the weight & type of weave of the fiber- mostly used for wedding/formal wear, personal wear, and home dec.... all silks should be dry cleaned, some are thin/fine, need some stablizing (with a lightweight woven stablizer) to help keep them from slipping and keep fraying down to a minimum- it is a personal choice what type of silk to use for your project- duponi has the most (body- weight) but depending on the design of your whole cloth project may or may not be a good choice- because of the very obvious slubs...it would be best to visit a shop that sells a number of different silks that you can touch- view- and decide which you like most- some on line shops (like fabric.com) sell swatches so you can order a number of samples to compare & determine what you like. i've used alot of Duponi silks in crazy quilting projects- you need a very sharp (new) blade in your rotory cutter- it's best to fuse a stablizer to the back before cutting too- fine silk pins, fine small needles and fine 80-100 wt threads make the job go easier. do a search on line (wikipedia is one place) to read about the differences in silks- there are many- thai silk, indian silk, french silks...my only experience has been with shantung & duponi silks- i really like both- but like i started with- the duponi is a heavier fabric a little easier to work with.