Wondering about silk sizes?   Well, we're glad you asked.  We've been wondering too.  And so has most of the magic community!

First, the easy part:  Magician's silks are measured from the hemmed edge.  They are not measured diagonally from corner to corner.  Almost every dealer of magician's silks will agree with this.

Now, the stranger part:  For whatever reason, almost every silk manufacturer, distributor or retailer lists sizes slightly different than what you actually get.  "The final size of the silk is less than the size before it was hemmed" is how some "experts" explain the difference.  Others don't try to explain it, or let it just be the "mystery of magician's silks".   Over the years we've considered trying to name our silks what they really are, but nearly 100% of industry does it this way, so we've decided not to go against the grain and instead just explain it to you.  So, the chart below shows approximate sizes for our various silks.  There can also be some variation between manufacturers and even between different "runs" of silks from any one manufacturer.

How large of silks should you get?    That depends on a few things.   If you're doing a stage show, anything less than the 24" (named size) might be too small to be seen by the whole audience.  If your show has a smaller audience, or is more of a "parlor show" an 18" might be just fine.  If you're doing a "blendo" routine or a "mis-made" routine, smaller silks can certainly be part of the routine, but the larger the "final silk", the better!  For closeup magic, tumbtip streamers, 6", 9", and 12" silks all are good possibilities.