In the old metallic yarn produced in two ways. The first of them was necessary to cut narrow strips of thin plate of silver or gold. And then these strips wrapped core thread. From the eighth century gilt flattened cantle began to twist silk thread. And in the ninth century there was another way. Thin wire stretched across a row of holes, which gradually decreased.
To date, such filaments produced by pulling the wire of copper and its alloys or slicing a flat aluminum tape. To burnish resistance to the surface of the material is applied to a very thin layer of gold or silver. And modern technology have enabled the production of polyester yarn, which allows for "metal" embroidery almost everyone.
Russia produces several kinds of metallic thread: fiber, Plushenko, gimp, tinsel, pryadevo. This material is used in the processing of fabrics to give them a certain effect. This can be a brocade, tricot, in the manufacture of straps or insignia. Very convenient to use metallic threads in the process of cross-stitch.