Spider silk as a material has been experimented with for some time now. Here is some information I've gathered on one way to start working with it in thread form.
The best kinds of webs in the southern US for silk gathering come from the following spiders;
1) golden orb spider,
2) black and yellow orb spider,
3) crab orb spider,
4) orchard spider
These spiders have webs with a lot of strong material to harvest, and are not venomous.
Their webs will be elevated on trees or shrubs, and should only be harvested if they are abandoned by the spider. An easy way to tell is to gently shake the limb the web is attached to, and make sure that no spider is present (they will come to check their web if they were hiding nearby).
Collect the web on a small smooth stick or other object and carefully wind it up on the stick in a loose manner. Using tweezers, clean the web of debris and untangle the fibers. Begin twisting the fibers together, overlapping them by three inches to combine lengths. Afterwards, spin the thread by taking two lengths and twisting them into each other, alternating one thread at a time. Fold the finished length in half and double it on itself to make it stronger.
A recent application produced a tapestry made entirely of Golden Orb Spider silk, and is the only large textile made entirely of natural spider silk.
http://www.wired.com/2009/09/spider-silk/
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